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Thank you for visiting our web site.Shewmaker Genetics has been in the animal breeding business for over fifty years. During this time we have established a number of world class herds in a number of species. For the past twenty five years, we have concentrated on the breeding of racing pigeons.
News Items:
Racing Pigeon software, free download
- An update on “The Book Project”. After years of thinking about it, we made the plunge and wrote (after several more years) a book on the genetics of racing. If you are serious about pigeon racing, this book is a must read. The details about this project, along with a preview, are available here and at the left under “The Book Project”. Well I missed my September goal. The move to the new house really messed with my other activities. I have finish the writing. I finally had to call it a wrap. There is more I wanted to do, but I had to end it. I am doing the final proofing now and then it goes to the publisher who will need to take his time for his part. I really don't know how long that will be, but I suspect it will be a few more months.
- We are continuing our extensive testing of the LDHA and DRD4 genes. There have been scientific papers published which suggest that there may be a relationship between pigeons with certain alleles for the LDHA and DRD4 genes and superior racing performance. It is way too early to say just how strong these relationships are, but it is an exciting development and we are pleased to be one of the first breeding operations in the world to do such extensive DNA testing for these alleles in our breeding flock. To date we have genotyped over two thousand of our past and current birds. You can read more about the LDHA gene here. In the slides of my seminar on January 4th 2020 there is a significant amount of information on the DRD4 gene (slides 66 to 76). You can read this material under the “For the Sport” | “Seminars” section of this site or click here.
- Finally, I am happy to report that my wife and I have moved. We are still in the general vicinity of Sacramento California, but about 40 miles east of our old location. The birds have all been moved to temporary quarters and we are in the process of setting up the new lofts.. As a result of the move I didn't breed very many birds in 2019 and only sent a few to a single One Loft Race (where they unfortunately were burned to death in a fire). I did not fly Old Birds or Young Birds with my club in 2019. In 2020 though we should be getting closer to normal. I have about 60 young birds that are settled and under test and I plan to fly these in the upcoming 2020 Old Bird series in my club.
- We had a wonderful SEMINAR on Saturday January 4th and AUCTION on Sunday January 5th 2020 at the Fort Sutter Racing Pigeon Club in Sacramento California. I was really pleased with the turnout. We had people who came from as far away as Arizona and Texas. The questions and discussions were outstanding, The slides for the seminar have been posted here and on this site under “For the Sport/Seminars”. These slides contain new notes on the DRD4 gene.
The key cornerstones of our program are a superior gene pool (within which are a number of distinct families), carefully designed matings, extensive contemporary group testing and collaboration with our customers. This is the same approach we have taken in other species and it has worked very well. But just as that famous wine slogan says, 'no wine before it's time!'; breeding superior pigeons takes time and effort. While we are pleased with our progress, we still have a lot of work to do. We do feel though that there are a number of aspects about our program that make it unique within the sport: While there are many way to Rome, we believe ours makes the most sense. You can read about it here.
Our primary focus is on breeding and testing. We do not spend much time on marketing and sales. In fact we do almost no advertising. Our sales are largely from word of mouth and from visitors to this site. Don’t misunderstand me on this point - we do sell birds, we are just extremely selective in what we offer for sale. Let us know what you need and we will work with you. We do try to maintain an inventory of about a dozen top birds for sale at all times.
You will find a great deal of other information on this site. It is the repository of all of our theories and practices. We keep no secrets. We share it with the sport with the only proviso that it not be reproduced or distributed without our permission (personal use is fine). Under the ”For the Sport” section, there are also pages and links that are specifically for beginners to the sport. We do operate a professional consulting practice and so there are some fees associated with our Professional Services, but for most fanciers this should not come into play and everything you need to know is actually free and available under the “For the Sport” section.
Please visit us often to become familiar with our birds and our program. Always feel free to contact us. I work very long hours and I know it can be difficult reaching me, but leave a message and I will get back to you. It is never a problem when you call. We are continually looking for a few good customers who will work with us to move both of our lofts forward. Our birds are hard working and honest. If you are the same, we would love to work with you.
