# Size of Cere



## Grim (Jul 28, 2007)

Another quick question. Why do some male pigeons have a larger cere then others? I am referring to racing homers only.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

Grim said:


> Another quick question. Why do some male pigeons have a larger cere then others? I am referring to racing homers only.


I think (not always a good thing  ) that most of the time, the older cocks have the bigger cere. That's not always the case though. I remember one of our flyers having cock birds with big ceres or bigger than I'm used to seeing. I thought she was flying/racing some REALLY old birds and questioned her. Turns out they were yearlings.


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

Yeah I've noticed most of the time it is the older birds that do. It's not always the cocks though...I've seen some hens with some big ceres going on. At a glance you'd think they were males, but they actually aren't. A lot of it depends on their genes too. Some birds have bigger ceres than others, and some people breed birds that put out big cere'd birds. Vinegar (or is it garlic?) will make the bird's cere look more white, which can also make them appear bigger as well. Honestly I don't see how a big cere would come in handy for a male bird. Maybe they think the hens dig big ceres? Haha


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## george simon (Feb 28, 2006)

When talking about the racing homer one must remember that the racer is a cross of about 6 or 7 different breeds two of those were the Dragoon, and the English Carrier both of which have large wattles they are sometimes called pop corn nose by some. However if the family is built using a hen as the base all the cocks in that family will look henny, its all just genetic's. .GEORGE


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## Grim (Jul 28, 2007)

Thanks George that is interesting. Three of my cock birds are of Trenton strain and they have large ceres compared to the hens. My Delbars ceres are tiny making the cock look just like the hen. If they carry it on through their young it would be an easy way to tell the gender.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

I do have a few geriatric homers that also display a large cere, then I have some that don't. However, I have a family of birds, the elderly dad displays a large cere, and the sons are getting that "popcorn" look, so it is definitely hereditary as well as can be age.


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