holmsidelofts

Thats why you need to go a course with a qualified vet like i and other have done and get proper training, £40 is all it cost for a days course with one of the top avian vets in the country, And as for a woolworths microsocope we dont, we have lab spec microscopes and know how to use them, just because you cant use one correctly use one doesnt mean others cant or shouldnt. you can identify the following if you know how: hairworm, round worm, cocci, canker, yeast infections, thrush, bacteria like ecoli, respiratory bacteria, hexamita just to name a few. ok you cant identify what bacteria it is without growing a culture but it allows you to see an increase in bacteria early before its to late, thats when you avian vet comes into play to tackle that and identify it for you. Cocci is good example, if you have a dry loft you shouldnt get a problem with it, but you get an increase in it through stress and bad management microscope use can help you look else where, ie you own management etc if you are have constant problem with cocci. But its up to everyone if they want to learn and you cant force any one, But to me its one of the best things i have ever done and i continue to study pigeon health as i have a huge interest in it. but its my choice. Jas.

Im not saying over the counter products dont work even products supplied by vets dont always work first time. an example is baycox for cocci, its the best product available for cocci treatment but dont always clear cocci fully the first time around. I and many others have had the issues. If you dont retest them you cant guarantee that it has worked. You can never do without a good avian vet. you need these to be able to get treatment, I have an excellent relationship with 2 very good avian vets and over the years they have come to trust my ability in identifying common diseases, but you need them for suff like bacterial culturing which you cant do at home. I believe you become a better fancier if you can understand pigeon health thats why i recommend everyone gets a microscope and learn how to use it , but you can never do away with a good vet.

Hi all. I live in pontypool south wales and have some heavy duty galvanised steel diamond shaped grids, they were bought for floor grids in the loft and i have taken them out as i've changed the loft design. these are quite heavy i have 3 that are about 8 foot long by 6 foot wide, thats just a guess at sizes, if anyone wants them they would make an excellent avairy floor etc or even grids in the loft like i had them for. If you are interested let me know and i'll put some pictures up. person to collect cannot deliver. they are free to whom ever wants them. Jas.

I would be looking for a partner, Im sure theses someone in your area that doesnt race anymore but would love to be involved again. I would be putting the word to see if anyones interested. Other than that i dont really know. Jas.

Theres no real need to have individual birds tested unless you have a bird that is ill, What is more important is to take samples from around the loft to get an overall picture of what you count is like. If one birds got worms for instance all the birds will have them. Also the only problem with have the droppings tested is you will find out what you got but you wont know if the treatment you have given them is successful unless you restest them, as from experience treatments dont always work first time. so i would always retest them a week later to see what results i had. Like owen We cannot say enough about owning your own microscope and learning to test yourself. Its not rocket science and anyone can do it. 95% of the time you take your droppings to the vet to be tested they are not tested by the vet but by the nurses who have really no interested or i expect not much knowledge on what they are looking at. With your own microscope you can test the droppings as often as you want so you can see if theres an increase in anything before it comes to a point where the birds are ill and off form. It tells you a lot about your own management and how your birds react to stress and the way they are managed. learn the art you wont regret it. Jas

What lines is she from. looks nice mate.

Father of 7 at your age, lol. they'll keep you busy for a while mate. Jas.

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.

Ive changed my ventilation last month and i have gone for the ronnie williamson style 2 tier roof and im extremely pleased with the way its turned out, Im really looking forward to racing out of it next season.

Totally agree mate. What a load of rubbish, Microscope the only way to tell. Blind treatment isnt the way forward either, especially with canker as they can get immune to the treatment.

