johnny11

Sorry Wiley We call Blackpool, Blackie Sorry I meant a badge for myself John

Could someone enlighten me on how I get a badge for Blackie john

Bart I will print that off Might buy you one back too John

Chat It would be worth mentioning that alot of fanciers confuse urea crystals for cocci, and for the newcomer doing their own samples they could easily treat for the wrong thing Maybe you see it more there than here but cocci is not as readily seen as you may think Even some now are believing it should be eliminated all together during the racing season so they treat even if they see one. do you use a direct smear or flotation John

It was just that I have been doing sampling now for a few years and have never seen that many eggs or cocci in one field John

Gez a good walk along the front early morning blows the fuzziness of night before out of your head. Tram to town only costs £1

I used to use straw but would never again, when it gets damp due to the droppings fungus ill thrive in the straw. With straw you have to have the treated straw or your asking for trouble Tobacco stalks for me everytime, if I had to use straw i would get it sterilised by the autoclave John

Chat race Are these samples from your own birds? John

Bart That is reason we go to the Norbreck the pool keeps the kids amused. maybe we will bump into each other John

Norbreck castle

Just to add to Rolands post: anything added to the water that is not liked by the pigeons will cause firmer droppings. adding anything to water to firm up the droppings is false economy. If your birds have watery droppings with just giving normal water you have a problem and you need to find it and cure it, adding stuff unless an antibiotic will only paper over the cracks. Just measure how much plain water your birds drink then add something to it and measure it then, its self explanatory. John

Aubiose

schouman would you recommend exercising once a day or twice and when would you darken them down Thanks J

Cheers Guys Will look out for the book at Blackpool

I would like some views about racing hens on widowhood, not dual widowhood or roundabout but total widowhood ie cocks always there on arrival just like the cocks. Would be interested in feeding pairing and how to prevent pairing up as the season goes on John

Do not really wish to put a downer on things on this thread. last year a paper came out of Belgium which compared isolates from pigeon lofts where fanciers blow torched their lofts. To cut a long story short they concluded that in order to use this to eliminate the bugs you would have to do so thorough as after the initial flaming they still where able to isolate coccidia and worm. If you are intent on doing this you have to be so thorough

100% RED CHEQ This is the danger in obtaining a microscope and doing your own, everything looks like everything at first until you get your eye in.

Wiley I totally agree with blue bar they are not coccidia, they are cells with starch in them they are far too large to be coccidia. What magnification are you looking at them. John

Lofty totally agree with what you said. I spoke to a very well educated professor in Avian medicine and he informed me that the lame wing is a very mild form of salmonella/ Paratyphoid and the "set" joint is an advanced form and when it is in the joints and advanced the bird is probably unable to race again. this wing lameness is becoming too common in this part of the country to be one of the other explanations, and mainly in the autumn and winter months,. Im no way dismissing your point of view but think that this is indeed a form of paratyphus. If more fanciers were open I bet alot more would have this condition than what we think John

To Sapper I have witnessed this condition of lame wing in pigeons from two seperate fanciers. So bad they cannot get on the perch. Yet both these pigeons went on to top the fed, I know for sure that these were the same pigeons that had the droopy wing. So dont condem them all if the pigeon is a good bird it can still go on to win. Armand Scheers in his video stated that paratyphoid will rear its ugly head in autumn and winter and if similar symptoms are seen in Summer or spring then it is usually something else. John

Paulo The head twisting is only seen when the disease is advanced and rarely it is futile treating at that stage. Get the droppings checked out John

a classic sign of paratyphus, but could easily be banged.

Gez I think you only have to be a member of the RPRA to stay a non flying member but each club may differ. Are you not racing anymore John

Without us reporters, how would the sales go? Surely fanciers buy it to see their name in lights for their performances, rather than reading what the Fishing is like down south. Or endorsing products through weekly columns then saying "I gain nothing for mentioning this product"... What a load of crap Yours a "reporter" if you like

Keep your pigeons flying is by whitney Good read, another one is four seasons essential for new starter also have the secret of speed and the Osman one (red cover)