The King

The creation of the King Pigeon as a breed started for more than a century. Although many pigeon fanciers claimed to have been the first, it was Harry Baker from Vineland-New Jersey in de U.S. who must be seen as the creator of the white King Pigeon. After thinking about it for some years  Mr. Baker started in 1890 with the creation of a new pigeon breed, it had to be a super pigeon, a sort of all in one. It had to be big and fertile for the meat production but very good-looking as well and suitable as a show-breed.

Origin and Source of the King Pigeon

 

We can take it for granted that Harry Baker was a experienced breeder of pigeons and that he had in mind, even at that time, the picture of what we know now as the ideal King. He choose exactly those breeds with the qualities he wanted to lay down in the new breed. He choose the Racers for their vitality and fertility, the Malthesers for their extreme posture and the Mondains for their weight. For the production of meat dark feathers are not wanted, there fore he used only white pigeons. In 1892 Harry Baker was so satisfied with the result of his crossings that he decided to give the new breed the name  "KING". Harry Baker must have been very far-sighted. As we look now at pictures of those first Kings, we can say they ware not worth to be called King. In 1895 Harry Baker was forced through circumstances to sell his Kings. He had used the preceding years to improve and fasten the type. At that time only a few fanciers in his neighborhood knew the new breed, otherwise it was totally unknown.

 

At the forced selling his pigeons where bought by two local fanciers, William Mc.Mahon and Harry Troth from Ifillvill New-Yersey. The brothers Giroux from Vineland-New-Jersey must be honored for the tremendous popularity and fame of the white King. They bought their first Kings from Mc. Mahon and Harry Troth.  The Giroux started on a large scale and within a few years they had one of the biggest  squab plants in the U.S. Their White King Squab Company produced thousands of white utility Kings every year. Mainly through their purposeful advertising they made the King  probably  the most well-known breed in the U.S. It's not amazing  that the popularity of the breed as show-pigeon likewise  rapidly increased. "The American White King  Association" was founded in March 1915.

 

One of the founders, the well-known Franck H. Hallman, editor and owner of the "American Pigeon Journal" was chosen as secretary and treasurer. The first mis­sion of the founders was designing a standard. They made a thorough job of that. There is still not  much difference with the standard we use at the present. Only the carriage of the tail at that time was nearly horizontal. Disqualification's at that time were: feathers on legs or feet, yellow color on breast or neck, other than red ceres and under­weight. Photos of winning Kings in those years display small and long pigeons with tall necks and pinched heads. If it was a coincidence we don't know, but the name. Ray King is forever connected with the silver colored Kings. He was the first of many fanciers who succeeded and bring them to the shows. In 1919  C. Ray King was also the man who designed the first standard for the Silver Kings. The acceptance of the new color  made it necessary to change the name of the "American White King Association"  This happened on the annual meeting in January 1921. After voting they decided to change the name to "The American King Club" C. Ray King lived in  Los Angeles-Cali­fornia, he used the same crossings as before him Harry Baker had used, silver Runts x silver Malthezers and the outcome of these with silver Mondains and Racers. Before the second world-war the silver Kings were very successful,  nearly all the club shows of those  years had a silver King as winner.

 

The quality of the blue barred Kings at that time did not match the whites and the silvers. In 1947  a young blue barred hen was the first of that color to win the annual show of The American King Club. After  six years  the club show of 1953 was won again by an  blue barred (1.0 old). It toke more than forty years to repeat that winning, in all those years there were never first places for the blue barred. Very little is known about the creation of the other colors, like red, yellow, black etc. They appear in the American standard as late as 1932. In the U.S. only very few breeders fancy these colors, we may assume that the average quality in Germany is better. The U.S. are a enormous large part of the world. So it is no wonder that there were differences in what fanciers saw as the ideal size of the King. In the western states the fanciers preferred big sized Kings and in the eastern states the fanciers went for the more elegant types.

 

To end  this undesirable  situation they decided to weigh the Kings in the future. On the "Grand National Show" of 1948 all the Kings were weighted, pigeons with under- or overweight were not accepted. The maximum weight for young birds was 33 ounces and for old birds 36 ounces was the maximum. The fanciers were less than happy with this measure, they agreed that their could be only one ideal-type but certainly not this way. The experiment was not repeated, but since that time there is always a pair of scales available so that judges under- or over-weighted pigeons can exclude for prizes. Especially the white Kings in the U.S are famous for their tremendous quality and uniformity. The number of Kings on their annual club-show (under 1000) is far less than expected.

 

In Germany, the first Kings appeared on the shows in the mid-fifties. The number of Kings on the annual club-shows in Germany (between 3.600 and 4.200) exceeds the American numbers many times. In the Netherlands  we hat to wait till 1982  for the foundation  of  a King Club. In the spring of that year Willem Klunder hat put an ad in a pigeon magazine, he wanted to start a King club and was looking for future members. About 10 pigeon fanciers came to that first meeting and on 10 October 1982 the foundation of the new club "De Nederlandse Kingduivenspeciaalclub" toke place. Willem Klunder was chosen to be the first secretary.

The Dutch "King-Club" (under that name its commonly known) counts  about 50 members, no more than 12 show their Kings on the National Shows. The average quality in most of the colors is very good. A few Dutch King fanciers show their

Pigeons on the National Shows in Germany and compete with the best.