H All. Ive been thinking about what pigeon i would class as the greatest pigeon of all time, and i would probably say there are many but one of my favourites would be ronnie williamsons millenium superstar Pictured below. Ron-Ville- Millennium Superstar: Probably the best sprint pigeon in the world! 1st Open 22,585 birds (Nenagh) in Ireland 1st Open 22,889 birds (Mallow) in Ireland 1st Open 23,767 birds (Tramore) in Ireland 2nd Open 24,105 birds (Wexford) in Ireland (beaten by two loft mates) 16th Open 20,699 birds (Arklow) in Ireland Other open positions were also won by champion Ron-Ville-Millennium Superstar. Winning four R.P.R.A. awards in one season racing as follows: 1st R.P.R.A. Irish region 0 – 250 miles sprint champion; 1st R.P.R.A. Irish region Any Distance Champion; 1st R.P.R.A. National 0 – 250 miles champion (United Kingdom); 1st R.P.R.A. National Any distance champion (United Kingdom). Ron- Ville-Millennium Superstar also won the Selby Thomas Trophy for the 0 – 250 national sprint champion of the United Kingdom and the Tony Comwall trophy for the Any distance National champion of the United Kingdom. The 3 x 1st Opens won by Ron- Ville-Millennium Superstar were won three weeks in a row from three different race points. No other pigeon in the history of the N.I.P.A. has ever won the open three times, never mind three in a row. What a champion! Whats your thoughts.

Nice looking birds mate, whats the origin of them.

Hi there. I use a similar product, its the green material they use around scaffolding, It does the same job but if you know someone in the trade you can get it for next to nothing or like me free.

Parastop is not an antibiotic, all antibiotics are prescription only drugs not available over the counter, Parastop is available over the counter.

Hi john, long time no speak. how you keeping mate. Missing the birds at all. Good to here from you. Jason edwards.

If one bird has a very high cocci count and has spent time with others you will find that others will have a high count also, some birds dont get it as high as others but from my experience of testing birds with a microscope for the last 2 years i see it all the time. the answer to the fancier is GET a microscope, do it yourself, Also once you treat there is no guarantee that your course of treat will work the first time, a repeated test is needed to see the results of what you have just given then, Unless you plan on getting them seen again a week later you are wasting your money. Also to have birds screened for salmonella you have to take dropping samples from around the loft on 4 consecutive days as birds dont always shed the disease daily, those droppings are then sent to a lab where they grown the disease on special culture plates in an oven, So no vet can tell you there and then if your bird has Salmonella, Thats why they always give you antibiotics to start to combat it before they get the results if your bird is showing potential signs of it. jas

Vaccination is a preventative not a cure, theres no pint in vaccinating once you have it, the vaccine is there to prevent you catching it in the first place. Its different to your asprin analogy, you wouldnt take it if you didnt have it, the same as i wouldnt condone use of antibotics if there was nothing wrong, salmonella is a killer, and if you have had it you will now that. so unfortunately with these type of disease you either vaccinate or you pay the price heavily, I have £1000's worth of stock birds which you couldnt breed again and i will not take any risks with them. Prevention is ALWAYS better than a cure. jas.

Sorry mate i have to disagree, Thats like saying leave AIDS alone and we will naturally get over it, Virus's and bacteria kills millions of people every year and they have done for 1000's of years leaving them doesnt make them go away. Try telling all the people around the world in 3rd world countries who rely on vaccinations to keep them alive. If it wasnt for the PMV vaccine being developed we would not have any birds to race with, back in the 80's the sport was devastated by PMV. We have seen an increase already with cases on PMV coming back and thats because there are irresponsible people out there who dont vaccinate. Again until you see the devastation first hand of what PMV does ( i've had it in the 80's and its aweful) you are then thankfull for these vaccines. We are not forcing paratyphoid vaccines on you its your choice at the moment, but if it the disease does get out of control we will probably end up with a compulsory vaccination. But everyones entitled to have there opnion. jas

