pigeonscout

Yes he does at my place.

In our club each member has to hand in their race sheet 2 weeks before the first race. Any bird that does not carry the ring number of the fancier has to have a transfer card or it will be taken off the race sheet and reported.

If you can get down to portaferry I will get you all you need All the lofts I was at in Holland used pea straw but I found that shredded paper was better. You can get big bales of it at old manner mill in Newtownards they stock it for horse bedding

I lost a couple of young birds last year because of a security light coming on in my garden.

That sounds ok to me because the bird is inside the trap before timed the fact that it can turn and walk back out makes no difference as birds flying open door can also do that. Theses are ok by the rpra http://www.rvwoodcraft.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=378&osCsid=q7cdu5snegvckg429dn5iqelj6

My outbuildings are insured under my house are they still covered if they are use to keep livestock in them

Anyone know anything about getting insurance for birds and loft

Is there anyone that knows how to go about getting insurance for pigeons and loft.

They where same way bred as the brothers and sisters that got lost (Hartogs). To tell the truth I think the 5 that made it went up the land into scotland before crossing and by going that way they where always going to be late. A lot of the fanciers birds where reported washed up on the beach at Wexford. 4 of the ones that got lost had been at the same race as young birds and all 4 home in 15 mins.

How many hours on the wing? head wind or tail wind?

There is no guarantee how many birds you will get back from a race as all it takes is one bad liberation. I have been lucky this last 8 years but 10 years ago I had 33 young birds that won every single young bird race. They came out again as yearlings and won the first 4 old bird races and on the 5 race they hit thick fog on the channel I lost 17 from 23 sent and I was one of the lucky ones. How many of them 17 lost would have went on to be good 2 and 3 year olds I will never know because of that one bad liberation.

IB would I be right in saying that vitamin D3 is needed for the uptake of calcium and that Pigeons make their own vitamin D3 when exposed to sunlight? (I.e. vitamin D3 does not come directly from their food.)

I think the more you train on the line of flight the straighter their line becomes

If a man is feeding calcium to his birds and they are still showing signs of a calcium deficiency would I be wrong in suggesting it could be a vitamin deficiency?

We are talking about calcium and if you read what is said in the link below you will see I have it the right way round. As I have said if they are lacking in vitamin D they will not process the calcium no matter how much you give them. http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww22eii.htm

How can you say that it is not a vitamin dificiency ? The man stated the birds had been getting grit, minerals, and a good source of calcium cuttlefish. If they are getting calcium and are still showing signs of a calcium deficiency then they are not processing the calcium their eating. One of the main reasons for this is a lack of vitamins. I does not matter how much calcium you feed your birds if they do not have the vitamins to process it your wasting your time.

Birds do not need clean drinking water all the time, fanciers will put electrolytes, vinegar, tea, garlic, etc and theses things are good for them not bad. You can also get lazy stock birds pumping the young full of water and its not because they need that amount. Just feel the crop of the young birds with the wet droppings after they have been fed to see if it is full of corn or full of water. A lot of the time you will find the young birds with the wet droppings are getting pumped full of water.

Butter milk is very high in calcium

old hand use to do a tab that had them back on their feet in couple of hours anyone know its name. I think it was as Owen says something to do with Magnesium. I have only seen very old stock birds go of their legs both hens and cocks but after 2 of theses tabs they are back on their feet in hours.

Looking at what you are feeding I do not think the hen is lacking in calcium. This may give you something to think about. http://www.silvio-co.com/pigeons/Parathyroid.htm

Both legs or just one leg? could need some vit D

Or put the water in the microwave for 30 secs and it does the same job.

I fill my drinkers from the bath tap as the water has been in the tank in the roof space and not st8 from the mains.

That all depends on the weather they are going to race in, hot, cold, head wind, tail wind.

I like to use granite grit and pink mins