Wiley

colin Surtess maybe your man to speak to also

its a very good post and i must highlight something from it that also in my opinion many fancier make the mistake and think they are gaining a benefit from doing so "Giving them one day, say Sunday, after returning from a race is useless. The treatment adds nothing of value because one dose is inadequate to reach blood concentrations anywhere near what would be lethal to any disease-causing organism. The only benefit of abusing antibiotics in this way is purely psychological on the part of the fancier. It makes the fancier feel good, not the bird."

What about the chloramine which cannot be removed by boiling or allowing to stand of? Could it be the reason why some american fanciers and an australian pigeon vet suggest the use of ascorbic acid??? Something to think about

Talking about water, ive found i still get young bird sickness, my process with water is i have 7 two litre bottles, all with the lids off, that is used only for the racers old birds and young birds. When the water is used it is refilled and put at the back of the queue, which means it will be used again at least 48 hours after being filled, as i use 4 litres roughly a day for old cocks, old hens and young birds. Ive been doing this for a number of years and ive been a young bird sickness sufferer for more then 15 plus.

4

Going off topic, but do you feel with young birds motivation is really that important? My best young birds over the years always raced to the perch...and pigeon basics very own George Bairds best young bird of the SHU, was the same. Although you seem to get a turn from a young hen just started to show out...

Mine are on last or completely through, but i dont use lights on the darkness pigeons during the season

Be interesting to know how the australians get on with young bird sickness, as they race their young birds 500 miles plus, and generally they beat the old birds they are competing with?

Interesting closing line Roland....But is young bird sickness really a curse? Some say it is such a bad thing, when i have to be honest, after i get it and my birds are over it, they perform much better race result wise then they did before the young bird sickness struck....and 9 times out of 10 cases ive never had to treat with medicine to get the birds over a case of it. Maybe ive been lucky as unlike some i have never lost a young bird to the virus either.

Then they appear to have gone deaf, they dont listen as they should, and look at ya from the roof tops like 'look at that silly mug, tryin to get us in'...they may not vomit or droppings may not go bad at this point, but i can always bet my bottom dollar they have it.

Yes used it one season. Its all i use andy ive got a 25kg sack ready and been drying for couple weeks now ready for when i pair

Yes you can use it, i have used it before very big in the small bird world such as canaries and finches.

Ive had young bird sickness every year for a number of years....but this year i had no young bird sickness, i thought i had done nothing different then any other year, but it wasnt untill looking in my diary after having a conversation with your father that i had done something that Bert Brasspening adviced in his articles and i treated them for paratyphus with a Van Der Sluis product...and it was the only thing i could say was different to all the other years.

Interesting point Billy, ive always been of thr opinion old birds whose faces and wattles are not clean when rearing had a canker issue. Its interesting the use of barley when rearing, which is different to most that have posted on the thread. Is their a reason behind it that you found better to maybe a way you had done previously?

Does anyone use cod liver oil or brewers yeast tablets/capsuals? Something some one put me onto this season so i will be giving it a try, when the young are on hard food, one of each every two days. Does anyone use hemp? The best young birds i saw all year from the nest came via a fancier whos breeders had as much hemp as they required, any thoughts?

Howd you rear an old bird

Rearing the perfect young birds whats your method? Do you use any supplementation? Feed a particular grain?

It depends how you want to race them robert....if you are racing hens only sprinting you can keep them very short of food, light diet and work them hard and then give them good feed thursday and friday, however with my own hens i expect them to race every race of the progromme from 74 to 510 miles, so after their feed they get locked away.

Still havent got mine, but to be honest i am not expecting too now

Same

if buster only wants to race natural, a look at Loft Stock & Barrel by Barry McNicholas, in my opinion would be a great buy, i know George Baird has quiet a few copies of this excellent book for sale on ebay.

buster i would have a guess and say you are the most westerly flyer in your club then...what is the difference between the longest flyer and yourself on average? Big pete on site, i would say could be in a similar situation to you but he has to give most members overfly of 6-8 miles, and some of the results he done in his first year was exceptional, but he was taken under the wing by two fanciers, and followed their systems to the tee, and he had a number of 2nd places in the club against the wind, on days he shouldnt have got them and just got beaten on the overfly he gave the winners. Personally i would suggest you do something similar approach a fancier and see if he could have the time to give to you, and just follow that one mans ways, and see where you go from their result wise. And maybe make a specially thread where you can say any differences your noticing throughout the season and how the advice is different to what you was doing previously, bit like a dairy, could make interesting reading

I feed fresh grit daily, clay and pickstone. When racing my birds do not recieve any after wednesday

I agree with what dal said, im not a big believer in treating pigeons to be honest but id also go as far as saying a health may also be an issue.

Congratulations