WILLIAMS FAMILY LOFT
BYRON
and MAUREEN (‘MO’) WILLIAMS Slidell,

Louisiana USA (2008)

Text : Wim van Rijk

Edited : Martin Degrave

Through my new site, which was publicised by
"PiPa", I came into contact with many American lofts and because of this I was
asked to write a report about American pigeon racing. Because I hadn't
encountered their racing in person I found it too difficult. Until I met 'Mo'
who was prepared to send me all the information and that is why I have chosen
her loft to use as the typical American loft for this report. I have also chosen
this loft because it lies near a large place and therefore there are more
possibilities, because most lofts in America lie too far away from each to be
able to race with a club and they can only participate in the one loft races. But because
Slidell is near to New-Orleans they can race with a club. In America the one
loft races are the big attraction and enormous sums of money can be won. There
are large farms, that only breed pigeons for these races and as a fancier you
don't even have to own pigeons to be able to take part, you buy a few pigeons
here and there, which you enter for these one loft races. During the weekends
that these races are held, people come from everywhere with their campers and
caravans and it is one big party with barbecues, television broadcasts,
sponsors, music etc. As a fancier, you cannot race with your old pigeons and
they are only used for breeding. The testing of your breeding couples rests on
the results of these races or the youngsters are trained a lot and depending on
these results the breeders are drawn up. Slidell is a small place on the other
side of the Bay of New-Orleans in the state of Louisiana and this is where the
Williams have placed their magnificent lofts. The lofts are surrounded by Palm
trees, hence the name "THE GRAND PALMS PIGEON RESORT" and there is no shortage
of space. Through my site I came into contact with Maureen, who calls herself
"Mo". She deals with the correspondence and writes interesting and informative
articles on her site. Mo only starting concentrating on the pigeons for 100%
following the fire and the hurricane "Catharina", and straight away the results
improved greatly.

The Story :

Byron has had pigeons since he was young, he has learned the game from
his father and like so many other fanciers, with different levels of success,
mainly due to work and family life which was to the cost of the attention he
could give to his pigeons. With his old sort he achieved great success, such as
the Dixie Southern Convention Race, the Mardis Gras Classic, 1st Ace pigeon,
Hall of Fame Bird (most famous pigeon), champion loft and pigeon of the year.
This with his old sort, the "Busschaerdts" via Charlie Barbiere, pigeons that always performed. But in
2005 the hurricane "Catharina" arrived and Byron lost all but two
of his pigeons. Slidell was evacuated and after two weeks he was allowed to
return, the devastation was enormous. Two pigeons were flying round, they were
late comers from a race before the ramp. They had to start all over again and
because Mo felt so sorry for her husband she promised to commit herself for 100%
to the pigeons. They bought pigeons here and there and there was a lot of help
from neighbouring fanciers who donated pigeons to the disaster area, because of
course, Byron wasn't the only one who had lost all his pigeons. Within three
months disaster struck again, Mo and Byron had just gone to bed when the
neighbours called.
Their new loft was on fire. Because the power supply
hadn't been fully restored they had to use gas bottles and one of these bottles
had caught fire and exploded, causing all the other bottles to catch fire.
Another disaster, all the pigeons were dead and the loft was reduced to ashes.
The courage and motivation had left Byron and for him it was the end of the
sport. Then something miraculous happened, the report in the local newspaper was
spread throughout America and from every corner help was offered, which proves
the solidarity between the fanciers and this is our pigeon sport! With the help
of his pigeon friends, a beautiful and professional loft was erected and from
all over America he was given pigeons from the best breeders. Out of gratitude,
Mo placed the whole story on the website and in 2006 the prominent magazine,
"Racing-Pigeon-Digest", wrote a whole article and this article is also on the
site.

In 2006 they began racing with the
youngsters, the results exceeded all expectation and in 2007 they could be
called very good. Mo is the loft manager, takes care of the youngsters, the hens
and the breeders and also races with them. Her favourite races are the money
races for youngsters,(stake $ 20 to $1000 per pigeon), here she has a chance to
measure herself against the best lofts in America and the odds are the same for
everybody. She also likes the club game and the races for the hens. The pigeons
are trained a few times a week from 20 miles, but this year they want to train
more.
The administration, buying and selling of pigeons is
her responsibility and the performances of the pigeons that have been sold
(mostly for the Money races) are recorded and used for publicity, her youngsters
are sold to all the States. Byron races with the old cocks in "The Greater New
-Orleans Combine", so the whole area of Orleans. The teamwork between man/wife
is perfect and the results prove it. Even the children are enthusiastic, that's
why they chose the name "Williams Family Loft ". (W.F.L.) Mo does a lot of
promotional work, as secretary of the club, she visits schools where she
lectures about the pigeons and the game and she invites the scholars and their
parents for a guided tour round their lofts, writes about her pigeons for the
local newspaper etc etc. Because even here the pigeon sport is aging. They
basket in Slidell, the limit is 25 pigeons per loft and the chairman collects
the pigeons from all the clubs and leaves for the place of liberation. They
clock electronically and the procedure is the same as ours. The races are
combined, an A and a B race, e.g. an A race of 300 miles and a B race of 100
miles, with an hour between liberations, (number of pigeons differs from 250 to
800). The youngsters generally have a ten week season with distances between 100
to 350 miles (160 km to 563 km) Old pigeons also have a ten week season and
their distances are 200 to 600 miles (320 km - 965 km). Mo and Byrons' favourite
distance lies between the 300 - 400 miles. It is also one big party by the
Williams when the pigeons return home, family, friends, supporters, everybody
visits and stays to sample the traditional Cajun food that Mo (self a Cajun) has
made such as Gumbo, crab, smoked shrimps and lobster. Together with the local
Blues and Cajun music, sultry warm evenings, a victory, and the party is an
overwhelming success.

