Teacher puffed up with his fancy pigeon hobby

KUALA LUMPUR: Like a proud pheasant that spreads its colourful tail feathers to grab attention, the Norwich Cropper pigeon too has its unique action to attract the attention of its female partner.

This fancy breed of pigeon can puff up its chest so much that the bird looks like a ball of feather with its head hardly visible.

According to a local breeder, Dzulkarnain Md Nasar, 42, the bird seemed to know when to show off its skill to puff up its chest especially when people gathered around it.

“The pigeon can puff up its chest several times its normal size naturally all day long,” he told Bernama.

Dzulkarnain, who is a teacher, began breeding this species of bird in 2013 and now he has a collection of 30 pigeons in variety of colours.

He said even though not many people were interested in keeping Norwich Cropper, he took the hobby as a challenge.

“As far as I know, there are only five or six people breeding Norwich pigeon in the country and in Selangor, I am probably the only one to keep this type of pigeon,” he said.

“Actually, Norwich Cropper is a hardy bird in hot or cold weather, so long as it has regular supplies of food and water,” he said.

It was difficult initially as he encountered several problems trying to keep the bird due to the lack of information and only found success after a year of studying and consulting with experts on the proper techniques to care and breed the pigeon.

Dzulkarnain said breeders should be sensitive about the environment and health of the bird as it is exposed to sickness brought by mosquitoes.

Nonetheless, he said after going through all the challenges, it was worth his while to see his brood grew and had become an expert of sorts on this fancy pigeon from Norway to other enthusiasts.

“Every time I join a bird show, many people would be captivated by these cute vain pigeons showing off their vast puffed up chest,” he said.

He said a growing interest in the pigeon had opened up a lucrative market for him as a pair of Norwich Cropper is going for RM500. - Bernama

Bernama pic Dzulkarnain showing a Norwich Cropper pigeon in Kajang. —

A part of the collection of frill-back breed of pigeons kept by Dzulkarnain at his residence at Sekolah Teknik in Kajang.

An American Fantail is among exotic pigeons owned by Dzulkarnain.