Nightranger
Senior Moment
pete1950 said:Ok the following might be a tad out of date, and the latest record price could be much higher.
The most expensive racing pigeon cost over £110,000 and is called Invincible Spirit and was bought by Louella Pigeon World UK in 1992.
There are an estimated 80,000 fanciers in the UK who raise around 2,000,000 young birds per year.
2,000,000!!! With figures like that, which have been lifted from a pigeon site, could someone please explain how 2,000,000 birds are absorbed into the fancy each year given that the lifespan for an individual bird is around 3-4 years.?
Omigod, I had not realised it was as high as that. 2 million birds per year with a lifespan of 3-4 years gives a (potential) total figure of 6-8 million birds. Allowing for culling the birds for various reasons, that would give a figure of 3-6 millon birds in the UK alone. This may surprise everyone but that figure is greater than the number of wild pigeons and doves of all species in the UK and also explains why no true estimate can be made of the feral population. At least some of the ferals may be accessories that only visit feral flocks from time to time. If Anthony reads this, it is part of what I was trying to get over about honesty and whether fanciers would be willing to concede points to get some clarity.