mark11 Posted October 8, 2022 Report Share Posted October 8, 2022 Any advice for feeding the stock birds whilst not breeding? Would hopper feeding tic beans or pellets be any good? Theres too much conflicting info these days for us newbies. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCN Posted October 9, 2022 Report Share Posted October 9, 2022 Hopper feeding beans or barley is ideal throughout winter months ...only ever used pellets as a supplement. Hopper feed the beans year round even and introduce breading mix to pots in the nest box during the breeding season...the beans will always be there as a back up so they never go short Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark11 Posted October 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2022 1 hour ago, JCN said: Hopper feeding beans or barley is ideal throughout winter months ...only ever used pellets as a supplement. Hopper feed the beans year round even and introduce breading mix to pots in the nest box during the breeding season...the beans will always be there as a back up so they never go short Great, thanks! So strictly beans/barley until its time to pair up. On the topic of hopper feeding, I've seen people talk about feeding only beans during racing especially for the distance races. This is another grey area with conflicting info. Some say only hopper and others say hopper plus a morning and evening feed with a good mixture. Any ideas on which is the preferred method? Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCN Posted October 9, 2022 Report Share Posted October 9, 2022 Doesn't have to be strictly beans or barley. If you chose to hopper feed use a single grain so yes beans or barley work best u can then supplement the birds with some sport mix or small seed if u wish. Hopper feeding during winter is ideal if your short on time during short daylight hours as long as they've access to clean water then they will be fine with the hopper. As for during the race season I've never tried hopper feeding but if I were to try it I would hopper feed the beans and also supplement this with a good racing mixture to add some fuel in the form carbohydrate and fats. If your starting out I'd be more inclined to stick to more conventional methods with a mixture, feeding once a day to appetite during the close season, during racing season I'd recommend feeding at least twice a day and breeding birds should have food infront of them at all times. The mixture which you feed can change throughout the season as demands increase due to racing breeding etc. That rabble probably confuses you further but the main aim is to keep the birds happy and to keep them fit and healthy enough food to keep them content but not too much as to make them fat, you will read about lots of different ways to feed them so it isn't really an exact science much depends on how you race them ie how often how far and how much work they have between races. The one thing I would definitely say is don't change too much too often Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark11 Posted October 10, 2022 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2022 Thanks very much JCN! Very practical advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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