pj1001

Hello Jack and all. Just to clarify the answer to Merlin's question concerning the eyes of extreme distance pigeons. Will the eyes with the narrow correlation indicated in your answer; have larger adaption circles or a larger iris, resulting in the correlation being narrow in nature? I woould assume a larger adaption circle but I may be wrong. Could you clarify this please? Many thanks Jack. Regards PJ Original Question and answer Hello Jack Looking for the two day racers,extreme distance eyes is it fair to say,most of these will be found in yellow based eye.,with thin correlation. Hello Merlin, You have got it exactly right, and if you pair two yellow eyed pigeons with narrow correlation you will increase your chances in a two day race much more. Increased stamina and increased homing ability will be the expected results. Regards Jack

Many thanks Jack for answering my 2 questions posted. I am a little sore yet but will be fine in a couple more weeks. Thanks for asking Regards PJ

Hello Jack and all. I hope you are well Jack and all the family are in good health in South Africa. Sorry I haven't been online for a while due to a car accident, but I have been reading your interesting and informative posts when I can on this thread. If you don't mind may I ask a couple of questions please? 1. Jack when grading birds using the eye what characteristics of the eye do you look at when estimating the distance that a bird could possibly fly. Can this be done solely by looking at the eye or would you also need to handle the pigeon in question and access its wing, balance length of keel bone etc also? 2. When you are grading birds Jack what characteristics would you look for in an eye to regard a pigeon of being a good racer, be it sprint, middle distance or long distance? Is this based on the width and % composite of the eye or are there other characteristics that need to be examined. I hope these questions may be of use to others also. Many thanks again Jack. Regards PJ

Thanks everyone for your replies. The pigeon in question is an old 98 Braspenning cock that a friend of mine bought a couple of years ago. I don't think behind the ring has been cleared since the cock was born and this has added to complications. I tried a little olive oil and a cocktail stick tonight and it seems to have dislodged some of the old dead skin etc behind his leg. We will try it again tomorrow night also and see how things go. Again many thanks for everyones help. PJ

Hi all, I local fancier was on the phone to me last night asking if I knew anyway to loosen rings on old birds that had clogged up due to dead skin etc between the ring and the birds leg. As I have had this problem also with a few old birds in tha past and had to end up cutting the rings of them, I thought I would post his question on the site and see if anyone had any suggestions to overcome this problem. Many thanks for all suggestions in advance. Regards PJ

We also use them and have found them very good. What you will need to do though is to build a feeding table or make a removable tray to place you feeder on otherwise you will find when you feed the birds with time a lot of the corn will fall through the slats and this can encourage vermins as well as being wastful of feed. In our young bird loft we have a trapping and feeding area which we use Versa Lag floor granules on and this is used for feeding and playing around with the youngsters which we find is useful and make them tame when we feed them a few peanuts etc there. Hope this is of help. PJ

Hello Matt, After vaccinating I would leave the birds for at least 14 days before considering mating them up. The manufacturers recommend for racing birds that they are vaccinated 14 prior to racing at least. See extract below. Racing pigeons All birds in the loft should be given one vaccination annually not less than 14 days before the beginning of the racing season. Personally we vaccinate all our old and stock birds in early November each year, youngsters vaccinated once they are 3-4 weeks old. Our old birds are normally paired end of January for sprint birds beginning of March channel birds. Hope this is of help. PJ

