Ken Easley (right) with his family.Pigeon sport is a real family business for the Easley's. Ken is indeed the third generation of pigeon fancier and he has been lucky enough to pass on his passion to his son, Kendall, which is then the fourth generation. Living in Cedar Crest in New Mexico, the Easley's have been enjoying their hobby throughout the different one loft races where they sent their birds to. But to shine on this specific competition, you must build your stock around pigeons strong enough to fly hard in various flying circumstances. And these circumstances are totally different regarding the part of the world you are entering your birds to. That's why they put their hands onto various top performers from some high rated One Loft Races such as Victoria Falls, SAMDPR and Golden Algarve Race. But their best purchase, they made it straight from the breeding loft of an important name within the international pigeon scene.
Several years ago, they already had an eye on a german name that booked numerous top positions in the one loft racing. This name is the one of Alfons & Helmut Klaas who probably sounds familiar to any pigeon fancier in the world following the OLR competitions. The Easley foundation bird, the 'Konbird' is an original Klaas pigeon who allowed them to fulfill their dreams & ambitions. This magnificent chequered cock born in 2010 owns some exceptionnal genetic package relentlessly impacted the OLR happenings in the entire world.
The 'Konbird', ultimate stock bird of the Easley's.
Father: 'Half-Brother Konstantin' (DV0507-02-864), original Alfons & Helmut Klaas and bred from a pairing 'grandfather x mother Konstantin'. For those who don't know about it, 'Konstantin' is the winner of the final of the SAMDPR 2007 (winning 200.000 USD)! He is also uncle to Victor, also winner of the SAMDPR 2011 (winning 200,000 USD).
Mother: 'Sister Birdy' (DV06503-08-200), original Sudhoff-Van Beers bird. 'Birdy' being considered as the best pigeon ever entered to the SAMDPR after she won the Knock Out Average, the Grand Average as well as the Hot Spot Average. 'Birdy' was then purchased by Jan Hooymans where she was paired up with some of his best breeding cocks.
Throughout the years, the breeding references of the 'Konbird' in the OLR became massive, both in the USA and abroad. With the help of his children, 'Konbird' is to be found at the origin of no less than 39x 1st prize. We have made a small listing of the best ones for you:
'Konbird' is sire of:
- Big Tex
Best pigeon Flying D 2019
4th prize 400 miles Flying D 2019
1st prize 100 miles Flying D OLR
equal 1st - 3rd prize 205 miles Flying D 2019
equal 1st - 6th 150 miles Flying D OLR 2019
- Mighty Mouse (AU15-EASLEY-418)
top breeding cock who became father of:
1st HSCR Average Speed Champion 2016 SAMDPR 4550 birds
1st Knockout Winner USA 4550 birds, 2nd INT
24th Grand Averages International
7th Grand Averages USA 802 birds
3rd Country Challenge Grand Averages winner
3rd, 11th, 17th, 20th, 111, 138 prizes in Car Races
1st Country Challenge winner HSCR 5
83rd prize final race 336 miles 2162 birds
- Easy Money (AU12-EASLEY-3594)
Sire of Mach 1
1st National Ace Pigeon ARPU
Mach 1 had 5 x 1st prize from 100 to 300 miles in the club, combine and Heartland Federation
1st State Champion
equal 1st 350 miles Hoosier Classic 2017
1st 350 miles EWOC 2016 (also siblings 9th and 11th same race)
1st 350 miles Fall Classic 2012
1st 350 miles Heartland Fall Classic 2013
8th 350 miles Heartland Fall Classic 2012
equal 1st & 8th to trap 370 miles Sierra Ranch Classic
- Million Dollar Kid
sire of:
equal 1st - 5th HSCR 5 SAMDPR 2017
equal 1st - 5th 353 miles Silvercreek Quad 2017
equal 1st - 2nd 250 miles Silvercreek Quad 2017
equal 1st - 267 miles 6 seconds Apple Cup 2017
equal 1st - 267 miles 15 seconds Apple Cup 2017
- Rubikon
grandsire of
1st Prize 400 miles GHC 2016
- Triple X
sire of
