lofty

That guy azz buys from auctions and sells as his own obviously knows nothing about the birds but pretends he does Says on his website "long distance" How does he know?? none have rings on! Don't you need a licence to buy and sell animals?? Know someone who bought a couple of birds from auction they couldn't fly at all and started neck twisting and lo and behold his teliphone number is stamped on their wing!!

Using Antibiotics correctly or incorectly does not damage the immune system as such in fact timely treatment will support the immune system (for example antiretroviral treatment of HIV +ve people) All living things have many different types of bacteria in them, some cause disease most do not. If you administer antibiotics to treat a specific disease causing Bacteria then you will also expose every other bacterium present to the said antibiotic. Every time any bacteria is exposed it increases the chance of an immune specimen to appear, this specimen will then divide unhindered. If it is a disease causing bacterium then we are in trouble. But, to complicate things A 'friendly' bacteria can develope this immunity and some are then able to give this 'information' to unrelated bacteria who do cause disease (this is known as plasmid transmissable resistance) This is the Race for life of Evolution -moulds and fungi produced antibiotics to protect a food supply from attack by bacteria so they could eat it themselves! I believe drugs do have important use but must never be used indiscriminately, always at the correct dose and always for the right length of time. Baytrill for instance, is about the only drug shown to eliminate the carrier state of salmonella in pigeons and for this reason I believe it should be reserved only to treat this condition. and not such things as respiratory disease for which there are many other effective drugs. From what I can make out fancy pigeons do not seem any more prone to infectious disease than do racing birds? Of course fancy pigeons could not hope of competing in races, they are not bred for that purpose and don't get enforced exercise so are not as physically fit, and one assumes have less homing instinct. But as for immunity to disease that is a different matter. Stress, Toxins, inadequate diet, and inadequate living conditions are what damage the immune system. Lofty

Hi Rollers and Tumblers should be in the Air or in the Loft! If they are sitting around on the house roof they need re-training First they should be hungry or you will have no control over them Keep them in for at least 3-4 days Then let them out (with empty crops but not starving) in the morning when the sun is shining They should be excited after being cooped up and should want to fly If they try to drop too early they should be 'flagged up' by waving a flag on a long pole. If they persist in wanting to land after a few minutes then their general health needs checking My own birds are fed on young bird or squeaker mix with a little poultry chick crumbs added when the are rearing youngsters ( I believe the extra protein builds good strong flights which they need as it is a hell of a strain on the feathers when the birds 'break' from a roll) and will fly an average 2-3 hours for the Portuguese and Orientals while the Pakistanis average 4-6 hours but they are only flown 3 times a week hope this helps Lofty

Hi can anyone tell me what the letters JLTC stand for? they are on the rings of a pair of tipplers so I assume the TC = tippler club but no idea about the JL bit. Have searched the internet but no result! Lofty

several birds look remarkably like ones on sale at clitheroe auction the week before!

Yes If the bird suddenly preens itself with a sence of urgency its usualy pigeon flies they move so fast you hardly see them. pigeon droppings on the compost heap is a good place for the larva to develope and they then fly back to the loft. Interestingly the fly has a chemical in its saliva that causes squeakers to develope diarrhoea - this increases the larva's chances of survival by preventing them drying up! Lofty

Its an Iranian tumbler Lofty

Hi either get an electonic rat trap (about£25) and set it against the wall inside your loft a couple of bricks occluding the entrance so your birds can't get in should avoid accidents Or use FEN traps these are legal if used in a tunnel (available from EBAY about £6 each) A couple of house bricks set end to end 6" away from a wall with a board over the top and leaving the ends open will do you can spot rat runs easily becouse the soil will be flattened down and take on a slightly shiny apearance they are about 2-3" wide and start about an inch from a wall a few hints on Rats 1/ they hate to venture into the open (owls are a big threat to them) but prefer to run along the base of walls 2/ once they have established a territory anything new in the vicinity is treated with suspicion and avoided for days 3/they can smell tobacco for weeks so if you smoke wear gloves when setting traps 4/ after setting spring traps (fens etc) sprinkle them with boiling water and use a fine sive to sprinkle soil over them (or whatever they are set on) this hides any strange smells 5/if, God forbid, they do kill a bird use it as bait in the trap I have known rats kill half grown ducks and tow them away accross a river 6/they spread disease which can kill your birds (salmonella,psudotuberculosis) and affect you (weils disease or leptospirosis) in a study 50% of rats were found to carry weils disease in their urine 7/they make deep wounds in their victims as the lower teeth curve round in an arc stoats and weasels form 4 small punture wounds also stoats etc usually chew the neck first, Rats chew haphazardly and will jump at the wings of a struggling bird and bite at them first good luck Lofty

http://www.beva.org.uk/taxonomy_menu/18 This site covers the illegal administration of human drugs to animals and the illegal administration of POMs by unqualified people customs are only interested in 'controlled' drugs