Sorry mate i have to disagree, Thats like saying leave AIDS alone and we will naturally get over it, Virus's and bacteria kills millions of people every year and they have done for 1000's of years leaving them doesnt make them go away. Try telling all the people around the world in 3rd world countries who rely on vaccinations to keep them alive. If it wasnt for the PMV vaccine being developed we would not have any birds to race with, back in the 80's the sport was devastated by PMV. We have seen an increase already with cases on PMV coming back and thats because there are irresponsible people out there who dont vaccinate. Again until you see the devastation first hand of what PMV does ( i've had it in the 80's and its aweful) you are then thankfull for these vaccines. We are not forcing paratyphoid vaccines on you its your choice at the moment, but if it the disease does get out of control we will probably end up with a compulsory vaccination. But everyones entitled to have there opnion. jas

As it says live vaccine contains actual live cultures of the salmonella bacteria and the dead one as cultures that have been killed. In my opinion the live vaccine is better and you only have to vaccinate once a year with the live one, with the dead one you have to do it again in 6 months. Jas

No amount of natural immunity will keep birds safe from bacterial or viral infections, thats why its compulsory here in the uk to vaccinate for PMV. secondly vaccinations are not antibiotics, they are cultures of the actual disease which assists the bird in over coming these diseases and they boost the immunity of the bird they are given to. If you catch it you wont need to kill them the disease will do that for you. just ask the numerous fanciers on this site who have been unlucky and caught salmonella, its a devastating disease to catch. As for the price to vaccinate you cant put a price on good health, i like many spend thousands a year on racing, no just on fees everyweek but on corn, training, rearing, you are entitled to your opinion but to me £50 is nothing compared to what i will spend throughout the season ( just one night less out the ale for some people will pay for it). Good luck for the coming season jmo, I hope you never have the pleasure of your birds coming down with salmonella. Jas.

on what basis can you say that, Its one of the most prevalent diseases in the pigeon world with most lofts at some point having carries in there birds, its kill rate is higher than PMV and will in my opinion take over from PMV as being the disease to watch out for. I use the chevi-vac which is a live vaccine. Watch this space over the next couple of years the sport will be hit hard by it. More and more cases every year are being diagnosed Birds that are carries dont even show any symptoms. Take your chances if you want but for £50 its saves a lots of birds lives and if you get it your seasons over. Jas.

There is definitely things that need sorting. We need a system thats compulsory that all race controllers use to let everyone know where everyone is and what time they are going to liberate, computer technology is whats required, and organisations should be fined if they dont use it this would drastically cut down on clashing and bird lossages. You only have to look in the back of the british homing world to see that a lot of the lib points are wrong week in week out and feds havent gone back to the homing world when they change there program to update them, so how can other fed know where everyone is if we cant do that. Also We need to make sure the birds are looked after at the transporter end, There were lots of stories this year about birds coming back home in all states, after being in a basket for just one night, who are monitoring the convoyers and whos doing the investigations when things do go wrong. We have a set fee birdage system with our fed £7 for 20 birds after that you pay per bird. If we went back to paying per bird the fed would take a huge loss as the numbers of birds sent drops dramatically as the races get longer due to the high level of losses, But at the moment fanciers still have to pay the £7 regardless if they send or not. If this was changed i really believe more would be done as they couldnt afford to loose that amount of money. I really think the sport needs a big shake up before its to late, fanciers are not going to put up with it year in year out. This can be sorted if they really want to, lets get away from making money and get back to our sport of racing pigeons before its to late and our sport dies a death. jas.

Hi mate. we build our, just finishing our youngbird loft for next year, it is 25 foot long, 6 foot wide, 3 compartments. it was orignally 2 lofts that we moved and joined together, it looks totally different now since the photos below. below are some photos of the ongoing work. I will update some more pictures tomorrow as we have just added the 2nd tier roof on top of the one you see in the pictures ( ronnie williamson style ). That was put on today, a lot of work but will improve ventillation no end. We have also added 3 low down vents on the front since these pictures were taken. we plan on racing 80+ youngsters next year. we have another loft behind this one, which is our widowhood loft and that measures 25 foot also.