Header image
THE PIGEON COTE
Bookstore Return to the Bookstore's Main Page General Interest: Authors a-h
spacer
spacer
spacer
spacer

How to Raise and Train Pigeons

  • By William Allen
book's cover. Click for larger image. book's cover. Click for larger image. William Allen was another author providing novices with sound pigeon breeding advice. From the Jacket he "... removes the mystery from one of the world's oldest and most fascinating hobbies -that of raising, breeding and training pigeons..." It was comprehensive in nature and had a decent section on the training required for racing homers. An item that was not dealt with well by other more general beginners' guides. There are a few color photographs of different breeds, but not too many.
The expanded 1972 version has many more. If you have other pigeon manuals of the time you may recognize many of the photographs, as Mrs. Louise van der Meid supplied many authors with her excellent photographs. For those currently in the hobby or just attending current shows, it is very informative to see the changes many of the domesticated breeds have undergone.
$19, 1959 128pp printed on very good paper. Over all the hard back that would be excellent except for its age.  The jacket is only good as the corner has been clipped from the jacket, signifying that it was probably a remainder at the time.
book's cover. Click for larger image. The 1978 edition went for the economy crowd. The text did not really change from the original 1959 issue, but a few pages of ads have been included at the end. It is paperback and gone is the gallery of pigeons breeds which makes the 72 copy so great. All the pictures from the 59 edition are there, but in black and white.
$12 Very good paperback  Would be excellent except for its age. ISBN 0-87980-118-2
$10 Very good paperback   ISBN 0-87980-118-2

Raising Small Livestock

  • By Jerome Belanger
  • Raising Small Livestock. Click to enlarge. This book shows you how to avail yourself of the rewards of raising your own animals. As any homesteader will tell you, it is a lot more that the satisfaction of knowing that you're a few steps closer to self-sufficiency when you're playing a vital role in producing and controlling the quality of much of your own food. Besides the fact that the flavor of your home-grown chicken, lamb and pigeon beats anything the supermarket has to offer and your eggs are fresher than any you can buy in a carton, the food you produce on your homestead can cost you a lot less, too, in the long run, and you know there were no unnatural additives. But aside from the edible rewards, there's the sheer joy and relaxation that comes from having animals to care for. Most people who raise small livestock do it part-time, as a hobby that provides a welcome change from their 9-to-5 job and brings them a little closer to the rhythms and cycles of nature.
    $12 Mint hardback with mint dust jacket

    Pigeons: saga of the world's most revered and reviled bird

    • By Andrew Blechman
    • Published 2006 @ $24
    book's cover. Click for larger image. They have been worshipped as fertility goddesses and revered as symbols of peace. Domesticated since the dawn of man, they have been crucial to wartime communications for every major historical superpower from ancient Egypt to the United States and are credited with saving thousands of lives. One delivered the results of the first Olympics in 776 B.C. and another brought the news of Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo more than 2,500 years later. Charles Darwin relied heavily upon them to help formulate and support his theory of evolution. Yet the pigeon is reviled today as a rat with wings. How did we come to misunderstand one of mankind's most steadfast companions?
    In Pigeons, Andrew D. Blechman travels across the United States and Europe in a quest to chronicle the bird's transformation from beloved friend to feathered outlaw. From Brooklyn's Main Event, the pigeon world's equivalent of the Kentucky Derby, to the eighty-third Grand National, with its thousands of bizarre and beautiful show pigeons, and from a pigeon shoot where people pay to gun down live birds, to the nations oldest and biggest squab farm, Blechman takes the reader deep into the weird and wonderful world of pigeon fanaticism. He meets with pigeon fanciers and pigeon haters alike, including the Queen of England's Royal Loft Manager and members of the radical "pro-pigeon underground"; chases Mike Tyson, America's most famous pigeon lover; and for the first time tells the remarkable story behind this seemingly unremarkable bird. You'll never look at a pigeon the same way again.
    $21 Mint hard back and jacket.  ISBN 13-978-0-8021-1834-9.