 

Interpretation of the standard 

The American standard is the base of the German and the Dutch King standard. Our  standard (the Dutch standard) is in reality a translated copy of the American standard. Yet there is a significant difference between American and European Kings. Some German King fanciers import regularly top class material from the U.S. These imports have a superb tight and smooth feathering, short body and a perfect horizontal stance. But on the other side, they are nearly always underweight and due to their smooth feathering look even smaller as they are. Furthermore it’s a well known fact that super short pigeons  do have a problem with the fertili­zation.

 

In 1994 the mana­gement of the German King Club gave  a fierce warning to all the judges who prefer­red these short feathered but to small Kings. One can only agree to this point of view. Certainly the most characteristic feature of a King is the mas­siveness, if you take that away you are left with a sort of English Modena. Until now nobody succeeded in getting that smooth feathering of an American King on a big framed German or Dutch King. Almost every Dutch King  is somehow rela­ted to German Kings. The German fanciers are more likely to import from America than the Dutch. The color  Andalusian Blue (black with the spread- and Indigo factor) is only recently impor­ted from the U.S. and still very scarce.

 

How should an ideal King look like?

Vital bodybuilders well rounded, without sharp  corners, harmonic and esthetical ! It’s a nice de­scription but as breeder you can better compare all the points with the standard.

 

Type:

One glance is enough  to recognize a real quality King. It's all a matter of composition of the main features. In front  a King must be full  and broad (14 cm.). The keel/underline  well-rounded, the tail short and in pro­por­tion to the short body. These are the most impor­tant requirements of an excellent King.

  

Carriage/Stance

A permanent, completely horizontal bearing is essential for a King. Seen from beside, the legs should be exactly under the deepest point of the body. The short, broad and well padded back must be level. To show that wanted ideal picture a King must be well balanced with the end of the small, short tail ap­proximately 3 cm. above horizontal. The legs should be strong and muscular, and medium in length. The distance between the legs must be the same as the distance between keel and floor. A high stance and a deep keel on the same pigeon seems impossible. One of the most common faults is that failing depth of keel. Judges should be aware that older pigeons seem to have shorter legs (due to getting heavier with age).

 

Neck

The neck should be short, thick and carried per­­pendicularly. The back of the neck should be on one line with the hocks The standard is very clear on this point. Due to the genetic influence of the  Maltheser inbreeding are the often seen to tall and thin necks. Another fault we find at the back of the neck.  Instead of tapering fluently, they display a sort of pushed out upper neck.

 

Back and Tail

The standard demands a short and very broad back. That broad back should be tapering to a very small tail. Nearly all Kings could be shorter in back, but for a good fertilization we must not se­lect extreme short pigeons. An such a broad back, a super small tail is not possible. A King with a wide tail has no value, but two feathers wide at the tip is we must allow.

 

Wings

Since we want every part of a King  short, it is not amazing that the wings of a King should be short as well. The wings must be carried high, so that (seen from beside) keel and breast are clearly visi­ble. The back should be well covered with the wings, any fault on this part must be punished seve­rely.

 

Plumage

The feathering  must be close and smooth. Only this sort of feathering gives the King that well rounded appearance. Loose feathering in neck and rump can not be tolerated.

 

Head

A King with an ideal body have almost always a good head, in reverse Kings with a good head have good body's. The head of a King should be mode­rately large and broad with a well rounded skull. The highest point is above the eyes. The back of the head well rounded and fluently going over in the neck. Kings with to small skulls or pinched appearance are unsuitable for breeding or showing. If the eyes are visible from above, the skull is to small. Kings with extra volume in the forehead are worth there weight in gold for breeding purposes.

 

Beak

Short and as broad as possible, and carried in a horizontal position. Both mandibles of nearly equal strength and substance. Possible due to the wrong selection, by some Kings the mandibles don't fit exactly. The upper mandible is to small and falls in the to wide under mandible. The opposite, long and thin beaks are nearly as bad.

 

Eye Color & Cere

Prominent, round and bright. With the exception of the whites with their dark colored eyes  and the brown with a pearl eye color, all other colors should have a bright orange/red eye color. Especially by the black and blue colored Kings we can demand a ruby red eye color. But  the black  often display (even on shows)  dull, yellow colored eyes. They may be useful for breeding but certainly not for show purposes.

 

Eye Cere

Perfectly round and fine in texture. White Kings must have small, beetle red ceres. Even by two year olds, ceres must be bright red. By all other colors the color of the ceres go's by the color of the feathering. By scarce colors like Andalusier and such, red ceres are still tolerated.

 

Color and Patterns

All the recognized standard colors are described in the standard. The demands on color and patterns are fairly high. But we must keep in mind, that co­lor and pattern comes (at least in the Netherlands) on the last place. Especially newly recognized co­lors must be treated very careful. We don't want to scare them away. It takes a few years before we can demand unity in color and pattern.

 

Breeding and productivity

Kings are very robust and vital pigeons who can bring up their own youngsters without any pro­blem. But the breeder should take some precau­tions. The hens should be at least eight to ten months old before they are used for breeding. The King is one of the largest pigeons, breeding coops and nests should be big enough. Most Kings like mild weather, so don't start the breeding season in January when it is to cold. Be aware that fat Kings don't lay. Newly bought Kings need some time for acclimatizing. Be sure, very sure that your Kings  are healthy. If not, don't start treating two weeks before the breeding season.

 

In conclusion

The author of this article has been a pigeon fancier nearly all his life, he has breeded and showed Kings successfully for a period of more than  25 years. He is aware that the Dutch view on Kings may differ from the English view. His command of the English language is rather poor and he apologies for all the gramma­tical faults and unreadable English. He wishes all the readers a happy 2001 and a very lucky hand in putting the pairs together.

 

Jan Jacobs                           November 2000