Hints for Contacting Us
Cell Phone: (916) 662-5339
Email: dave@shewmaker.com
Thank you for visiting our web site.Shewmaker Genetics has been in the animal breeding business for over fifty years. During this time we have established a number of world class herds in a number of species. For the past twenty five years, we have concentrated on the breeding of racing pigeons.
News Items:
- An update on “The Book Project”. After years of thinking about it, we made the plunge and wrote (after several more years) a book on the genetics of racing. If you are serious about pigeon racing, this book is a must read. The details about this project, along with a preview, are available here and at the left under “The Book Project”. Well I missed my September goal. The move to the new house really messed with my other activities. I have finish the writing. I finally had to call it a wrap. There is more I wanted to do, but I had to end it. I am doing the final proofing now and then it goes to the publisher who will need to take his time for his part. I really don't know how long that will be, but I suspect it will be a few more months.
- We are continuing our extensive testing of the LDHA and DRD4 genes. There have been scientific papers published which suggest that there may be a relationship between pigeons with certain alleles for the LDHA and DRD4 genes and superior racing performance. It is way too early to say just how strong these relationships are, but it is an exciting development and we are pleased to be one of the first breeding operations in the world to do such extensive DNA testing for these alleles in our breeding flock. To date we have genotyped over two thousand of our past and current birds. You can read more about the LDHA gene here. In the slides of my seminar on January 4th 2020 there is a significant amount of information on the DRD4 gene (slides 66 to 76). You can read this material under the “For the Sport” | “Seminars” section of this site or click here.
- Finally, I am happy to report that my wife and I have moved. We are still in the general vicinity of Sacramento California, but about 40 miles east of our old location. The birds have all been moved to temporary quarters and we are in the process of setting up the new lofts.. As a result of the move I didn't breed very many birds in 2019 and only sent a few to a single One Loft Race (where they unfortunately were burned to death in a fire). I did not fly Old Birds or Young Birds with my club in 2019. In 2020 though we should be getting closer to normal. I have about 60 young birds that are settled and under test and I plan to fly these in the upcoming 2020 Old Bird series in my club.
- We had a wonderful SEMINAR on Saturday January 4th and AUCTION on Sunday January 5th 2020 at the Fort Sutter Racing Pigeon Club in Sacramento California. I was really pleased with the turnout. We had people who came from as far away as Arizona and Texas. The questions and discussions were outstanding, The slides for the seminar have been posted here and on this site under “For the Sport/Seminars”. These slides contain new notes on the DRD4 gene.
Pigeon Racing Software Downloads
The key cornerstones of our program are a superior gene pool (within which are a number of distinct families), carefully designed matings, extensive contemporary group testing and collaboration with our customers. This is the same approach we have taken in other species and it has worked very well. But just as that famous wine slogan says, 'no wine before it's time!'; breeding superior pigeons takes time and effort. While we are pleased with our progress, we still have a lot of work to do. We do feel though that there are a number of aspects about our program that make it unique within the sport: While there are many way to Rome, we believe ours makes the most sense. You can read about it here.
Racing Pigeons For Sale
Our primary focus is on breeding and testing. We do not spend much time on marketing and sales. In fact we do almost no advertising. Our sales are largely from word of mouth and from visitors to this site. Don’t misunderstand me on this point - we do sell birds, we are just extremely selective in what we offer for sale. Let us know what you need and we will work with you. We do try to maintain an inventory of about a dozen top birds for sale at all times.
You will find a great deal of other information on this site. It is the repository of all of our theories and practices. We keep no secrets. We share it with the sport with the only proviso that it not be reproduced or distributed without our permission (personal use is fine). Under the ”For the Sport” section, there are also pages and links that are specifically for beginners to the sport. We do operate a professional consulting practice and so there are some fees associated with our Professional Services, but for most fanciers this should not come into play and everything you need to know is actually free and available under the “For the Sport” section.
Please visit us often to become familiar with our birds and our program. Always feel free to contact us. I work very long hours and I know it can be difficult reaching me, but leave a message and I will get back to you. It is never a problem when you call. We are continually looking for a few good customers who will work with us to move both of our lofts forward. Our birds are hard working and honest. If you are the same, we would love to work with you.
Hints for Contacting Us
Cell Phone: (916) 662-5339
Email: dave@shewmaker.com