Darnaway

Older team of youngsters now have their appetite back and are fling approx 45 minutes and trapping when called so big improvement

Feel your pain Colin as mine are all looking well, everything is in place apart from just not interested coming in for feeding yet the weeks before they would be breaking the door down. So I agree with you something must be in the background but will keep an eye on them

Having worked within the NHS for 40 years now I often reflected with my brother the number of kids from more upmarket areas that always seemed to have ailments where the kids that jumped about the dykes never seemed to be neither up nor down so building up natural immunity makes perfect sense so will leave cleaning the lofts out daily. The youngsters from the action that didn't seem intested in food have been fasted for the past 24 hrs and plan to give them a light seed mix tomorrow night

Now into the second week of my experiment and droppings all spot on , birds flying approx 45-60 minutes once a day however the past two nights I have noticed that on landing at least half seem disinterested in trapping and they are only fed once a day and before the past couple of days all in within a minute which makes me wonder if something is still working on them, they will now be kept in and will fast until Thursday evening and then some light feed the joys of young birds lol

Walter I totally understand that and what I am trying to articulate is that probably the Adeno virus is the culprit and reduces the effectiveness of the immune system and then the bird is open to attack from many different angles and I suggested Cocci, Canker , enteritis etc as possibly agents that then cause secondary infections which is the big challenge to identify what is attacking the pigeon , as always these are just my thoughts but thought I would share them during these unusual times for us all and with regards to losses I have moved on one and in the past 6 years at my current location this has been the best year so far

The YBS is I believe initiated by a virus and it works along the same line of the AIDS virus in that it compromises the immune system and in the case of humans things like the common cold or simple bacterial infections present a real danger . People with an intact immune system are able to easily fight of these everyday infections but someone without a decent immune system has a problem My understanding of the YBS treatment from Colin Peak helps to switch the immune system back on this allowing the bird to fight off the everyday challenges it faces , the likes of canker, cocci for instance Hope that makes some sense

Day 7 and youngsters looking tight and alert and droppings the best are spot on with the odd bit of down in them( begins g to be a pooh expert and to be fair a lot of us keep a watchful eye on the drippings especially the youngsters) Have the canker med in the water so hopefully that will quickly resolve the couple of canker flare ups this week

Funny enough was looking what they are bred from tonight but you make a good point and just trying to create some interest in the pigeons as this is a difficult time with the coved virus about

Day 6 PM and the older youngsters out for a 45 minute fly and going to use 341 from Colin Peak that should resolve the canker issue that appears to be giving the younger second team a challenge If we manage to get young bird racing I was going to outline how the birds perform racing on a weekly basis to see how they perform despite having had YBS so will see nearer the time

Day 6 and youngsters are looking well and droppings spot on and more feathers on the floor, on the down side I notice a youngster in the the younger team section looking down and on checking it had canker in the throat so have removed this morning and obviously it’s a secondary infection so will decide later how best to proceed

Day 5 PM and youngsters out tonight and flew just over 45 minutes before coming down and trapped well and plenty more down so things looking good and fingers crossed they continue to keep improving

Day 5 and thankfully there have been no issues feeding a heavier mix combined with turbo hydrate last night , no vomit and droppings continue to look decent , what I have noticed is that there are more down feathers on the floor when I opened up this morning so again a positive sign , I think the stuff from Colin Peak must switch the immune system back on which in turn allows the birds to fend off the secondary infections that are always in the background and it gives the birds a chance . With regards to stock I usually bring in a few old birds each year and with that a new challenge as ultimately they bring their own background of bacteria into a new environment and this I think has an impact on the bacterial balance within a loft , just thinking of that film War of the worlds where a simple cold killed the aliens at the end yet the humans because they had built up immunity were okay, I suppose taking that analogy it makes sense that we increase the risk of cross infections when we introduce new birds , just a thought

With regards to my assumption that a virus has impacted on them, unfortunately since my house move 6 years ago my birds have had YBS every year always about the middle of May , when I reflect back to each year there are shuttle signs that can be seen from a simple things birds not willing to trap where normally they would break the door down as an example or even a lack of body feathers being thrown and within a couple of days there is vomit and the drippings go off I have a reasonable medical background and can draw reasonable conclusions that possibly the Adeno Virus lowers the under developed immune system and then it’s the secondary infections that normally are not usually a threat become a genuine challenge to the birds As I say these are only my observations and I manage my birds accordingly

