MsPigeon

I was curious as to the routines of other fliers here in the USA and other parts of the world. Please tell us if you vaccinate, for what diseases, YB's or OB's or both, once or twice a year and any other details you could share. Like how you go about it, do you need help, how do you hold the bird, where do you insert the syringe, that sort of thing. Your experince is appreciated. Yours in the sport. Carol

Wow birdbrain! :B Guess this is suppose to get me fired up. Well, sorry to disapoint you. I've been racing and winning my share for a good many years. I don't need your approval or anyone elses as to how I handle my birds. Just trying to share what works for me. Respectfuly in the sport. Carol

Wow birdbrain! :B Guess this is suppose to get me fired up. Well, sorry to disapoint you. I've been racing and winning my share for a good many years. I don't need your approval or anyone elses as to how I handle my birds. Just trying to share what works for me. Respectfuly in the sport. Carol

We get our bands on Jan. 1st, althought they have been delayed on occassion, which is a pain. But as I said, the gain is mature YB's with a full wing. I also do not have harsh winters to worry about. True, I do have to feed them longer, but I also get to train them longer. I just feel like they are better prepared to race. It's just what I do, but I know others who breed in March and April and have a good race team too. Yours in the sport. Carol

Hi Peckedhen, I have been raising and racing white birds for about 5 years now, I have been racing for about 15 years. It has been a long haul to say the least. In the begining I lost about 90% of the whites. I do a few releases a year but my main goal was to develop a family of whites that can race with the best of them. I am finally wining races with my whites. I didn't buy expensive fancy name stock though. Maybe that would be quicker. I was just given a white bird here and a white bird there as the guys in our club don't like them much. From those I only bred the best flyers together and then introduced a few new boughten birds in the last year, like Bandits. But for the most part they are just racing homers that happen to be white. They are a beautiful sight when they fly and I have enjoyed developing them a lot. I wish you luck, just be patient and don't expect a whole team of good flying white birds the first year. Yours in the sport. Carol

I voted for December but I actually put my pairs together the end of November. I think a lot depends on the weather where you live. We have very mild winters, maybe a week of snow at most. I usually have babies ready to band on Jan. 1st. I do this because I end up with a more mature YB with a full wing for the YB race season which starts the end of July or first of August. The years that I am on the ball I can start training my YB's down the road when I am training my OB's (seperate rleases from different places). Thats just what I do, not to say that younger birds don't do just as well. I keep good records and seem to lose just as many older young birds as younger young birds. And one bad thing is that hawks are very hungary this time of year when the YB's are just getting out for their first few times. So I guess it is just a habit that's hard to break. I like that there is no flys this time of year when the nests are sticky with baby poop. And I guess it is something to do with the birds during the off season. Raising YB's is a bit like changing diapers and there's more time for it in the winter. Yours in the sport. Carol

Welcome Robert, This is certainly the place for answers and we wecome yours as well. Sounds like you have some wisdom to share. Carol

You are right; the manufacturer does not give the dosages for any other animal because it has not been officially approved for other animals. But you will find in a simple web search that it is effectively and safely being used for most every type of critter. I use it for goats, dogs, canaries, and chickens, even my snake and have taken some myself. Cats are the only pets I know of that have had adverse effects. Even if you ask your vet, I'm sure he or she will tell you how safe and effective it is. And if you check in the pigeon supply catalogs that sell it you will find that they usually also give the dosage for pigeons. But with anything given as a flock treatment in the water, how could you possibly know that they are getting the right amount. If you think it is too much trouble to handle each bird then you shouldn't have so many. How can you even know your birds, their state of health or what they need if you don't handle them? And when it is determined that they need something, such as lice or worm treatment it is worth the time or trouble to handle each and give it the correct amount individually so that it will effectively do its job. Respectfully Carol

I agree Bruno, but I think it is best to kick them out of the loft the next day, not just bath and rest. Even if they just trap right back in. I beleave that leaving them in the loft to just sit around does nothing for helping them get rid of those toxins and only leads to them getting stiff and sore. Carol

My My My, the things you guys find to argure (make a point) about... When I first started with pigeons there were plenty of confusing terms. Like all the acronyms. I would be reading along and up pops OB or YB or BC C or RC H or the club and combines names etc. etc. Then I would have to go ask someone what that stood for because there is no place to look them up. But "direct son or daughter" does seem pretty self explanitory to me. If you left the word direct off you would know what they meant, right? The word "direct" is just a discriptive word added on to make sure you know its not something else like a grand child. Carol

