TIPPLER: A REAL FLYING PIGEON

The pigeon breeders have bred many different breeds in the last 5000 years, from which also originate the so-called performance pigeons. One of the strongest performance pigeons is the English Flying Tippler. To prove my saying, here the flying times of the world records: the grown-Tippler world record was achieved in 1995 by Shannon Lisbrun, Ireland with 22,05h and the world record of the young Tipplers on 16.6.2001 by Mahutia from Hardervijk, Netherlands with 19,55h. These times were flown non-stop and the young were at that time only 4 months old. Tipplers are a little smaller than street pigeons and if you haven´t seen them flying you may find it hard to believe such flying hours.

The breeding of Tipplers

The Tippler is a breeding-friendly race. A good breeding pair lays about 2 eggs every 30 days. Because they are also very good parents there shouldn´t be any trouble with the upbringing of the young. My breeding boxes consist of 2 boxes laying next to each other. One box is covered with a plastic tissue and is the actual breeding box. The joining hole is about 14x14cm large. When it is time for the coupling, I lock the female into the backmost box for one day and put a wire cloth over the hole. That way the pair can still see each other. When I remove the wire on the next day the pair usually already couples after 15min.

Pigeons are cave breeders

For this reason I cover the brood box during the brooding time, so that the pigeons can be in half dark during brooding, which they like very much. When the young are approximately 8 days old, I put the nesting bowl with the young in the front boxes. This way, the females can lay their next eggs into the dark box again. This system has proven itself as quite good. On the back of the boxes I have glued different motives, so that the pigeon pairs find their boxes more easily. Other pigeon breeders paint every box in another color and there are probably lots of other possibilities to ease the finding of the box for the pigeons. Unfortunately lots of my Tipplers are killed by the peregrine falcon or hurt so badly that they have to be euthanized by the vet. The financial loss that is made to me by the peregrine falcon is not returned to me by anyone. I think this would be the job of the peregrine falcon promoters. For this reason I make 5-6 broods a year in the hope that I have a few young Tipplers left by the end of the flying season (the end of September). When the young are approximately 4 weeks old, they are brought into a separated part of the pigeonry. Because I always put a full feeding dish into the breeding boxes, the young learn early to feed from their parents and can therefore in that age already eat for themselves. With drinking I always have to help some of them. When I enter the pigeonry I observe if some young have closed eyes, this is then a sure sign that they are thirsty. I then take the young and hold their beaks into the water and they promptly begin to drink. This must usually only be done once, then they have learned it and are truly wholly independent.

Emigration to the flight pigeonry

Now I have to describe my pigeon husbandry a little more closely. The breeding pigeonry is approximately 5km from my living place. Because I live in the eight and highest floor of a skyscraper I have been able to build a mini-pigeonry (see the link: “my pigeonry”). There I keep about 6 Tipplers. In the age of approximately 35 days I take the young pigeons home and keep them for 5-7 days in the flight pigeonry. During this time they can get to know their surrounding better. This is very important for the first flight. What is also very important: they have to react well to the Droppers (bait pigeons). Most flying pigeon sportsmen keep Fantails as Droppers. As this breed is not very flight loving , they do not suit me. If the Dropper misses my flying board he falls 30m down to the earth. That´s why I keep a crossbreeds of Burmali Frights, Indian Fantails and Baku Height Flyers (in white) as Droppers and they do their work impeccably

Training the young Tipplers on the Droppers

The most important thing is that the young Tipplers have a healthy appetite. I feed them at 19h and they should always eat at the same time. I put a table with a feeding dish for the Droppers in front of the pigeonry. At the same time I clatter heartily with the food can and free the Droppers, which come to the feeding dish at once. Once the Droppers have eaten several minutes before the eyes of the young Tipplers they also get fed. Like this, the young pigeons remember the combination Droppers equal food and already after 3 to 4 feeds they react well to the Droppers.

The first flight

After 5-7 days in the flight pigeonry the young Tipplers are freed for the first time. Now they are approximately 40 days old. Two days before the first flight I feed them reluctantly, for now they have to have a good appetite so that they react fast to the Droppers. Two hours before sundown I take 2-4 young Tipplers (I watch out that they are not siblings, because those keep extremely close, while flying and sitting around) and I go to the roof with them (our house has a flat roof). There I let them out of the basket, usually they walk around the roof for a few minutes. Then they start to flutter and one rises from the roof and the others follow. Now you can´t stop wondering! The first time on wings and they draw their circles above the houses as if they had done this all their life. There are young Tipplers that on their first try have already flown one hour. I don´t like this because I have a feeling that they are over-exercising. Normally they fly for 10-15min, this is enough, for now comes the most important part:

The first landing

During the flying career of a Tippler the first landing is a stepping stone. It is very important that the young Tippler lands in the pigeonry the first time, because then they will always land there. If the first time they land on a neighboring house or on a telephone pole, it is difficult to break the habit. Often that is already the end of a flying career, before it even started. Young Tipplers that do not learn to land on the pigeonry imbrute and may draw their buddies with them. Then they have become unusable for competitions. To well introduce the first landing, two things are needed: first the young Tipplers need to have a healthy appetite and secondly they have to react well to the Droppers. When I see that the Tipplers want to land, I start to clatter with the feeding dish and free the Droppers (that were invisible to the young Tipplers until now). Before I free them I scatter the Droppers with water, which leads to the Droppers shaking themselves and fluttering like after the bath. This way the Droppers draw even more attention to themselves. After this happens most young Tipplers land next to the Droppers. Then you only need to bait the Droppers into the pigeonry and the Tipplers follow them, because they have learned where there are Droppers, there is also food. When a young Tippler landed on the right spot on the first time, you can count it as flown in. Now the actual flight training starts.

I hope that with this report I could make some readers curious about Tipplers.

You will find more information at www.deutscheflugtipplerunion.de

Wale.