By Vin Blanden

The good stock pair is one that not only produces winners, but its children and grand-children possess the same desirable ability to return a high percentage of quality pigeons – irrespective of the many and varied outcrosses to which they may be paired

As it usually takes several years for one to realise its value

it is a fact that in many cases the pair has been broken, or perhaps one or both birds have been disposed with before the fancier has been able to properly assess their worth

This is, perhaps the main reason for the scarcity of such valuable pairs

On the other hand there are probably hundreds of pairs capable of breeding good winning birds without being able to pass this trait onto their progeny

The champion stud pair can lift any owner from comparative obscurity to the top of the ladder within a season or two

If he has been wise, or fortunate enough to have left the pair together then he has accumulated enough of the offspring, which with average luck, will keep him at or near the top for many years

While there may be a lot of luck in first obtaining the good pair, it is the observant owner who is who is quick to assess its value , and take the necessary measures to preserve it

In a lot of cases it has been found that both the male and female of the champion pair have proved of little value when mated apart

It has also been noted that at times it is one of the two partners that is the dominant one, and has bred good birds (not as good as the main pairing) with other mates

Sometimes a good winning loft has been founded on one bird alone, one which produces the desired result when prepared to anything at all, but even in this case it is usually found that one particular pairing is superior to any of the others so far as the one champion producer is concerned