holmsidelofts

Hi lindsay. I would say its very important, more important than heat. I look at it this way, wild birds pair up and come into breeding condition as soon as the equinox arrives, the equinox for those who dont know what it is is when there is 12 hours daylight / 12 hours of dark. this triggers the sexual urges in the birds and they start to pair up. that is what we are trying to achieve with artificial light, its to trick the birds into thinking the days are getting longer and its time to breed. Poultry farmers use artificial lights all the time to get the same same effect. I do it by increasing the light a bit at a time, i have been doing it now for about a month and a half increasing daily, i am now at the 12 hour light and dark split and the birds are really looking well and if it wasnt for the weather at the moment i would be pairing up this weekend. I think its important to increase the light in the morning as appose to the evening as i like the birds to roost naturally, If you got automatic dimmers thats a different option but i dont so i do it in the morning. Jas.

that was going to be my next suggestion, the other would be an allotment, do you have an outhouse attached to your house you can convert that to a stock loft with no issues. Let me know if you need a hand with anything mate. jas

Sorry to hear that mate, especially with a new loft thats only weeks old. If theres anything i can do to assist in anything you got my number give me a call. Jas

I have just looked through all my pigeon health books i have, and i have most of them that are available by all the top pigeon vets in the world and there is no mention of whipworm in pigeons, which tells me that it is host specific to cats and dogs but not birds.

but that is nothing like what is in the first photo, i'm not saying you cant get them but they would be extremely rare.

my thoughts exactly frank. I have never seen a pigeon with a whip worm and i have tested hundreds of dropping samples. trust me all you are looking at is a fibre and nothing else.

No i would say its a fibre from something, heres what a worm look likes. jas

pray mate, theres not a lot you can do. Hes either gonna come back or he wont. one thing i would always do is have a second door system inside the loft if you have prisoner stock, that way you never have a problem with that happening. I have been there myself mate and it aint good when it happens but you soon learn to make sure it doesnt happen again. Is he the father of the bird in the picture you posted. Jas.

you going there to buy anything in particular?

Not this year mate, went last year, good day out.

wards mate.

I agree with owen on the above apart one one thing and thats Malting barley. Proper malting barley is much more valuable than standard barley, the process of malting turns the starch to sugar giving the birds more energy than standard barley plus the birds will more regularly eat malting barley over normal barley. Its not very often me and owen disagree on things as we thing along the same lines and have many conversations together over racing pigeons. Happy new year to all. Jas.

you still can, as of last year they were still layers pellets with anti cocci in them, thats why i stopped feeding them.

you still can, as of last year they were still layers pellets with anti cocci in them, thats why i stopped feeding them.

yeah most of the chicken layers pellets contain anti coccidiosis treatment. What you have to remember is cocci is host specific and chickens dont transmit cocci to pigeons and vice versa, so the anti cocci treatment isnt designed to kill cocci in pigeons. Thats the reason i use gem pellets. i dont want to be giving my birds chemicals that they dont need. and the quality of the corn used in chicken pellets aint always the highest. Gem is designed for racing pigeons. I will be using gem 10 mixed with versalaga breeding ( not sure if thats how its spelt, dont look right to me but it might be the stella im drinking, lol). I will be putting calf colostrum on the corn a couple of times a week also. Grit and minerals everyday, with a good multivit once a week. normall feed barley for a few weeks prior to pairing to get the fat off the hens. then put them on good corn about 2 weeks before pairing. once all hens have laid they will be on 50% barley 50% breeding untill about hatching time. will them be on 100% breeding mix which is 50% gem pellets, 50% breeding mix. Will treat the stock birds for canker whilst they are siting on eggs. jas.

Like others have said there is a lot of external factors to take into consideration. For me its 24 widowhood cocks, about 10 racing hens. 60-80 youngsters, 10 pairs of stock birds. We fly a difficult road and have lots of b.o.p's to deal with. jas

You can download it from there website at : http://www.comproware.com/ They now have a free lite version. Jas.

Yeah doxycycline is one of them that you shouldnt give grit with. but cocci, canker, worming treatments are all fine. Birds should get fresh grit and minerals every day. they are extremely important in the birds life, especially this time of the year when you are pairing up. They should also get a good calcium supplement for at least 1 month before pairing up. as the stress on egg production and laying on the hen is huge. failure to do so can cause hens to use up there own body supply of calcium in there bones , this cause hens legs to fail and hens that cant fly or get back up to there box. its also has an effect on egg binding. Dont underestimate the importance of grit and minerals.

