Minnesota man raises award-winning pigeons

By LAURA HORIHAN, The Post-Bulletin

STEWARTVILLE, Minn. (AP) - Stewartville resident Jerry Burgr's attachment to pigeons started with the kids next door.

His family moved from Stewartville to Rochester when he was 8 years old, and the children next door had caught wild pigeons under bridges and in barns, tamed them and kept them as pets.

After catching a few himself, he took a liking to them and he and his friends joined a local pigeon club.

"Some of the older guys took us under their wing and hauled us to some of the shows," Burgr said. "That's when I got into the purebred pigeons."

He learned about the different breeds, the correct way to handle and take care of the birds, and the importance of showmanship.

But Burgr lost interest in the pigeons in high school.

After serving in the Vietnam War, he came home looking for a new hobby. He owned horses for about 20 years before it "got too spendy keeping up with the Joneses."

"I remembered how much I used to enjoy raising pigeons, so I got back into it," said Burgr, whose resumption of his hobby garnered him some awards recently.

Since then he's been raising Modena pigeons, a breed known as the "bird of curves" that originated in Italy.

Since he retired from Minnesota Energy last year, Burgr has spent more and more time on a farm northwest of Stewartville where he keeps Modenas, Racing Homer and Birmingham Roller pigeons.

His goal is to breed the perfect pigeon for shows.

When his Modenas lay eggs, he takes the eggs from the nest, picks out the good ones and then places them under the nest of a Racing Homer pigeon.

"By removing the eggs from the nest, it pushes the Modenas on to a new nest and they'll produce more eggs," Burgr said. "Racing Homers are excellent pigeons, but I just use them as foster parents."

Eggs produced by the Racing Homers go to the farm cats.

The pigeons feed the chicks "crop milk" for the first week or so, then they begin feeding them grain, Burgr said. They are considered mature at six months.

"Pigeons mate for life, but we intercede," he said.

Growing up around show pigeons tweaked the curiosity of Burgr's two sons, Chris and Rob. That curiosity led to their vocations one works with biotechnology and the other is a chemist.

"Whenever I have a question about genetics, I call the boys," Burgr said.

Burgr recently traveled to San Diego with 30 of his birds for the 2011 National Pigeon Association Grand National Pigeon Show.

Judges look at how straight the bird stands and its eye and leg setting, Burgr said.

"You have to breed for these sort of things, because it doesn't happen by chance," Burgr said.

Both his Bronze Tri Gazzi cock and Yellow Shietti hen were champions of their class and the hen won Best Modena, meaning the two birds were judged against each other.

"That doesn't happen very often," Burgr said. "In the 75 years of the show, that has happened less than five times, so I feel pretty lucky."

When you've raised a winning bird, breeders want your genetics. Burgr has gotten calls from breeders in South Africa, Australia and the Middle East.

During the same show, Burgr also received a Master Breeder Award, which he called "humbling."

Fellow Master Breeders give the award to the breeder who has promoted the breed, built the breed up and shared their genetics with others.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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