Fantail Discussion (All Fantail Breeds)

[Lovebirds]

Very very interesting. Don't know how I missed this thread all day today.

[re lee]

Well it off the ground On bird of the week. I might say It started with A breed that is dear to my heart The fantail. As I used to raise fantail. I consider the fantail to be the most competitve breed of show birds. Why because They not only must show But are a bird of action ,in that they must walk whie being judged. And walk with good head set deep in the pocket. Have a good round body with up front legs. And legs is one of the very important parts to a good fantail. Without good legs you fail to have the good body showing right the tail postions The over all balnace.. Now fantails You find many of the top SHOW fantails come from the good stock birds not the show birds. The stock birds even though they lack the needed points to win the shows carry the needed off set to pair and breed a great fantail. As you breed fans, You find there is NO balance poiint where you can say breed all the birds alike. You work for that balance Off set balance Produces that bird that when its set down in the walking pen It becomes a work of art. The QUEEN of the fancy is the right word And you find in the Fantail section at the shows The people watching very close as the judge goes through the birds This section takes the longest of any breed to get judged And The better known The judge is the more fantails You see in the show As it is just not that easy setting down and getting these little birds judged It takes a great eye Of understanding to find that Bird that wins its class and then that bird that is called champion fantail for that show. So many great people breed this little bird And when you meet them and go to the loft to see and set some birds down It can take your day But the day is well spent and learn each time As many greats are getting older and the new comers are needed to carry this part of the great hobby foward. Good JOB risingstar. Look forward To seeing the other breeds as they come up.

[Lovebirds]

So, now my question is, what type of loft set up do you have for a loft full of Fantails?
I had a couple of fantails for a little while. I kept mine with you YB homers that year and they even mated with a couple of homers..(I wound up with 2 hens). I trap trained them and let them out of the loft a few times, but decided that wasn't the smartest thing I ever did, so stopped letting them out. They both though, perched on the highest perches and took the highest nest boxes.
They were quite tame at first.......while in quarantine, I would let them out to run the hallway while I was in the loft and they were quite funny to watch, beeping and bopping down the hall. Once they got in with the homers though, they became pretty wild and weren't much easier to catch than the homers.

[TAWhatley]

Thank you for this most interesting and informative article, Risingstarfans! We're now off and running with the Breed Of The Week feature thanks to you!

Terry

[risingstarfans]

Originally Posted by Lovebirds

So, now my question is, what type of loft set up do you have for a loft full of Fantails?
I had a couple of fantails for a little while. I kept mine with you YB homers that year and they even mated with a couple of homers..(I wound up with 2 hens). I trap trained them and let them out of the loft a few times, but decided that wasn't the smartest thing I ever did, so stopped letting them out. They both though, perched on the highest perches and took the highest nest boxes.
They were quite tame at first.......while in quarantine, I would let them out to run the hallway while I was in the loft and they were quite funny to watch, beeping and bopping down the hall. Once they got in with the homers though, they became pretty wild and weren't much easier to catch than the homers.

Here's a picture of one of my breeding pens. The caption explains it, altho I now only put eight singles in each of the top pens, use it as a weaning pen during breeding season and as a conditioning pen for my show team during the show season.
http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/pictur...pictureid=2885

[Lovebirds]

Originally Posted by risingstarfans

Here's a picture of one of my breeding pens. The caption explains it, altho I now only put eight singles in each of the top pens, use it as a weaning pen during breeding season and as a conditioning pen for my show team during the show season.
http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/pictur...pictureid=2885

OK. I had seen that. So, you keep them in those pens all the time? Boy, I really need to READ my post before I POST them.........

[re lee]

Originally Posted by Lovebirds

So, now my question is, what type of loft set up do you have for a loft full of Fantails?
I had a couple of fantails for a little while. I kept mine with you YB homers that year and they even mated with a couple of homers..(I wound up with 2 hens). I trap trained them and let them out of the loft a few times, but decided that wasn't the smartest thing I ever did, so stopped letting them out. They both though, perched on the highest perches and took the highest nest boxes.
They were quite tame at first.......while in quarantine, I would let them out to run the hallway while I was in the loft and they were quite funny to watch, beeping and bopping down the hall. Once they got in with the homers though, they became pretty wild and weren't much easier to catch than the homers.

Weel First fantails are considered a ground bird. You need to have some kind of floor mat. on the floor I used pine shavings. You need a breeding compartment about 18 to 20 high 20 to 24 inches deep 30 to 36 inches long For each pair. Nw they can be locked in or not NO perches off the floor. A young bird section where theres is just floor covering NO perchs at all birds will spend all there time on the floor. And old bird sections. Where extra birds and off season seperating can be done on the cocks and hens. A place where you can set up a walking pen to work the birds garage storage building extra section of the loft ect. It is better not to mix flying birds with the fantails As one the fans being less in flight would not breed as well become some what flighty This alone can ruin a good tail by catching the wing in the tail more plus the more they fly they get what is called funnel tail It is where the tail sarts to funnel backards away from the body And the tail you want almost flat As a saucer so very much flying and that one time good bird gets ruined. Fans by nature are very tame and easy to handle when they are handled the way they should be. For just garden fans back yard birds It probably would not matter as much as they change back to less quality bred birds The tail would reduce The shoeing would reduce so the wing would not catch as much the bird would increase in fligt abilty Head set would reduce As back words progression does. The old fantails Of England were First called shackers The shaky neck BUT the birds did not sit the pocket As you see to day much refinement has gone into the modern fantail. As I said befor A great fantail 10 years ago could not win in todays shows Birds have progressed alot in the past 10 years smaller more refined As the standard call for.

