Although the breeding of pigeons may be a little less certain than that of other birds, it must be meticulously planned. Some fanciers, particularly those who have a thorough knowledge of genetics, plan their mating's as much as two or three years ahead to make sure that things goads they would like them to. But for every fancier, a study of his previous breeding's will show which family of birds has tendency to be breeders and which successful racers.Many things need to be taken into account when selecting birds for mating, but try to pair those which are physically suitable. Do not use extremely different types. For example,you will not necessarily achieve success by pairing a very large bird with a very small bird in the hope that you are going to strike a happy medium. It would take many years even for an advanced geneticist to be sure of doing that. Nor is the mating of very long birds to very short-breasted birds to be encouraged. The continual mating of birds which have a tendency to be oversized should also be avoided, as should the mating of extra-small ones. And one must keep one's eyes open to make sure that body size does not deteriorate, which often happens where fanciers practice too frequent and too close inbreeding .However, having said all this, you will always find exceptions to the rules.
