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Chance c. lee
What is your name?
Chance C. Lee.
Where are you from?
My parents are from Laos. I’m Hmong. Born in Connecticut.
Where do you live?
St. Paul, Minnesota.
What is your age?
30.
Do you have a family?
Still single.
Religious? Not religious?
I’m LDS, served a 2 year mission for my church in the Philippines.
Are you working or are you a student?
Graduated college and looking for a decent job.
When did you get your first pigeon?
My brothers and my dad got into utility meat pigeons, homers, and Lahores when I was about 8 years old.
When did you get your first parlor?
I got my first parlors around 2009 or 2010 from a guy in Missouri. I didn’t have the patience to wait for quality stock, so I snatched up the first ones I saw on the internet. They bred a young that flew a little, especially to meet me when I fed them which I did not like very much. I soon located better stock in Iowa; closer to me in Nebraska and I drove up to get them. I grabbed a red cock, kite cock, black hen, and an almond hen. Those were my first quality parlors that rolled good and had good physical features such as correct eye color and body shape.
What other kinds of pigeons do
you have?
I’ve kept utility meat cross breeds, homers, Lahores, rollers, and parlors. However my last 2 years in the pigeon hobby consisted of just rollers and parlors.
Do you consider yourself a breeder?
If I had the space and time money I would breed thousands of parlors. I love this breed very much. However, I just had a small operation and kept 2 pairs with 2 extra hens as my breeding stock rotating the hens back and forth, while taking their youngs to the shows.
What is your loft/coop/pigeon
dwelling like? Dimensions?
I’m not good with measurements hehe. I had them in a box shape housing that was about 4x4 and about 3 feet high. With mesh wires for windows on two sides and a door, along with moveable dividers that stood on legs in their housing compartment.
What feed brand/mix do you use?
Why?
I just used a standard homer pigeon mix due to that was the same feed I feed my homers. Its good to keep them on a light mix before competition though.
Do you have one favorite bird?
If so, why?
I have a recessive red cock (one of the originals that I bought), band number APRA 910 bred by Dewey Skilling of Iowa and he was hatched in 2005. He was old but was still driving the hens. He had a nice head, very short beak, all muscle and very compact and he had his wings drooping down like a Oriental Roller. He only certified at 107 feet, but he was my favorite. I sold him with the rest of my parlors to Colorado and I would like him back if he decides to get rid of him.
This recessive red’s granddaughter which is a tort is also my favorite. I didn’t take her to the show, but she acts like a human because I babied her a lot as a squab. Her father, a kite, was my first hatchling parlor for my first year. Second year produced none and this tort was actually hatched and fostered by my flying rollers (she was hatched my third year with parlors). When I go feed them she is the first to greet me and she wants to get out of the pen. She likes to jump on top of the breeder nesting box and look out the mesh wire windows as well. She breaks a lot of tail feathers because she is always jumping up and down the breeder nesting boxes to view outside the windows.
What is it about parlors that makes you so stoked about them?
They look super nice to my eyes. I like the way they are built, the way they are put together; small, compact, muscular, pearl eyes. They are not aggressive and they hardly ever fight. They are very passive for pigeons. They will feed other youngsters in the same pen. They were a breed meant for me. I really do love them a lot.
What bothers you most about
parlor pigeons?
They are not really good a parents.
They hatch well, but they don’t feed them well the first couple
weeks of life until the squabs are a little bit older. They usually
just feed the bigger baby and so you have to let them feed the
smaller one first then add the bigger baby later after the smaller
one been feed.
My parents call this breed “stupid,” but I like them.
Rolling in the loft can be a problem with some of them, so it’s important to make sure you try to reduce rolling in the loft and that can be done by keeping them in a smaller area. If youhave an unstable parlor that keeps rolling in the loft, it will make the others start to roll as well because the actions of that unstable parlor will scare the others into rolling. So, it’s important to never spook them. I usually knock on the door before I open as to reduce spinning in the loft or to prevent them from ever spinning in the loft.
Why, out of all the pigeon
breeds do you choose to keep parlors?
