PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Five white pigeons “fly the coop” at a loft in Beaver Falls.
No problem. They’re homing pigeons.
“These birds will fly for hours and hours once you get them trained,” says owner Jerry Gagne. He says well trained racing pigeons can cover 1,500 miles in two days.
“All pigeons that are raised commercially have a band on their leg,” Gagne adds. “There’s a serial number like a social security number. Different for every bird in the world.”
He says his most famous customer is “Mike Tyson, the fighter. His passion is pigeons. He just loves his pigeons.”
But Gagne’s real bread and butter comes from pigeon products.
Foy’s Pigeon Supplies sells more than 3,000 pigeon products. Gagne and his daughter Kim are the third family to own the oldest, largest bird supply company in America, which is celebrating its 130th anniversary.
“We were founded in 1883 by Mr. Frank Foy who started selling duck eggs,” Jerry Gagne explains.
As for those homing pigeons, they’ve flown back to the coop.
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Filed under: Local, News, Syndicated Local Tagged: 130 Years, Animals, Anniversary, Birds, Dave Crawley, Frank Foy, Jerry Gagne, Pigeons, Racing Pigeons 
