Description

Shamwari Lofts – Rob Poley

My passion for pigeons began when my father had a loft built for me while I was still in primary school. Along with the loft, the builder generously gave me 10 pairs of pigeons that he was parting with. I eagerly bred and cared for the birds, taking great joy in bringing them to school each day to toss them.

However, after primary school, I was sent to Treverton Boarding School, which meant I had to give up my pigeons as my mother was left to care for them.

In 2009, during a business meeting in Durban, I parked at the Royal Hotel. On my way back to my car, I witnessed a hotel cleaning staff member throw two baby pigeons out of their nest onto the pavement. I couldn’t leave them behind, so I took them home, where my wife hand-reared them. Once they matured, I went to Durban Pets and Aquarium, where my friend helped me find two mates for them. I quickly realized how much I had missed pigeons, so I acquired several different breeds of fancy pigeons and built up solid stud lines. However, I became disillusioned with the subjective nature of pigeon judging.

I then joined the Hillcrest Racing Pigeon Club, where I was generously gifted a number of birds from Rob Heerman and Peter Morgan. Unfortunately, I never got to race with the Hillcrest club, as we moved to Bergville in 2013. I became a member of the Bergville Racing Pigeon Club in 2014, but shortly after, I started working in Johannesburg. My long commutes from Bergville meant I couldn’t race, but I continued to assist the club by serving as race secretary and compiling the results each weekend.

In 2015, my daughter helped me breed a round of youngsters, which I entered into the Carnival One Loft Club series. One of my birds, 315 NB 2015, performed exceptionally well, achieving four top-10 finishes and being awarded Middle Distance Champion.

At the end of 2016, I bought a smallholding south of Johannesburg to make life easier for the family as the commuting was taking its toll. At this time, Herman returned my cock, 315 NB 2015, and Fareed Kathrada gave me a Kaasboer hen he had bred from an imported pair. I paired them together, and the only round I bred that year, I gave to Herman Van Rensburg. The hen, 1246 NKR 2016, turned out to be a superstar, winning five club races, four federation races, and finishing 2nd in the federation, narrowly beaten by only 38 seconds.

In 2017, I joined PRO Pigeon Club and raced from my loft for the first time. It was a challenging year, racing against some of the top fanciers in the country. Additionally, a pair of Goshawks made it difficult to home my babies, causing me to lose several good youngsters and older birds.

In 2018, Richard Sinclair and I formed a partnership, S and S (Sinclair and Shamwari). We had great success, becoming club champions and runners-up the following year. One of the standout birds was 14205 TRPF 17, bred from Richard’s cock and one of my Van Moorsel hens. This hen’s offspring continued to win races for Richard. Our partnership also saw us winning a number of sales races, including the Sandton R5000 ring race and the Alberton Expensive ring race (1st and 3rd place). Two of our birds were the only birds home on the day. (Sire 315 NB 15 – Dam 16434 TRPF 2015 Lot 10)

We also joined Unitas Club in 2018, racing under the partnership name R and R Lofts. In 2019, I raced an old bird team from my loft, achieving great results with 7 race wins and a Union victory. I also had the 3rd Best Middle-Distance bird in the Union.

When COVID hit in 2020, the chairman decided to close the club. Richard and I joined the Vanderbijlpark Club and continued to achieve success, which we could not get to excited about as some fanciers not participating in club races and were sending their birds for tosses from the race points.

In 2022, I joined Overvaal Club and only participated in the sprint and middle-distance races. My old team performed exceptionally well, with my cock, 7425 TRPF 20 (Lot 26), becoming the Best Middle-Distance Bird in the club and 3rd Best in the Union. My hen, 528 TRPF 20 (Lot 39), was the 2nd Best Middle-Distance Bird in the club and 5th Best in the Union. Another hen, 1054 TRPF 20(Lot 11), won the Noupoort race and finished 6th in the Union.

In 2023, I decided to fly with Alberton Club after being a non-flying member for some time. Unfortunately, just a month before the season, I was diagnosed with an allergy to feather dust, which severely affected my lungs. I had already lost 50% of my lung capacity, with 25% scar tissue and 25% inflammation. The strain of traveling with the birds in the car worsened my condition, and after a few races, I had to stop racing. In my final race, however, I finished 3rd in the Open, with my hen 528 TRPF 2020(Lot 39), only beaten by seconds.

I was in the process of disposing off my birds when my wife suggested we keep a few pairs and breed for One Loft races. This decision proved successful when our young hen, 4938 Cyrils 2023 Bred by Lot 25 and Lot 26), led the ace pigeon standings by 10 minutes until the final race. She lost both her 8th flight feathers and didn’t arrive until the next day, but Johan Jonker still considered her the best bird in the loft that year. She was eventually sold at the Top Pigeon auction for R155,000.

This year, I’ve entered several youngsters into Marlbank, Dinokeng, Central Lofts, and Winners Flight Loft.