Gomez Strain of Rollers–Pictures

Black and White Foundation Hen

 My Balck and White Foundation hen was the grandaughter of my Old Spangle Cock.  I didn;t fly her for the first two years, but flew her until she was 14 years old.  She lived 18 years.

The Old Spangle Cock

The Old Spangle Cock showed me what a roller was capable of.  A slow developer, he began rolling at one year, then developed into a solid 25 foot spinner which rolled in perfect form showing a clean hole.  This bird was stolen seven times and returned. 

Family Tree of the Gomez Strain

 I developed this tree in an effort to more easily see what I had been doing in my breeding.  I have found it to be a valuable tool for me, and It has helped others to understand my family of rollers. 

76 CRS #2705 Thunder

Thunder was produced from a large but active rolling  cock and a hen that rolled “the  distance” from what ever height she began.  My idea was to acquire the style in a safe stable offspring.  Six of the eight produced by the pair rolled down, but this bird spun right and was stable.  He was one of the main early contributers to my family.

77 CRS #90 Miracle

Miracle was tha half sister to Thunder, both produced from the large, “Big Daddy”, a blue checker bronze wing produced from an Odie Wright cock bred to a Jerry Higgins Hen.  She was the daighter of my foundation hen, and rolled fairly deep, up to about 40 feet.  She had a beautiful gravel eye full of texture with a strong inner “circle of correlation”.  I bred her to Thunder for about three years.  The occasional recessive reds produced by them were always hot rollers as well as good producers.  The dark checkers were also good, but were less frequent.

79 JCRC #62

62 was my faborite recessive red bred from Miracle and Thunder.  She was extremely reliable and would roll over 40 feet at times.  Day in and day out she would put on a show. 

80 CRS #2059

A daughter of my foundation hen and one of Cornell Norwoods’  top stock cocks, #47.  She did not roll until 14 months, but the first time I saw her roll she went at least 20 feet, hard and fast.  I had planned to use her for years, but lost her.

83 Gomez #131

I called this hen the 2 Second Hen because she rolled every 2 to 10 seconds.  She was probably the most active bird I have ever had the pleasure of flying.  She also had the stamina to go along with it, and was a good producer as well.

Original 119 Muff Pair

 This was the start of my muff roller project.  This sister and brother were my first muffs.  They were closely bred birds 3 generations (“great grand children”) of Pensom’s 119 cock.. each having that 3 times on their pedigree. 

78 Gomez Purple Band #96

  This hen was exceedingly fast.  She spun blood in her eyes, but only once.  I bred great hens from these birds, but never produced a cock that I felt was of value to breed.  My refusal to cross them into my main family led to their near extinction in my loft. 

88 Gomez #412

412 was one of my best producers ever.  I stocked her unflown.  On the ground she had all the quality I could ask for.   Great body, temperment and densly textured eye,

Quite a bit of roller evolution had taken place before I produced this hen.  Unfortunately I didn’t focus the camera on my birds.  Most of my photography involved my children.    My last two crosses led to this hen.  The first was a champion producer, 80 NBRC #234 from Ron Dent.  The other was the heavily muffed hen, 81 NPA KN #355, an outstanding roller that I called Showtime.

91 Gomez #695

This was one of the offspring of 412.  A bird having extreme velocity that would appear to shrink as it approached it’s maximum speed.  A half sister, #591 virtually a look-alike except for having orange eyes, rolled much the same, but was possibly my best producer ever.

90 Gomez #640

640 was a fantastic roller and was great in the stock loft.  His type was about as close to Ideal as any roller I ahve ever had.

94 NBRC GG 683

A reintroduction of the 119 muff family blood produced this bird and his full brother, which were the foundation of my current muff substrain.  This bird spun with blur speed, showing a small hole and with tips touching. 

92 IPB #306

This son of 591 stands out in my memory as one of the birds having the most beautiful,  smooth  style of roll that I have ever seen.  

08 Gomez #1993

This hen began spinning at blur speed with excellent style and very frequent, at only 4 months .   Due to the frequency of hawk attacks I was hesitant about flying her further, then, when the falcon appeared, it made my decision.