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NEW ULM — Hundreds of people, some from other states, flocked to the Brown County Pigeon and Poultry Association Swap and Sell Day Sunday at the Brown County Fairgrounds.

Bob Coulter of Owatonna, said he raises 20 pigeons and 200 bantam chickens for fun.

“It’s an interesting hobby and the people I see at the sales and swaps are like family,” Coulter said.

Richard Okeson of St. Paul said his 40 birds “fascinate” him.

“I’ve been raising them since 1958 when I first took them to the Minnesota State Fair,” said Okeson.

Every few years, he travels to Germany to buy new breeding stock and visit friends, mostly in the Nuremberg area.

Amy Piehl of Sleepy Eye said her baby silkies don’t have real feathers so they’ll never fly away and are becoming popular as “therapy birds” in nursing homes and hospitals. They’re becoming popular house pets for New Yorkers, too, she added.

D.J. Morris of Newell, Iowa said more and more people ranging from those on welfare to billionaires, are using birds as house pets.

The event was hosted by the Brown County Pigeon and Poultry Association, a local club that has been promoting the breeding and exhibiting of poultry, pigeons and waterfowl to standards of perfection.

Four swap meets are hosted each spring, two in New Ulm and two in St. James. Members and friends gather to sell and swap birds.

The next New Ulm Swap & Sell will be held from 8 a.m. to noon, Saturday, April 12 at the Brown County Fairgrounds.

The St. James Swap & Sell will be held from 8 a.m. to noon, Sunday, May 4.

Two shows are held each fall. Birds are exhibited by breed, color and judged according to breed standards.

The New Ulm Classic Poultry Show will be held Oct. 11&12, 2008. The New Ulm Classic Pigeon Show will be held Nov. 22, 2008.

For more information, contact, Doug Grams of New Ulm or Al Christle and Trevor Nau of St. James.

(Fritz Busch can be e-mailed at fbusch@nujournal.com'>fbusch@nujournal.com).

 

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