    Pigeons for Pleasure and Profit

    • by Charles Foy, Paperback:
    • Publication date: 1957
    book's cover. Click for larger image. A very basic introduction to pigeon raising, touching on all aspects of the hobby. This early copy is really a peace of pigeon history. The most interesting aspect of this publication is that it is put out by one of the main pigeon supply houses in the States. Foy's pigeon supply is a very dependable supply house for equipment and medicines. 1957 First Edition. A collector's piece.
    $40, paper back, very good.
  • Pigeons for Pleasure and Profit

    • by Charles Foy, Library hardback
    • Published by Swanson Pub: Publication date: June 1972
  • book's cover. Click for larger image. While there are many more recent copies out there, this is a library hard back copy published 1962.  A very basic introduction to pigeon raising, touching on all aspects of the hobby.  You can't really go wrong with this copy, especially if you are looking for a version that has been hard bound.  Both of these copies are so rare as to be considered collector's copies.
    $30, Good hard back no jacket, used library copy.

    Pigeons(Responsible Pet Care)

    • By Carlienne Frisch
    book's cover. Click for larger image. An introductory hard back book with glossy boards that is very difficult to find.  It covers all the basics in a basic way, and even though it has only 31 pages comes complete with glossary and index. There are certainly better novice manuals.  This piece is more for the collector of pigeon books.
    $35 Publication date 1991, Mint but it is 16 years old so excellent may be a more proper description.

    Extraordinary Pigeons

    • by Stephen Green-Armytage author and photographer: ISBN: 0910876010
    • Published 2003 at $24.95 Condition /Availability: Multiple copies available. Brand new.
    book's cover. Click for larger image. The author and photographer Stephen Green-Armytage opened a glorious window into the world of exotic pigeons with extraordinary coffee table picture book of some of the most beautiful pigeons existing today. Nearly every page has a beautiful photograph of one or more breeds of pigeons. His photographic exploration is absolutely the best for the genre. The striking images he presents shows the world astonishing, eccentric and many surprising features of these amazing creatures. Pigeons of all sizes, shapes, and colors parade through these pages-from the Volga Tumbler Pigeons to the Philippine Bleeding Heart Doves (doves are actually pigeons, just small ones), from the flamboyant Jacobins who wear their lavish feathers like a boa, and the Pouters who puff out their chests to absurd proportions, to the Trumpeters who sport floppy crowns reminiscent of the hairdos of 1960s.
    The astonishing color photographs, complemented with concise informative text, make this a perfect gift for anyone with even the slightest interest in birds, and photography buffs alike. The hardcover book is a little larger than 9 by 10 inches and is 112 pages in length.
    $15 Mint hardback with mint jacket.

    Pigeons Everywhere

    • Lilo Hess
    Click for larger image

    Lilo Hess quite obviously has written this introductory piece for the young among us who have noticed the pigeons all around them and could not help but be attracted to them. It is written for the grade school level and is just chock full of pictures as it explains not only the ferals who cohabitate this planets' places with us, but also the many domesticated varieties that have been shaped with mans involvement. It is not so much as how to raise pigeons as it is to explain their association with us. A great beginner’s book for understanding the diversity of pigeons.

    $9 A good ex-libary hardback copy 63pp. #2

    Pigeon Guide

    • By Claude Hill
    book's cover. Click for larger image. This book by a English author, Claude Hill was printed in the Netherlands and is a mini Levi type book covering all facets of the pigeon hobby, from its history, to hands on information about loft management, acquiring quality birds, genetics, mating fundamentals, diseases, feeds, and important aspect of training and preparation. There is also a "pigeon Portfolio" providing color photographs and breeds information of over 50 of the most popular breeds. During the second world war, Claude commanded the Indian Pigeon Service and remained active in the hobby involved with all aspects of the sport.
    $10  Reading quality hardback 250pp.
    $15  Very good hardback 250pp.

    Return to top

  • Contact the Pigeoncote host.

    Email the Bookstore

    Return to the Bookstore's Main Page