Hello Matt, I would suggest that you vaccinate the birds once you get their health problem sorted. After you treat the birds with furazo-lidon+ you will need to give them some Probiotics and /or vitamins for a few days to try and get their gut flora levels back up again before treating them for PMV. I would leave the birds for at least a couple of weeks before vaccinating. I know a few fanciers in Southern Ireland and there seems to be a big problem with vaccinating or should I say lack of vaccinating birds there over the last few years. When it comes to young bird racing there seems to major losses and health problems once the birds are mixed in the panniers. I am not 100% sure of why this is but by talking to a few lads in the south they seem to think it is related to the birds not being vaccinated. I hope this is of some help Matt. PJ Some details on Colombovac PMV vaccine posted below Colombovac PMV Detailed Description The only PMV vaccine not to contain mineral oil This makes it safer in use and if accidentally self injected. Supplied with needles, syringe, record card etc . Patented formula Please note: - immunity builds up over a period of time. Presentation Colombovac PMV is an inactivated adjuvanted vaccine based on an avian paramyxovirus serotype 1 (PMV-1) vaccine strain. Uses For the primary and booster vaccination of healthy, susceptible, immune competent pigeons against paramyxovirus infections caused by the PMV-1 serotype. Dosage and administration Shake the vial before use. 0.2 ml by subcutaneous injection. Administer into the neck in the direction of the back. Dosage regimen Racing pigeons – 1. All birds in the loft should be given one vaccination annually not less than 14 days before the beginning of the racing season. 1. Young birds may be vaccinated with Colombovac PMV from 3 weeks of age when a single injection will provide immunity for 1 year. Following vaccination avoid contact with birds from other lofts for at least 14 days. 2. All late-hatched young pigeons should be given one vaccination from 3 weeks of age and not mixed with birds from other lofts for at least 14 day. 3. All adult birds in the loft should be given a single booster vaccination annually. Where the annual booster vaccination may interfere with the training or racing programme, it may be brought forward prior to the commencement of each racing season. Show pigeons – 1. All birds on the premises should be given one vaccination annually not less than 14 days before the beginning of the show season. 2. Young birds may be vaccinated with Colombovac PMV from 3 weeks of age when a single injection will provide immunity for 1 year. Following vaccination avoid contact with birds from other sources for at least 14 days. 3. All adult birds on the premises should be given a single booster vaccination annually Contra-indications, warnings, etc FOR ANIMAL TREATMENT ONLY Shake the vial before use. Use entire contents when first opened. Dispose of used container by incineration. In cases of adverse reaction treat immediately with glucocorticoid intravenously or adrenaline intramuscularly. Only healthy birds should be vaccinated. Administer the vaccine only by the subcutaneous route. Aseptic precautions should be observed at all times. Withdrawal period zero days. Pharmaceutical precautions Store at +2°C to +8°C. Do not freeze. Protect from light. Keep out of the reach of children Legal category NFA-VPS (previously P). Packaging Quantities Vial of 10 ml (50 doses) Vial of 20 ml (100 doses) Further information The incubation period for pigeon paramyxovirosis may be a few days to several weeks. However, after infection with the wild virus, pigeons excrete the virus from the eye and in the droppings within 3-4 days. This means that infected birds can be a danger to others some days before their own symptoms appear. Excretion of wild virus from the infected bird continues for up to 6 weeks. This information is important since, in addition to direct bird to bird contact at competitions and shows, the disease can be spread by indirect means such as hands, overalls, caps, boots and contaminated objects such as baskets and trucks. An owner should forbid visits to the loft by anyone in contact with unvaccinated pigeons and new birds (either purchased or lent for mating) should not be brought in unless vaccinated at least 14 days previously. In any animal population there will be a small number of individuals which fail to respond fully to vaccination. Successful vaccination depends upon correct storage and administration of vaccine and the animal's ability to respond. Immune competence can be influenced by genetic factors, intercurrent infection, age, nutritional status, concurrent drug therapy, stress, etc. Maternally-derived antibody (MDA) can interfere with the development of active immunity. Where it is likely that recent field infection or vaccination of the parent flock has stimulated a high antibody titre and consequently a high level of MDA, the timing of the vaccination programme should be planned accordingly. Product licence number Vm 01596/4162

Hello Matt have you vaccinated all your birds against PMV this season? PJ

Wishing all PB members and their families a happy and peaceful Christmas and a successful 2008 season. Best wishes to all PJ

I have never used Red Cell but I know of a fancier in my area who last year used it in the drinkers every day for a month and poisioned his pigeons with it. His birds were very lethargic when loft flying around the house and were 15-20 minutes late every week from short inland races. After 3 weeks of this he called a vet in to check his birds out; as their skin was a very dark purple and the vet told him that he had poisioned his pigeons by giving them Red Cell continiously for a month. After he stopped his birds came better after about 3 weeks. As fas as I know all he was told to give the birds was pigeon tea and garlic 2 days each a week. Hope this is of help PJ

