Our Mission

This organization is being formed to provide a place for those who wish to share information, experiences, etc. with their Rollers of various colors in a non-threatening environment. We do not wish to step on anyone's toes here, just provide a safe place for those with the same interests. As many already know, the debate as to whether a so-called "colored" Roller can roll or is even worthy of being called a Roller can get very heated. Through this association, those who pursue the breeding of such Rollers can share ideas, successes, or whatever they wish without fear of repercussions.

However, this organization is open to anyone who has Rollers whether rare colored or standard colored, serious competition breeders to simple backyard breeders. We feel that there is much that can be learned from all. We also strongly feel that no one should ever be disrespected for what they choose to do with their birds.

We absolutely are not out to take away members from any other national club. We also are not out to take over or threaten any other club or organization. We simply wanted to provide a venue for two main reasons which should not conflict with any other club since, to our knowledge, no other club exists with these two goals in mind:

1.) To provide a bulletin and forum for those who breed "colored" rollers to have a place to share articles, experiences, ask questions, etc. without the fear of upsetting anyone.

2.) To establish and implement a system of judging individual birds based on their performing abilities without having to fly kits of predetermined numbers of birds.

Neither of these goals should be in interference with any other national or local club. We will always support national clubs and never encourage or suggest that anyone leave these clubs for any reason.

In the event that someone should leave a national club to join our club, it is entirely the individual member's decision and will never be influenced by us.

In the future we would like to establish a system of judging performance on an individual basis. We would like to see birds judged individually according to the quality of the roll, control, etc. This would mean that birds will not be docked for depth. Many deeper spinners have trouble keeping up with kits, but are still excellent Rollers which exhibit good rolling style. Many times these birds are culled out when they may be exceptional specimens.

Let's judge birds according to their own abilities rather than the combined abilities of 15 or 20 birds together. Think about it, how many birds do we actually keep and breed from out of a 15 or 20 bird kit?

Below, you can read a brief bio on the guy who founded this organization and get to know a little more about him.

Eric Stephens

In the air of excitement of forming this new organization, I thought I'd take a few minutes to share a little bit about myself. As we grow, I look forward to getting to know many of you and making new friends through this great hobby!

I grew up in Lubbock, Texas (far West Texas just south of Amarillo). I started raising pigeons in 1985, when I caught my first bird at my Grandpa's farm. Not knowing much about pigeons in general, I asked if we could keep it. Grandpa already raised what he called Satinettes (later to be clarified as Old Style Oriental Frills). Well, my first bird "Graybaby" was introduced to some very attractive hens and the rest is history. Before I knew it, I had about 10 half-breeds and was bringing those into town where I lived. In my area there were three people within walking distance that had pigeons. Two had Racing Homers, and the other had Performing Rollers. I immediately decided that it would be a good idea to try to develop a new breed. At the time, I really didn't care too much for Rollers and Racing Homers. Graybaby had this really ugly bracelet on him, which I chose to hide with a plastic bandette. It was about a year until I could accurately identify him as a Roller, when we invoked the assistance of the NPA to see who that band was sold to. It was a Roller breeder who had turned all of his birds out, locked up the trap and let them go their separate ways. Graybaby died January 21st of 2002. He was 17 years old.

It's now 20 years down the road, and I can't begin to appreciate just what this hobby has given me. When my friends were sneaking out of their houses at night and roaming the street, I was tucked in bed waiting for my alarm to go off so I could go fly my birds before it was time to get ready for school. Over the years, I've had many breeds, but the Rollers have always remained. During my high school and college years, I lost the time to fly my birds. I was doing good to get out and give them food and water. Toward the end of my college career, I decided it was best for the birds if I just got down to one pen of birds - something manageable. So I had about 8 pairs of Rollers and probably 4 pairs of Homers - mainly focusing on growing my knowledge of genetics and how many different ways I could make those work for me. After falling in love with my beautiful bride of 8 years now, it was time for that inevitable move to the big city of Dallas. We did the apartment hopping gig for 3 years, then decided it was time for us to settle down in a house and start a family of our own. All this time my parents had taken care of the birds back in Lubbock for me - waiting patiently - or so I thought! We couldn't have been in our house more than 3 weeks, and I got the phone call "Eric, it's time to build a loft and come get these things!".

So I've had them back in my life now for about 5 years. Barless has always been something I wanted in my Rollers. Never wanting to outcross to another breed, I waited patiently until happening on Bob's website. He had a nice little Barless Silver Roller Hen posted. So I got to know Bob and began working on Barless immediately after getting the bird in. I now find myself with more of them than I know what to do with - LITERALLY!!! But working with the different colors and modifiers is still a challenge and I am enjoying it immensely! This is the first year that I have flown my birds in at least 15 years. Not knowing, but expecting the worst from these poor birds that have been un-flown for so long, has proven to not be so bad. I'm having great success in these birds and their performance abilities.

I look forward to providing everyone with the best support and encouragement possible. If there's ever anything you're in need of - even just a few kind words - feel free to contact me.

Yours in the hobby,

Eric Stephens