Tony C

It took me many many years to find out the value of this advice, walter has given you a nugget here.

you may have to miss a race here and there when they're bald around the head & the cover feathers on their wings fall (especially if rain is forecast) but when they tidy up you'll get a good turn or two out of them before their 9th flight drops.

Man City losing.............. just like Brazil!

Well done :emoticon-0137-clapping:

Even the good'uns can hit a wire. Take it easy, less haste more speed.

Nice to hear, that'll lift he's spirits for sure.

I agree with what your saying but I cant see this interfering with what I suggested. If they're fit enough they can be go to every race.

Trophies would have to be put on the back burner & engraved 'not flown for' for the relevant year/s until a better solution is found...... that is if what I suggested is a solution. If things don't change they'll stay as they are.......... spiralling downwards at a rate of knots.

Would feds & clubs benefit from doing away with young bird averages? My thinking behind this is it could possibly stop people sending teams that are not 100% right just to remain in them............ and they do.

I never recommended 'do nothing' I stated I choose to do nothing! I shall expand on this. There is a possibility they'll contract a secondary infection but this doesn't mean they will. Its the secondary infection that does the damage and not the y/b/s in itself. If a secondary infection does take hold I'll deal with this when the time comes but until that time no antibiotics will be given. NB the use of the word 'secondary', if y/b/s opened the door up for a specific infection to each and all it wouldn't be called a secondary infection it would be called by its correct name. It so happens one loft could get e-coli whilst another loft could go down with a respiratory infection another cocci and yet another not have any secondary infection at all .........and here lays the biggest problem. Fancier A treats with an antibiotic that clears up the e-coli and tells fancier B what he treated with and it cleared the problem up in no time, fancier B believing that's the stuff he's going to treat he's birds with but finds it doesn't help he's pigeons one jot. Each individual loft has to be treated different and how you deal with it will either make or break your team. More damage can be done by administering the wrong antibiotic as it kills good bugs too leaving the initial infection less to fight against and as a result get stronger and stronger until the pigeon drops of the perch. And this is why I chose to do nothing.

http://www.djhawkins.co.uk/hello.htm Have heard many a good report on this product used in aftercare. As far as I'm aware y/b/s is classified as a virus and again as far as I'm aware the only way to prevent a virus is vaccination. If both these points are true there's nothing that comes out of a bottle or tub that will prevent it. There's a few people/firms out there making a good few quid on the back of this, money better spent on aftercare.

There's no treatment for it. You can give them a 4 in 1 antibiotic to stop other infections jumping on the back of it but I choose not to, I just let it run its course. Rest is the most important thing, locked up for 4-5 days normally does the trick but the best guide is when their droppings return back to normal.

Couldn't you digest it billy

IMO Y/B/S is inherent. The youngsters harbour this illness until times of stress. Marking and mixing with other youngsters raises the stress levels then add to that all the paraphernalia of being loaded and transported at night = a little more stress. Stress levels is heightened yet even further when they're raced in hot weather, dehydration without a doubt tips them over the edge.

Just what the doctor ordered. Well done :emoticon-0137-clapping:

After Nigeria was eliminated from the world cup the Nigerian captain personally offered to refund all the expenses of fans that travelled to Brazil. He said he just needs their bank details and pin numbers to complete the transaction.

Any news yet RCH In your opinion where do you think they'll cross the channel in which looks like a e/n/e wind

Doing both could be the answer, train the young birds up and not race them till next year and have a bit of interest by someone else racing them in a more forgiving area.

Perhaps sending a few out to one loft races might be the answer. They'll be tested with no attachment involved plus they'll give a little sport on the way.

I think the type of racing (sprint/long), the area you race into & the system you intend racing them on as old birds all have a bearing on whether they're best raced as youngsters or not. In my case where 90% of old bird races I regard as sprint twinned with the system I fly (widowhood) they have to be raced as youngsters.

Good to hear sapper. Thanks for the update.

A high carb low protein mix is a good place to start.

http://forum.pigeonbasics.com/topic/70683-what-is-this/page__hl__protien%20lumps

One that's shows symptoms is Paratyphoid and is just about the worst one of the lot. One that doesn't show symptoms is certain bacterial infections, the only indication is poor racing performances. Both vet jobs but the former eradication is a must.

Best wishes & a speedy recovery Andy.