[TAWhatley]

I'm just wondering if it takes some time for young fantails to figure out how to control/what to do with their big tails? I had two offspring of an Indian Fantail/Standard Fantail pair. One, Aspen, seemed to have no trouble with adjusting to his tail, but little Chessie was really tail "challenged" for a good time. It seemed like she just couldn't control whether it was going to "flop" forward, stay upright, or "flop" back. Here's some pics:

http://www.rims.net/2006Aug13/target22.html

http://www.rims.net/2006Aug27/target2.html

http://www.rims.net/2006Sep14/target9.html

Terry

[Margarret]

Risingstarfans,

Thank you for a wonderful and informative piece on Fantails. I really enjoyed it. And thanks for thinking this up. It is going to be very enjoyable to read about all the different breeds that folks here have.

Margaret

[risingstarfans]

Originally Posted by TAWhatley

I'm just wondering if it takes some time for young fantails to figure out how to control/what to do with their big tails? I had two offspring of an Indian Fantail/Standard Fantail pair. One, Aspen, seemed to have no trouble with adjusting to his tail, but little Chessie was really tail "challenged" for a good time. It seemed like she just couldn't control whether it was going to "flop" forward, stay upright, or "flop" back. Here's some pics:

http://www.rims.net/2006Aug13/target22.html

http://www.rims.net/2006Aug27/target2.html

http://www.rims.net/2006Sep14/target9.html

Terry

First of all, we are talking here about a hybrid, which is difficult to evaluate, since the "mechanics" of the two breeds are considerably different.
However, I for one, and it is probably true for most breeders, do not do much serious evaluation of young birds until they are through their body moult, except for the few that are obviously culls, or what I call pet quality.

Many, perhaps even a majority of young birds require some help in shaping the tail. One of the tools practically all of us use is a roll of masking tape. First, we lace the juvenile or baby tail so that it is as close to perfect as we can make it. Then, we apply masking tape to fix it into place. This doesn't always work, but normally improves minor to major tail imperfections. Frequently, young fans will get their wings hung up on one or both sides of the tail, so taping this area trains them not to do so. The same is frequently true of a bird sticking its head through the center. Tape here is at least a solution.
Believe it or not, otherwise outstanding birds have a balance problem, due to leg placement in relation to the body. Legs placed too far back cause the bird to stand too upright, which in turn, causes the tail to almost lay flat behind the bird. Legs too far foreward can cause the bird to look like an umbrella. Balance, as relee pointed out, is critical. Other factors include head position, width of cushion, relationship of neck length to that of the back, and so on.
All of this is very difficult to explain, and is one reason I did not attempt to cover in the original post, and while a picture is worth a thousand words, the real thing as an demonstration is worth a thousand pictures....

Good question, though. If you can spare a couple weeks, I could show you

[risingstarfans]

Originally Posted by Margarret

Risingstarfans,

Thank you for a wonderful and informative piece on Fantails. I really enjoyed it. And thanks for thinking this up. It is going to be very enjoyable to read about all the different breeds that folks here have.

Margaret

Thanks for your compliment, I really appreciate it. BTW, you live about halfway between two really good fantail showmen....Rusty Cosby in San Marcos and Rob Kulungian in Temecula (who is also the son-in-law of John Heppner, current President of the NPA)

[TAWhatley]

Originally Posted by risingstarfans

First of all, we are talking here about a hybrid, which is difficult to evaluate, since the "mechanics" of the two breeds are considerably different.

Good question, though. If you can spare a couple weeks, I could show you

Thanks for the reply .. it was/is simply a curiosity question but now I'm intrigued about how the "mechanics" are different between the Standards and Indians .. again .. just curious.

There is no urgency for any reason .. I've had my two youngsters for more than two years, and they are fine .. it is/was just an "inquiring mind" thing for me.

I am really enjoying this thread.

Terry

[risingstarfans]

Originally Posted by TAWhatley

Thanks for the reply .. it was/is simply a curiosity question but now I'm intrigued about how the "mechanics" are different between the Standards and Indians .. again .. just curious.


Terry

I guess we'll have to wait until somebody who can do justice to the Indian Fantail chimes in. I could give you my opinion, but I really don't know them that well.

This thread is indeed fun, and hope everyone enjoys it, and I too look forward to seeing other breeds, one week at a time. Now get cracking on those bandtails! They are so quiet and shy....and beautiful!

[TAWhatley]

Originally Posted by risingstarfans

Now get cracking on those bandtails! They are so quiet and shy....and beautiful!

I'm on it! Margarret sent me some great Band Tailed photos today to use, and I already had some good baby Band Tailed pics. It's always "fun" to get in a Band Tailed baby when it was supposed to be a feral baby .. they are quite distinctive in appearance, but most folks don't even know they have a baby pigeon let alone a Band Tailed.

Terry

[re lee]

While the indian and the american are both a fantail They both have a huge difference in there standard. The indian of today is a much larger bird has a crest. and slight feathering on its legs and foot. The indian should be represented later on this bird of the week. It would show the big difference,