King pigeon
The king pigeon is a domestic pigeon breed .
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origin
The history of the king pigeon begins in the USA in the state of New Jersey where Harry Baker bred a fertile, large, strong and yet visually beautiful pigeon in 1890. As a suitable starting breed for breeding he took the "Runt" because of their body shape and size, the "Duchess" because of their elegant posture, the Maltese pigeon because of their chicken-like shape and the Homer pigeon because of their liveliness and fertility. He gave it the name "King" to express its size and elegance.
In 1895 he sold his breeding to William McMahon and Harry Troth, who continued breeding for several years. They managed to increase the popularity of the king pigeon in the USA. During this time they sold numerous king pigeons, which at that time were still only white. One buyer was Eugen G. Giroux. He wasn't just a pigeon lover, he was a pigeon fanatic. Together with his brother he started the breeding of the white king pigeons and expanded them to several thousand animals within a very short time. His intention was also to use the king pigeon as a meat supplier. Through his work and the founding of the "White King Squab Company" (White King Competition Club) he laid the foundation for the increasing popularity of the "White King" in the USA. In March 1915 the "American White King Association" was founded by breeders who saw a need for action in the promotion and recognition of the king pigeon as a pedigree pigeon. The initial 9 founding members became 44 members at the end of the year. In the founding year the first yearbook was published in which the "Standard of Perfection (1915)" was described for the first time. At the same time as the white king, other breeders were busy breeding a silver king, which is now called brown pale. A pioneer in breeding silver kings was C. Ray King of California. He worked out a standard in 1919 that was approved by the California Pigeon Club, paving the way for the Silver Kings. Two years later, at the fifth annual meeting in California, the name of the "American White King Association" was changed to "American King Club" (AKC) and the standard was revised again. Nothing stood in the way of breeding new color varieties.
Pattern description
- Overall impression: massive, should look like a raindrop
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Breed characteristics: robust
- Head: steep forehead, short, straight beak
- Eyes: different depending on the breed (brownish pale clear eyes)
- Beak: short
- Neck: must be in line with legs (neck-leg line)
- Chest: strong - strong
- Tail: closed (each feather one below the other)
literature
- Erich Müller : The great king pigeon book: history - breeding - keeping , Reutlingen: Oertel and Spörer, 2003, ISBN 3-88627-609-0