You are exactly right stucky 1, there is no cure for YBS and it is the secondary illnesses that kill them. But are you all even talking about the same thing when you talk about YBS? Has anyone actually had a post mortem done? This year at our Washington State one loft race I had an interesting chat with the loft manager. It seems that straight away when they were receiving birds from all over the state some started getting sick and dropping dead. Not knowing for sure what to treat for they took a pigeon to the University of Washington to have a post mortem. They found that it had circa virus. I'm not certain of the spelling and I believe this is a shortened version of the name. At any rate it was a virus with no known cure. It was the secondary infections that were killing the birds as the virus left the birds with no immune system to fight them off. The recommendation was to put bleach in the water to prevent the spread. Yes, that's right BLEACH in the water, 5cc's to a liter of water. The birds that recovered were immune and not pass it on there after. Carol

I agree Dooostalker, both Ivomectrin and the spray is a winner. I use Ivomec, 2 drops orally for each pigeon to rid them of worms and blood sucking lice and mites (which I have never actually seen) but it does not get rid of the long slender feather lice. These lice really are not that harmful as they feed on dead skin, dander, and bloom. They are not affected by the oral Ivomec because they don't bite or feed on the blood. Ivomectrin is available at farm stores and large animal supplies mail order catalogs on line. It is the injectable type for cattle that I use. It is expensive though, and not cost effective for a small flock. I have no problem with single handed spraying and I always use a mask in the loft these days anyway. I have heard that some people put the Ivomec in bath water but it is too expensive for me to use that way, I like to know that each bird gets it's proper dose. Carol

I would add that it's a good idea to also spray your other pigeons and their pearches. Carol

Knowledge is a wonderful thing, the more the better. We are then able to make informed decisions. I have thoroughly enjoyed this post from a knowledge-acquiring standpoint. Although some of the posts were a little too technical and long-winded, I enjoyed and learned from them all, both about pigeons and human nature. In my opinion nothing beats a constant, consistent routine. Pigeons are adaptable and quickly adapt to and expect the things you do and give them; if electrolytes are part of your routine then they get used to having them and probably wouldn’t do as well without. But do they really need them? Maybe a strain of birds has been developed that has adapted to getting rid of the excess salt they are given. Respectfully Carol

Thank You Bruno, I have a friend that said he had a pigeon that was so sick and near dieing that it lost all eye color. I thought it very odd. Oh, this is pink eye you speak of, I have seen this in cattle where the eye turns white. But most of all thanks for this wonderful link to the Merck Veterinary Manual. I have the book but it is old and I'm sure the web site is much more up to date. Carol

Bruno, I am interested in ready more about "Infectious keratoconjunctivitis" that you posted along with picture of the eye gone white. Where did you find this info? Carol

Which is recommended? the self inking stampr or stamp w/seperate ink pad? What colour ink is best? It's probably too late to get it for this season but I would like to get it ordered anyway. Thanks Carol

Thanks Shadow, I will look that wing stamp up right now. Carol

Thanks Jimmy, as fine as can be. I was a bit depressed over some heavy YB losses, more than I have EVER experienced in one swoop, but I am over it now with this past weeks good race returns, 100%, and our loft name taking over the top of each release race results. Carol

Great Webmaster, works perfectly now. Carol

We got 100% returns, each release they all came in a drop. We took the top 11 and 12 places and got 2 lost birds back as well. Lets keep our fingers crossed that the good returns that seem to be experienced across the country and around the world continue for the remainder of the YB season.

I had a GREAT race on the 13th, got every bird back, each release they came all together on a drop, and we took the top 11 and 12 places for each race. But the trainer we had on the 30th we were singing the blues as we lost 47 birds out of the 73 we sent. So it was a nice turn around. Hope what ever happened to get those birds lost the first time is done happening...

It looks GREAT webmaster, from what I've seen anyway. I have not had time to fully browse around. But I did notice one thing that I don't like and that is when I'm typing in my reply message it is one long line until I post it. It makes it difficult to read what you wrote. Carol

Wow! 25 miles per year! Thanks for the interesting info mealybar. Carol

I have heard that too, but how could they know for sure. I also heard that the earth is gradually changing polarity and that it could have something to do with losses. Anyone else heard this or know about it? Carol