The pigeons now, are from various lofts
(obtained after the fire) and they still have to prove themselves. A few jump
out, especially the G.F.L pigeons (Ganus Family Loft), Mike
Ganus imports a lot of good pigeons from Europe and buys as many Ace
pigeons as he can in America and the youngsters are sold throughout the whole of
America with a lot of success. What I noticed was that a lot of lofts in the USA
advertise with pedigree pigeons that are already in the history books by us
(pure Huyskens v.Riel, pure De Vriends, pure Bricoux, pure Sions and pure
Hofkens). Importing a pigeon is expensive because in America they are placed in
quarantine.

A few pigeons that are
doing really well are:
"HOOT" 07-Wfl-730 1st
Ace Pigeon and Champion pigeon of the year, but the Williams Loft also achieved
the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 10th,12th etc. by the Champion pigeons.
" KAREN BLUE" 07-Slidell-500 3rd Ace pigeon with the 2nd,
1st and 3rd prize
"DARLA" 07-Wfl-746 She won the big money in the Money Races
"Chandler - Challenge" by ending 1st twice
"AVIATRIX" AU-07-Wfl-727
"FEARLESS" AU-07-Wfl-711 -DC
"ESCALADY" AU-07-Wfl-701-BBWFT

Results
16/9…100 miles A-race 12th, 13th B-races
8th, 10th, 11th, 12th
23/9…100 miles A- race 5th, 6th, 7th B- race 1st ,2nd ,4th ,6th
6/10…200 miles A-race 1st , 2nd ,3rd, 4th ,5th, 6th ,7th, 8th ,9th , 10th B- race
3rd ,4th ,5th , 6th.
20/10..100 miles A-race 1st
,2nd ,3rd, 4th, 5th, 12th ,13th ,14th, 15th . B-race 1st ,10th ,11th ,12th ,13th
.
10/11..200 miles A-race 1st ,2nd ,5th , 6th .
B-race 1e ,2e, 3e ,4th, 5th .
17/11..350 miles final race 2nd ,3rd ,4th, 5th
, 8th .
1e Place in Average Speed
1e Place - Champion Bird of the Year 2e Place (only 4
points behind) - Loft of the Year

Results:
"MO" and the hens :
A en B races
Week 1- 1st, 6th, 23rd en 24th 200 miles
Week 2 - 7th ,8th
,40th ,41st 200 miles
Week 3 - 14th ,15th ,52nd .64th ,66th ,67th 300 miles

Week 4 - 1st ,16th ,17th
200 miles
Week 5 - 1st ,3rd ,14th , 44th,46th ,
300 miles
Week 6 - 6th , 46th 400 miles
Week 7 - 6th, 11th,12th . 200
miles
More than once Mo has performed better than Byron with her hens in the
races for old pigeons.

The lofts

With the help and materials from many fanciers they have built a
large, professional (American) loft. It is an L-shaped loft, 2.40 m. wide and
14.6 m. long with three compartments. One for the breeders (45 couples), one for
the old pigeons and one for the youngsters (approximately 100 pigeons). This
year a loft has been added at the back for Mo's hens. The loft has been adjusted
to suit the warm climate of the Mississippi Delta, gauze for the top windows and
a mechanical ventilator over the floors of the loft (under the wooden grids) and
also Plexiglas. During the winters when it is humid, these windows are closed. A
good ventilation is the same as by us, often a problem and here it is a matter
of looking for the best solution, according to Byron. Many lofts in America have
large, fixed continual landing traps, where the pigeons can spend all day if
they so wish, just like the aviaries in front of our lofts. The windows are
smaller than by us to prevent the loft from becoming too warm. You will often
see a loft without a floor, only grids as floor, this is for better ventilation.
I'm referring to the lofts in the warmer regions. Byron has also lowered the
roof and has placed sliding so that he can control the ventilation and warmth,
just like us really.

The
feeding
I don't see much difference, the first two days the
pigeons are fed lightly with a special mix and the last few days prior to the
basketting they are given a heavier mixture. The feed is supplemented with a
sort nibbling seeds, together with broken peanuts. Sometimes vitamins are added
to the water and a 1-2-3 mix, which I think is a vitamin disinfectant potion.
Medicine is only given if the pigeons are actually sick and it has been
prescribed by the vet. Some vaccinations are compulsory, just like here. I hope
that I have been able to give you a clear picture of how the pigeon sport is
practised in America.

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