I think if I’m a pigeon that I would be a parlor myself. I like the fact that they can’t fly and so you can keep them in a backyard in a city environment. They require no flying, they are in essence chickens in my eyes. They have very cool personalities too; very docile.
Would you consider yourself a
novice, intermediate or a pro when it comes to parlors?
I think I’m a intermediate. I feel that I’ve learn a lot about the breed itself and how to care for them. Next step is to raise some super long rollers and to get as many as possible to certify in the future to be considered a master breeder.
Do you understand pigeon
genetics?
I don’t know much about pigeon genetics or colors, but I do hate color projects within the parlor breed that is happening. I feel it’s important to keep the breed in its purest form otherwise we will lose this breed forever.
What are your future plans with
regards to pigeons/parlors?
Well, I sold out of birds and so I’ll like to get back into them one day again. I’ve left the hobby but I’ll be back stronger than ever. I plan to acquire the best available stock when I get back in and to also do my best to maintain the breed characteristics and weed out all the junk mutts that are now all over the place.
What bugs you the most about the parlor world?
The need for breeders to add/bring color into the parlor breed which breaks them down and turns these parlors into flying roller lookalikes that can roll on the ground like parlors.
What do you like most about the
parlor world?
Not so sure about the breeders of parlors, but I like the breed very much. There is no other satisfying feel than to buy or breed one yourself that can roll well and have the classic parlor roller physical look.
What does the parlor world
need?
The parlor tumbler needs to be maintain and keep alive like in Germany where there are tons of parlor tumblers. The tumbler variety is rare these days in the US and this breed needs a revival. The parlor roller variety will be okay, there are many who breeds this variety.
Do you compete with your
parlors? How do you feel about the competitions? Changes?
I’ve only competed with them one year and there still a lot to learn from it especially the “locking in process.” The competitions are fun and it’s nice to mingle with others who keep this breed. I’ve been to a couple parlor shows. The breeding process is fun too as you try to pair up the right birds to get the straightest and longest roller.
Pearl eyes are a must. That is the standard eye color!!!! Some say that the eye color doesn’t roll but the pigeon is what rolls. Why judge the parlor by his eye color? We should judge the parlor only by its roll? I disagree, if the breed is allowed to have whatever eye color that we please then the breed will end up being a mongrel breed and not true to it’s form. The pearl eyes sets it apart from other breeds especially the flying rollers. If I see a group of non-pearl eyes parlor for sale, that’s when I know I should move along and don’t touch because I know that they’ve been crossed with the flying rollers. I rather buy a parlor with pearl eyes that doesn’t roll as far compared to buying a parlor with orange/yellow eyes that can roll as far and long as a football field.
I like the parlors with a short tail also. I pay attention to the feet too. I like small, short, stubby, fat toes that some in this breed possesses instead of the long scrawny toes. The breed should be small and compact and should not be long. I don’t like the parlors with the long necks either. When looking at the parlors it should appear as if the head and body are one ( no neck breed is what my cousin calls them ).
Describe your daily interaction
with your parlors. For example, do you wake up and take care of your
birds? How often do you feed them? How much time per day do you spend
with the parlors?
I feed them twice a day, once in the morning and once before dark. I may feed them more depending on if they have young or not. My parlors love greens especially lettuce and they go crazy over it even if they are already full. I think they like the salt that is in the greens and they like the tearing motion of it when the peck at the lettuce. I take them out and put them in a cage and spray them down with a hose to cool them off which they like a lot.
Who do you look up to in the parlor world? Why?
My mentors will always be Rod Ferguson and Larry Jensen of Iowa. I like their parlors and I plan to grab some from them in the future as well as getting some stock from the Southern California area later on.
Do you have any pictures of
your parlors that you can share?
Feel free to steal them from my Facebook page lol and you can go to my Youtube page which has all my parlor videos. The most parlor videos created and uploaded to Youtube I believe.
Any advice to give to
beginners?
They are not a breed for everybody, so make sure you like them before you get them. They are need a lot of special care since they can’t fly.
