# Secret Revealed: Belgian Square Feather Theory



## toilco (Aug 1, 2008)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsrsLdOdkY4


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## newtopidgeons (Mar 11, 2011)

I was shown that by an old flyer in our combine.
He said you will lose way less pigeons with the squared off feathers, than you will the ones with rounded tips.
He said he proved it to himself and does not need to prove it to anyone else, but he said try it and I will prove it to myself.
I didnt look at all of my pigeons, but some have it, some dont.
The way I'll test it is to see if the majority or all of my birds left after the season have the squared off feathers or what the ratio of square to round is.


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## Alamo (Nov 22, 2008)

*The birds with the BEST.....*...Feathering....Muscles.....Eyes.....Brains......Balance...Condition....and Guts....

Will be left in your loft at the end of the season...No matter if the feathers are round/square or whatever......Alamo


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## jpsnapdy (Apr 4, 2010)

This is not the place for these... theories. A lot of people don't like to study and learn, they will waste time stubbornly doing the same things over and over again. 
Just race your birds and see for yourself. My opinion is if you're racing short distance i.e. only upto 300M or doing just one loft races, no need to bother. If you race further, also study the breeding of each type of birds, those with the square tips and those with the round ones, you may trip onto something... That is when you want pigeons that are said to be "well bred". Good luck!


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## MaryOfExeter (Sep 30, 2007)

Well any birds I have I am going to race. So if these square feathered birds stay, then so be it. I don't have any interest in the way their feathers are shaped - they are all going to be raced if possible. It's the results that matter.


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## newtopidgeons (Mar 11, 2011)

MaryOfExeter said:


> Well any birds I have I am going to race. So if these square feathered birds stay, then so be it. I don't have any interest in the way their feathers are shaped - they are all going to be raced if possible. It's the results that matter.


Thats my theory as well.


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## bloodlines_365 (Jan 15, 2008)

this is scrap.... fly em and race em!!!!


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## Crazy Pete (Nov 13, 2008)

That is a secret that has been around for a long time. befor you blow it off go have a look at your best birds. Next time you go to an auction of one loft race birds have a look at the top ten birds. There are a lot of things to look at and that is just one of them.
Dave


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## Xueoo (Nov 20, 2009)

Feather shapes and size has everything to do with flight. Maybe the square feathers hold air better than pointed feathers, thus making lift or flight easier with less effort as there is less air that passes through the feathers when squared. This may allow a bird to propel further per stroke and flap less and consequently uses less energy. This is what I can think of. Soft flexible feathers as well are preferred over hard stiff feathers. All these contribute to a better flighted bird it seems. We can all theorize and it may or may not be true. 

A flying squirrel with it's "wings" jumps off a tree and glides 1000 feet before it hits another tree. A regular squirrel jumps off a tree and lands on the ground a few feet from the tree.


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## jpsnapdy (Apr 4, 2010)

newtopidgeons said:


> I was shown that by an old flyer in our combine.
> He said you will lose way less pigeons with the squared off feathers, than you will the ones with rounded tips.
> He said he proved it to himself and does not need to prove it to anyone else, but he said try it and I will prove it to myself.
> I didnt look at all of my pigeons, but some have it, some dont.
> The way I'll test it is to see if the majority or all of my birds left after the season have the squared off feathers or what the ratio of square to round is.


Also interested in the 2 ratios before and after the season.


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## jpsnapdy (Apr 4, 2010)

MaryOfExeter said:


> Well any birds I have I am going to race. So if these square feathered birds stay, then so be it. I don't have any interest in the way their feathers are shaped - they are all going to be raced if possible. It's the results that matter.


Yes Becky,
but I would be interested in finding out if this holds water. Wouldn't you want to stop wasting feed on grain eaters that will let you down?


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## jpsnapdy (Apr 4, 2010)

bloodlines_365 said:


> this is scrap.... fly em and race em!!!!


Blind faith or certainty ?


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

toilco said:


> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsrsLdOdkY4



I don't know what to make of such "secrets", as many people I know are looking for various kinds of "signs". I will have to run out into my loft now and check some pigeons and see what percentage actually have this particular "sign". If this were 100% true, then I would of course just get rid of all pigeons that don't have this. And if this is not true, then within a few generations it would become self fullfilling anyway, because I would only be keeping the square ones, and thus breeding from square ones, no use keeping em past 30 days old if they don't have the "sign".  

In the mean time, I suspect that I will just continue doing what I have always done, and that is let the basket determine what traits are important, and which birds to keep, and thus which pigeons to breed from.


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## 4nursebee (May 27, 2009)

And if it was good science it would not be called a theory.


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## toilco (Aug 1, 2008)

just copied from another article about square feather theory:

*Wingpit Feathering*
This one I do believe has some relevance. The wingpit (armpit in humans) has a collection of about 5 feathers which are of different sizes. They appear either long or short but with one distinct difference- their cut. This cut is seen at the tip of the feather and it makes the whole thing look like someone has trimmed it with a pair of scissors at 90 degree angles (square appearance overall). Now, go into your loft and handle your best breeders, cocks & hens. Open their wings and look at their feathers- nearly all of the best breeders have square shaped wingpit feathers that I've seen. This could be a genetic trait but the racers often don't have this feature, their's being a more pointed structure. However, some of my best racers who do have a square cut feather are good breeders as well.


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

toilco said:


> just copied from another article about square feather theory:
> 
> *Wingpit Feathering*
> This one I do believe has some relevance. The wingpit (armpit in humans) has a collection of about 5 feathers which are of different sizes. They appear either long or short but with one distinct difference- their cut. This cut is seen at the tip of the feather and it makes the whole thing look like someone has trimmed it with a pair of scissors at 90 degree angles (square appearance overall). Now, go into your loft and handle your best breeders, cocks & hens. Open their wings and look at their feathers- nearly all of the best breeders have square shaped wingpit feathers that I've seen. *This could be a genetic trait but the racers often don't have this feature*, their's being a more pointed structure. However, some of my best racers who do have a square cut feather are good breeders as well.


OK, if it is not a genetic trait, then how do you explain how some pigeons end up with square looking feathers ? My point is, it would have to be a genetic trait, what else could explain it ? How does one explain that racers "don't often have this feature ? How then is this suppose to be a reliable guide to showing us which pigeons are the "good ones" if the racers often dont have it ?


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## Xueoo (Nov 20, 2009)

SmithFamilyLoft said:


> OK, if it is not a genetic trait, then how do you explain how some pigeons end up with square looking feathers ? My point is, it would have to be a genetic trait, what else could explain it ? How does one explain that racers "don't often have this feature ? How then is this suppose to be a reliable guide to showing us which pigeons are the "good ones" if the racers often dont have it ?


I think he may mean that "racers" as a whole are usually made up of unknown quality, in that you may hatch and race 80 birds and the percentage in those with square feathers may only makeup 10% of those and the percentage of "good" pigeons may only be 10%, thus racers "*don't often *have this feature", generally speaking, could be a correct statement if most of the good racers end up having square feathers. 

If most of the racers have the square feathers and only 10% of all pigeons on a team are "good", as it usually is in reality, then the theory is pretty much false from the start and it wouldn't be a conversation topic.


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