Please be aware that if you are importing POM's (prescription only medicines) into the UK you risk a fine of several thousand pounds!! Lofty

http://www.petmeds.co.uk/ Try these Lofty

The book 'fit to win' BY DR Wim Peters Reccomends a booster dose 4 weeks after the primary dose!!!!! And please don't shout at me TAMMY It is that atitude of ridicule when people ask for advice that keeps newcomers away from the hobby so that it ends up with the same old 'crumblies' and no new faces!!!!! Lofty

I vaccinated against PMV 5 weeks ago and again last week a couple of days ago I noticed the feathers where sticking up on one of my birds neck on closer investigation it had a large scab on the back of its neck with a large swelling underneath which I GENTLY squeased (more to see if it was atached underneath) But the skin sudenly split and a large Cankerous lump came out about 2cm X1 cm along with what looked like short stubby roots, there was hardly any blood and I washed the resultant hole out with Iodine solution.This bird seems to be recovering well. But... On close inspection today 3 other birds also had the same thing, only much worse. I have had to cull these birds, which by the way were quite rare Oriental rollers as you may imagine I am really P**** off by this and worried that more birds are going to go the same way. Has anyone else experienced this? PS I only used One needle per 2 birds,One syringe per 5 birds (a fresh needle and syringe to draw up the vaccine eliminating any possibility of contamination of the vial (I am a registered nurse) and wiped the skin of each bird with surgical spirit first This has put me off using oil based vaccines in the future. PS again I know this had nothing to do with last weeks vaccination becouse one of the affected birds wasn't done then, he just had a booster 5 weeks ago. Lofty

Parrotsare very susceptable to vitamin A defficiency usually due to eating too much sunflower seed at the expense of everything else often starts as eye and sinus problems Lofty

Hi yes they are vienese highflyers great little birds. unfortunately becouse they are so tiny they're a good target for sparrow hawks!! I have been looking for some for a while so If anyone could tell me where I might be able to buy some I'd be very greatfull Lofty

Hi Can anyone tell me how to organise transporting pigeons ( I want to get them delivered to me.) And how much I can expect to pay? just been trawling through the internet but got no-where! Thanks Lofty

Update and thanks to all who have responded I have culled the six worst affected birds that couldn't fly and the other two (who seem OK) are housed well away from the others and get seen to last,incase I carry anything on my clothes. All other birds are now vaccinated against PMV including some young birds in the nest just feathered up (hope they are not too young)? stepped up the vitamins and now have to wait with fingers crossed for the next few weeks that that was the end of it. I am kicking myself (A) becouse I should have kept the birds away from the others untill I was sure they were OK and ( becouse I have had the vaccine in the fridge for the last 6 weeks and didn't make time to give it to them earlier. ??) Lofty

recently bought some wests which I thought were very tame but on closer inspection they can't seem to eat very well -keep missing the grains, six can't seem to fly at all and one seems to peck at imaginary objects in front of its face (goes cross eyed when its doing it ) droppings are normall but they just seem to stand around on the loft floor. in complete contrast to my rollers which are always active 'clapping their wings' and courting all the time I have started giving the new birds vitamins individually incase they have some vitamin deficiency . the only other thing I have noticed is they seem to have 'staring' eyes !?? any one any ideas? Lofty

This is my biggest fear- on pins every night and totally paranoid when we go on holiday -also keep some rare poultry and will only meet people on neutral ground -never used to be like this If i had my way there would be a few changes in the law and not just for theiving bas****S either!! Really hope he gets the birds back and although I will never WISH harm to anyone I wouldn't disaprove if the theives got an introduction to someones mate by the name of baseball bat!!!! Lofty

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these are coccidia oocysts! Lofty PS bottom left of frame 00006 resembles round worm egg but is a bit out of focus so may be empty oocyst of any old bit of cr*p has no 'polar caps' so isn't capillaria worm egg

Please do - been looking for some for over 12 months managed to buy 2 (brunners) last week at clitheroe but the hen is 'X' legged Have emailed pouter club but as yet no reply. Lofty

Good Idea! Lofty

Hi Anyone keep Brunner or Pygmy Pouters? willing to travel all over the country for decent birds if need be! Lofty

Yes I would like to know where to get the vaccine from as well! Lofty