Cliff Carrell at: Deerhaven Lofts

ccarrell@yahoo.com
5398 Zoar Road
(920) 589-3002
Pickett, WI 54964
United States

Welcome to my web page! I've been a visitor to many pigeon related sites and am always happy to find a new one. I created this page through a "quick page" program. I can't include personal pictures of my birds through this simple format so I plan to create a more inclusive page in the near future. Until that time, I'm posting this page to get in on this fantastic means of displaying my enthusiasm for this hobby which many of us have chosen to participate in.

MY BACKGROUND:

I've been a promoter of the pigeon hobby since I stole my first pair of common pigeons (out of a nest under a railroad bridge) in Casper, Wyoming way back in 1967. I was 12 at the time and I soon found out about the wide variety of fancy pigeons which were available to me. Over the years I've owned everything from red carneau and fantails, to jacobins and oriental rollers. But of course, as with most of us who became enamored with pigeons at an early age, my all time favorite breed has always been the Birmingham Roller! Rollers seem to have it all. They come in a wide variety of colors, are easy to manage, and of course, are certainly one of the most amazing athletes of the feathered world.

I raised pigeons for about 15 years before giving them up to make a career change in the early 80's. I married, and instead of settling down, my new bride and I decided to get the ants out of our pants before we were too old to enjoy the sensation. In our chosen occupation as teachers, we spent the next 10 years teaching in 4 different states (including a 3 year stint in a remote Eskimo village in Alaska). Our near "nomadic" lifestyle made it impossible to consider raising birds at that time in our lives. We finally settled down in 1991 here in Wisconsin and began the process of raising a family. I had always warned my wife that as soon as we settled down I was going to begin raising pigeons. I'm not sure if she comprehended the full extent of my warning, but fortunately she has recovered nicely and I even take her out in public on occasion! Seriously, make sure you have an understanding spouse before getting into this hobby. Fortunately, I was blessed with as understanding a mate as could be expected and I still come close to being put out on the couch on occasion, especially during breeding season, (pigeon breeding season that is!)

Presently, I raise Performing Rollers, Baldhead Show Rollers, Parlor Tumblers, and beautiful Nuns (blacks). I compete with my performers locally, nationally, and, even internationally in World Cup competition. My family of rollers comes out of stock from Carl Hardesty of Kentucky. Several stock birds were purchased from Carl directly and others were obtained from Bob Bettis of Illinois and my good friend Bill Murkley from Wisconsin. In addition to the "old family" lines which I breed exclusively for performance, I also work on several color projects with performance in mind. The genetic modifiers we have to work with today are incredible. Indigo/andalusian, reduced/lace, almond/qualmond, and dilute are the main factors I'm working with at this time. Combined with the common mutations of ash red, brown, reccesive red, piebald, and grizzle, ( just to name a few), I've been able to spice up my loft tremendously. One of the nicest things about this hobby is that I never run out of interesting projects to tinker with.

To conclude, I would like to extend an invitation to anyone out there who is not "roller literate" to contact someone in your area who raises these fantastic creatures, and get out to a loft and witness the beauty of these birds in action. I'm also always happy to hear from folks through e-mail regarding pigeon topics and I would be more than happy to attempt to answer any questions regarding the pigeon hobby in general.

Thanks for visiting!


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