Will be waiting a while before we pair up, weather still to cold, nearly finished my new stock loft pens, have gone for individual pens this year as i hate the time it takes pairing up, having to let pairs out one at a time etc. Got the idea from ronnie williamsons loft. Pens nearly finished. looking to get the cocks in there next weekend. jas

you should have zero hair worm they can be very dangerous and cause lots of damage to the bird. treat them with a good wormer i suggest chevita ascapilla plus, one capsule will cure.

Hi mate. I would highly recommend ronnie williams style ventilation. it has transformed my loft ventilation wise. below is what i post a wjile ago. Its taken from a post on pigeon chat. On the ventilation front i posted this below not long ago. I have adopted this on my youngbird loft for next year and have the stock birds in there at the moment and you cant smell a pigeon in there. The below example is based upon the ventilation from the lofts of ronnie williamson of ireland, he is one of the best fanciers in the world, 56 1st nationals cant be bad. This was posted a while back on pigeon chat. See below: Essentially this system of Paul Gregg 3 roofs. Your first roof is a tin corrugated roof. First you have your main loft roof, you start by cutting the top of the tin ridge to make a 1 inch slot. It is 18 inches long, and on every ridge. This is done at the back of the loft. Then at the back of the loft you put a 2 inch wood beam, and in front of the other 18 inch slot, put a 3 inch beam to create a slant. Put a tin roof over this with obvious overhang. Inside the loft you put a ceiling, with plastic vents in it. Please ask Questions I bugged Paul like hell, as its complex if you don't get it. It can seem complex, but its dead simple, and the best flat roof conversion I have ever seen. Thanks to Paul Gregg, for been so open, helpfull and kind in helping me, it was time consuming , Thank you Paul again. Hi Paul, do you have any open fronts or Vents: A. I dont need any air opening in my lofts as i have fresh filtered air coming into my loft 24/7. If your loft is of the ground you could do what Ron does, on the floor of the loft 2 inches from the front wall Ron drilled a 2 inch diamater hole evey 18 inches to let the air enter from under the loft and exit at the top creating a chimney effect, i had the same in my loft untill i got the ventalation put in. Q: Paul I worry, rain will pour in the open slots on the main Roof: B. The loft slants 6 inches from front to back, the rain will never enter the 8x1inches slots for they where cut out on the top ridge of the tin so any rain running down the roof runs on the bottom ridge and bypasses it. Do you space the slots or are they in every ridge of the roof. C. The 8x1inch by slot runns the entire lenght of roof on the top ridges of the tin. Does the pipe suck air out? D. The ceiling runs fron to back. The pipe you see in the y/bird loft is also in the o/bird loft and it brings fresh filtered air into the loft 24/7. I dont need a fan attached to my lofts as the double roof acts like a chimney drawing the stail air out 24/7. The system was devised by Ron and it really does work a treat. Anyone who has ever been in Rons loft have all said they have never seen a better system, you just cant smell pigeons. This shows the cut outs in the roof. hope this helps. Jas

G10-'s for me, to

Yeah ronnie is in my opinion one of the best flyers in the world. Just remember the route these birds take to, having to cross the irish sea and the english channel. Ronnies loft design is fantastic as well. Last year has really turned my thinking on to loft design, I know me and owen have talked in length about this and im convinced that a properly ventilated loft is where the advantages are made. Fantastic bird in poorly ventilated loft will win nothing, the same as poor birds in a very well ventilated loft will do nothing, you have to have both. I myself at the start of the year wasnt overly convinced that ronnies roof design would make a difference. But after extensive research into it i changed my mind. I was in the process of moving 2 lofts that had poor ventilation, both had apex roofs but i could never get the air flow right. I move the lofts to a position that now faces the sun all day, i took off the apex roofs, put back on flat roofs and adopted ronnies roof ventilation design, and what a difference it made to the air flow. You cant smell a bird in there at all. It did take a lot of work to do but it was well worth it. I have put up some photos before. If anyone wants to see them again let me know and i will put them back up. Jas.

Definitely agree, the sprint races do require excellent birds but the fancier plays a big part in the success, the long the races the more the pigeon.

Lower spec microscope though, no mechanical stage, Would spend the extra as when you get down to 400x you cant do it really with out one, any tiny amount of movement is huge under the microscope at that magnification.