With regards to letting the birds out from day 2 to day 4 it’s purely a judgement issue as I have kept them locked up for over a week in the past and I have also tried over the past couple of years to let them out on the basis that the drippings are on the mend and the birds are not vomiting or holding food. With regards to day 2 they only flew 18 minutes which is easy to explain , it was raining plus the birds were far more hungry due to the reduced rations given on day 1, day 3 and 4 has seen an increase in fly time to 35 minutes today and I like to see how they trap and they are all in within a minute . If I noticed any vomiting or holding food then I would keep them in. This is a personal decision to let them out or not but having kept pigeons for over 40 years you get a good idea the condition of your flock. I understand your question when a virus has obviously impacted on the birds immune system and if they weren’t okay they wouldn’t leave the loft As always these are only my thoughts and there are many roads to Rome that’s the beauty of this sport i

Day 4 on the older youngsters flew for 35 minutes tonight and were fed half protein mix and half turbo hydrate so fingers crossed they will keep it down and the youngster that I noticed off colour today on inspection had canker in the throat so has been moved on Will update in the morning but so far that’s the only casualty which equates to just over 1% of the team where normally it’s approx 15%

Day 4 all going to plan with the older youngsters flying for 25 minutes before trying to break the door down to get in and again a reduced amount of turbo hydrate and on looking at section 2 where the younger birds are all droppings are good but one youngster seems to be hanging if that makes sense so one to keep an eye on during the days ahead

Day 3 and both sections of youngsters looking good, no vomiting and droppings have improved but I need to take into account I am feeding them a lighter feed than normal which may have an impact on droppings due to the change On reflection the section with 39 youngsters was vaccinated about two months ago and the younger team in the other section only last Thursday , the birds don’t mix but I am in and out of each of the sections , something to think about I would add some additional photos but not sure how to do that once the post has been started ? Will post further update tomorrow , I have tried numerous things over the years and last year I ended up going to the vet for the first time in over 30 years and was given soluble amoxicillin which worked a treat but keen to avoid antibiotics where I can

Andy apologies I am posting via my phone it’s available from Colin McPeake and I believe it’s a homeopathic remedy and has the catch name of the “Real McCoyâ€

I originally posted on Facebook book the start of my YBS experiment but when family members started making comment on is that another photo of sh** that I was posting I realised it was probably better to post on pigeon basics Day one I noticed on open g up the darkness youngsters that the youngsters immediately jumped to the floor to eat some grains ? On looking a bit closer I could see that one of the perches has grain that had been vomited and this was mixed with slimy droppings I immediately made up some of the 335 mixture from Colin and placed the made up water in all drinkers for old and young That night against my better judgement I gave a small amount of chicken pellets and some turbo hydrate Day 2 no vomiting and droppings have improved overnight , birds flew for 18 minutes and trapped as if their lives depended upon it , again they were fed some turbo hydrate but not their usual amount with my rational on giving the crop and digestive system a chance to recover Day 3 no vomiting and birds are looking well, so far so good and will update on a daily basis plus will add some photos My initial thoughts on YBS are simple , I believe that a virus impacts on the youngsters immune system which results in the tell tale signs of vomiting / holding food in the crop and the droppings going off The next part of YBS is the real challenge as ultimately as the immune system is compromised it allows for the secondary infection to impact on the birds , now one year that could be cocci, the next it could be enteritis etc so the challenge is trying to identify what the underlying cause is hence why you here sometanciers say a certain product worked one year but not the next These are only my thoughts and observations but thought they may be of interest to fellow fanciers during this covid pandemic

Just a note to advise that all lots now paid for Many thanks Andy

Lot 1 £80 for telephone bud for Tam

Andy I used the lists that were there and regrettably your name wasn’t on the Larkhall list Let me know your details Kind Regards Andy

M box emptied and does anyone have a contact number for Mr Smart ?

Looking for a Unikon ETS Pad if anyone has one for sale Kind Regards Andy

Does anyone have a number for Tommy ? Many thanks Andy