1997 Old Birds - IF Hall of Fame Winner
IF-94-SCF-7812 ----- 1ST 50-99 LOFTS

GREER AND SON

Tell us a little about yourself.
This loft is a partnership of Greer and Son, Don and Doug. We fly with Phoenix Western Pigeon Club in the Suburban Combine - 75 to 100 lofts and 800 to 1000 pigeons. Greer and Son has been flying for the past 11 years. Don flew pigeons back in the 1960's, 1960-1965, and did well. He gave up the birds to raise his family of five children. When Doug was 22 years old, in 1986, he was looking for a hobby. They decided to get back into pigeon racing, so they got together with some local pigeon fanciers and they said they would raise some young birds for Don and Doug.

Do you think your position is a good one as far as combine races are concerned?
Our combine is the Luzerne and Lackawanna Combine. It is approximately 50 miles wide by 120 miles long. I fly short to middle distance and would like to have flown long. There are some long flyers who actually have a 74 mile overfly over me. The club I belong to is the Liberty Club and we have 10 members.

Do you have an original family of pigeons?
We acquired some very good Sion and Starssert from Ray "Cookie" Suzenski, Leen Boers and Tournier from George Ponis and Janssens from Joe Gydosh. Also, some very good H-VanReils from John Kelly. Our recent purchase from "Doc" Pupek are Janssens Tournier, they are flying super for us.

What type of birds do you fly now?
We like medium to big pigeons. We like a little meat on them to fly the 600 mile races.

Can you give us a little history on your champion bird ?
IF 94-SCF 7812 BBSPL H was flown in 6 races. She won 3 times in the club, and was second one time. She has two combine wins and placed a fifth combine and a sixth combine. She also flew a three bird special. All three birds came in together, we clocked her second.

Races entered IF 94-7812 won:

	100 mile race - 1st club - 10 loft, 169 birds

                        1st combine - 75 loft, 1192 birds



	150 mile race - 1st club - 11 loft, 215 birds

                        6th combine - 73 loft, 1,155 birds



	200 mile race - 1st club - 9 loft, 119 birds

                        1st combine - 66 loft, 782 birds



	200 mile race - 3rd club - 6 loft, 93 birds

                        6th combine - 69 loft, 819 birds

Could you tell us about the parents, brothers, and/or sisters that bred or flew well ?
Sister won 2nd club - 2nd combine 200 mile race - 66 loft, 782 birds

     Parents are: sire 93 PHX 1138 BB WFT C Leen Boers from George "Duke" Ponis

of Phoenix Club.

dam 91 DVC - 1556 BC Pied H

H.V.R. from John Kelly

Do you race imports?
No, we race our own families.

How big is your old bird team? Young bird team ?
We have 50 old birds and 70 young birds.

Do you use a system ? Young birds ? Old birds ?
Young birds we fly to the perch, Old birds we fly natural.

Describe your loft.
Our loft is 8' by 26' with 4 sections. The loft is well ventilated. There are 2 sections for old birds and 2 for young birds. We also have 2 small breeding lofts, 5' x 6'.

Describe how you feed.
We feed Brown In. during racing season, and Cond. in the off season. The birds are fed once a day, in the evening. During the racing season we do add vitamins.

How do you train your birds ?
With old birds, we start in March at 20 miles and work our way up to 60 miles. Then they go on the training truck 2 times a week. When the young birds start routing, we train them at 5 miles, first toss - 2 times. Then 5 mile intervals, 2 tosses at every stop to 35 miles. Then 4 tosses at 50 miles to 65 miles. Then they are ready for their first race.

Is there any health program you follow regularly ?
We worm with Ivomec, and treat for coccidosis and canker. We vaccinate for pox and for P.M.V.

Do you agree with bird entry limits ?
Yes, our combine has a 20-bird limit per loft. We try to put 15 new birds per week.

Do you agree with having clocking limits ?
Yes, our combine has a 2-bird clocking limit, except for Futurity, there is no clocking limits.

How do you select your breeding pairs ?
We breed winners to winners.

Have you any advice for new flyers ?
Acquire good birds from local flyers. Train hard and keep them healthy.

Is there a flyer, breeder or book that has helped you become a better pigeon flyer ?
The book RACING PIGEONS by Joe Rotondo is very good. Also, articles written in the Bulletin and Digest by Col. S.L. Gerlach. When we first started, we got a lot of help from Francis "West" Zabicki, Lou Scaringi, Cookie Suzenski and Cotton Mastrangelo.