Hello Karl, The wattery droppings may be due to the stress related to the bird moving to a new location as suggested by Timbarra, but if this is the case the droppings and condition of the bird should improve within a week or so with a little tlc. If the bird's condition hasn't improved after a week thought I would suspect a health problem. Two things I think your friend should consider are: 1. what is the health of the fancier's birds that he purchased the pigeon from, and 2. was the vaccine used to vaccinate the pigeon from a bottle that had been used before and resealed again? I would suggest that your friend checks on the health of the birds of the fancier he bought the pigeon from as previously suggested. If possible this should be done by making a visit to his loft again, bringing the sick bird with you and checking the health of the pigeons housed there. If this isn't possible then he should contact the seller of the bird and explain his problem and ask the fancier about the condition of his birds, any treatment he has given them etc. If there doesn't seem to be a health problem at the seller's loft then I would consider the PMV vaccine as a possible cause of the watery dropping. I have seen this type of complaint occur before in a few fancier's lofts were they have vaccinated late bred youngsters out of a resealed bottle of vaccine that has been used beforehand (in some cases a few months previously). I am not saying this is the cause of the problem but it should be something that shouldn't be dismissed as a possible cause. Hope this is of help. PJ

Thanks for sharing Craig. Vey informative article. PJ

Hello Plantation, A friend took these eyes photos using a Panasonic D60 10.MegaPixeldigital camera. He turned the macro facility of the camera on and I held the birds up to the sunlight at an angle so that the sun was coming in drom the side as he took the pictures. Sorry I can't be more specific, but this was his first day of using the camera and it was kind of a trial and error process. He just called down out of the blue and asked if he could try out the camera on a few bird's eyes. PJ

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Last year we lost 12 youngsters out of 60 in training and racing, we raced every race with half the team, the other half we gave 3-4 races then put them on the shelf. This year we reared 64 and have 52 left at the end of the season, again we only sent half the team most weeks and the other half had 3-4 races. Any weeks the weather forecast was bad we either didn't send or only sent a few.

Many thanks Redcheq I placed an order with Hyperdrug on Friday for some. PJ.

The programe on BBC on Wednesday night is called 'The Nature of Britain' and is presented by Alan Titchmarsh. This is its website http://www.bbc.co.uk/earth/nature/uk/natureofbritain/

Raptor website http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/raptors/ They had a programe on BBC Northern Ireland about this raptor webiste last week, they interviewed Alan Darragh briefly on peregrines and pigeon racing in his area. In the program they said they knew of 35 pair in County Antrim alone which seems high for the radius of the county. I think the programt is being repeated this coming Wednesday again around 7-8pm,(well according to this weeks Tv Guide). To watch it you will need to be able to tune into BBC Northern Ireland though to pick it up as it is a local program. It might be possible to pick this up on Sky I'm not sure. PJ

As far as I know yes. Depending on your regions thought I think the day and times of screened vary. In Ireland it is being screened this Wednesday around 8-00pm, repeated on Sundays again as far as I am aware. If the program trailer advertised iscorrect this weeks program will show the relationships between pigeons in the cities and peregrines, no doubt with an RSPB slant on it. PJ

Many thanks all. PJ

Raptors website http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/raptors/ Also Lifelife of Britain programe next Wednesday 25th October with Alan Titchmarsh is showing coverage of the relationship between pigeons and peregrines in cities in UK. PJ

Hello eeveryone, Would anyone have a source for Colombovac PMV at all. I have contacted various vets and online pet stores but none of them seem to have any in stock until the beginning of next year. I am looking 3 x 100 dose bottle for myself and 2 others fanciers in the area. Many thanks PJ

I know someone here in Ireland that has a Bill Ward hen that he bought in an auction and in 3 years she has breed 8 different birds to be first prize winners 2 of which have won national in Southern Ireland.