equal 1st 100 miles triple Crown 2016
equal 1st 200 miles Triple Crown 2016
15th 363 miles Iron Eagle 2016
- 888
grandam of
19th prize final Race SAMDPR 2016
- Konrad (AU12-EASLEY-834)
sire of
equal 1st prize 300 miles California State Race 2014
- Baby Birdy (AU11-Easley-3566)
sire of
equal 1st 300 Miles Americas International Challenge
equal 1st 350 m iles Americas International Challenge
- Thunderbird (AU11-Easley-3565)
sire of
1st Plymouth Peak 300 miles
1st Texas Twister 250 miles
- KonKon (Easley-898)
sire of:
1st 300 miles Triple Crown Classic 2013 1 hour lead ahead of second drop
1st Winners Cup $40,000
- Black Mamba
sire of
1st Canadian International 300 miles 2013
1st Empire Classic 250 miles 2014
- Fighter (Easley-3596)
sire of
equal 1st 350 miles North Florida OLR 2012 (8th to trap)
- Sophia
dam of
1st Prize 350 miles Fall Classic 2014
'Konbird' is grandsire of:
- Tiger 12
sire of
equal 1st drop 225 miles AIC - October 2014
equal 1st Drop 300 miles AIC - November 2014
- Boots 180
sire of
14th prize 350 miles AIC - November 2014
'Mukiwa' booked an astonishing performance in SAMDPR 2016
The 2016 edition of the SAMDPR saw a bird christened 'Mukiwa' performing like never in South Africa. This bird was entered by the Easley's was simply the best pigeon flying in the 2016 edition in Sun City. At the end, she won the title of 1st Hot Spot Ace Winner as well as 1st Knockout Winner USA (4.550 birds) & 2nd INT in the 2016 SAMDPR. In the final race, 'Mukiwa' won the 83th prize against 2.162 birds. Here are her performances on the car race from the 2016 edition:
Car race 1 (138 km): 138th Car race 2 (184 km): 3rd Car race 3 (238 km): 111th Car race 4 (285 km): 20th Car race 5 (341 km): 11th
Click here to check out the pedigree of 'Mukiwa'.
Constent focus regarding the best OLR performers
The Easley's almost reedited this performance in 2019. Indeed, one of their bird (AU18-Easley-8839) achieved a marvellous performance once again during the whole competition. On the final race, that bird won the 5th prize against 2.531 pigeons but he ended as 1st Knockout Winner SAMDPR 2019 winning at the same time 70.000 USD of prize money! This bird is once again the result of the well thought breeding philosophy developed by the Easley's who always try to purchase some birds who proved their worth through their achievement on the most prestigious OLR.
Indeed, Ken & his son added to their collection some top performers of the last editions of the SAMDPR, Victoria Falls, Algarve Golden Race, etc. For example, the father of the AU18-Easley-8839 who performed amazingly in the SAMDPR 2019 is 'Saad', a Kuwait pigeon who won the 6th prize of the SAMDPR 2017 final race. Click here to check the pedigree of AU18-Easley-8839.
It says a lot concerning their feeling and their abilities to point the right birds when it's time to strenghten their breeding loft. Here is a short balance of the birds they recently added to their collection:
- Saad: who was 6th final 2017 SAMDPR, father of 8839-18, the 5th prize winner SAMDPR for 2019 and 1st Knockout winner!!!!
- Sunce: 2nd prize final SAMDPR 2017. (Prange, Van Loon - Golden Crown 2 x 1st 16,000 birds and car winner)
- Rene: highest placing grizzle to ever fly the SAMDPR winning 5th prize final race arriving with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.
- Dino: winner of 7th final Portugal 3644 pigeons and 5th overall Ace pigeon 5800 birds.
- Jetstream: 8th prize final SAMDPR 2018.
- Jazira - 8th final 602 km Victoria Falls, (was not activated)
- Nora - 11th prize SAMDPR 2012.
- ...
Throughout the years, the Easley's proved their worth and the abilities of their pigeons to perform well on the most prestigious OLR around the world. They are now one of the leading names in the international pigeon scene and we are sure they will pursue their quest of domination in this emergent pigeon scene.