Silky Feathers

[pjc]

2 types of feathering, silk and sack!

Silk will expel the water beter and sack will soak it up.

Watch a mixed team of birds bath if you can't feel the difference, those with silk will come out of the bath nearly dry those with sack will look wet and have soaked up the water.

Feeding or giving oil etc will not change the birds type of feathering!

[Guest bakes]

ad herb and baths plus some oil seed ie hemp or lineseed or alittle of red band my birds dont look bad off it silky feathers and there not over weight

 

all the best

[Diamond dave]

From the last couple of posts (if I am reading them correctly) it seems that there is nothing that you can feed or give the birds that will contribute towards the feather condition. So it is looking like the stuff out of the bottle is winning this debate. Perhaps we will soon see Mr. Sheen for sale in the fancy press........

 

To Don - would you share your extensive knowledge with us and tell us how to get the birds "as slick as a watermelon seed" - Is it induced naturally or is it applied?

 

To PJC and Tony when you refer to the "sack" type feathering are you stating this in a detrimental way or do you have birds in your loft that have won with this type of feather?

[pjc]

birds with all types of feather can win if conditioned/prepared correctly and condition will show on the feathers but those with sack type feathering will absorb rain moisture quicker than those with silky feather where the rain and moisture will run off.

This is why most good distance winning birds will have silky feathering to cope with changeing conditions on the way home.

[andrew gooch]

Give them Trill once a week.

 

yep 100% the day off basketin

[adam owen]

what is trill????

[OLDYELLOW]

what is trill????

 

bugie seed

[Guest]

what is trill????

 

budgie seed ,pre-boxed.                      andy.

[andrew gooch]

what is trill????

 

r u real adam u got more sence i hope

[andrew gooch]

WOW Dave-How you have started People telling me "why"It does not work.BUT thats O K. everone to his own opinion.

Feed 25 pigeons a tablespoon full of FLAX seed ever day. Feed them it before you give them their regular feed.

I'm waiting for ' negative" Answers/comments

 

yep hemp is good mix it with trill

[OLDYELLOW]

WOW Dave-How you have started People telling me "why"It does not work.BUT thats O K. everone to his own opinion.

Feed 25 pigeons a tablespoon full of FLAX seed ever day. Feed them it before you give them their regular feed.

I'm waiting for ' negative" Answers/comments

 

cant see anything wrong with that any more and it will have a laxative effect Flax is more commonly known as linseed

[adam owen]

ive never heered of it andy i clearly have no sence  ;D ;D ;D

[adam owen]

so as i dnt no nuffin about trill whats it used for and how????

[Guest strapper]

in my honest opinion...wether your bird is slick or not..it will win if its got it in it.

the way a pigeon feels on the outside does not determin the outcome of how that bird will race.

silkyness of a bird can be from condition,but can also come from false condition.

 

dont be lead to believe silky birds dont win

[blackdog]

any time my birds have been (very silky) they have never been far away, either winning or scoring but it can be there 1 week and gone the next

[OLDYELLOW]

i think a healthy bird looks after its feathers , as its feathers are its way of regulating its temperature and protecting it from the elements , bathed birds are less likely to go down on rainy days as there depleated oils ( also known as bloom ( white powder ) ) have been removed by bathing and new oils protect the feathers some birds do look more wet than others is this down to the birds bathing less and not going through the changing of oils on it feathers or a different feather type ? either way intresting debate , we cant all agree but a healthy bird looks after itself and if we can help that then has to be better for the bird

[andrew gooch]

 

cant see anything wrong with that any more and it will have a laxative effect Flax is more commonly known as linseed

 

linseed is also good but very small amounts /also very fattening good for tired birds thats y thay use it in deputive mixes

e.g diat 200

were as trill and hemp r used in a mix 4 basketin day

e.g diat 1000

 

[Diamond dave]

Sorry Don - didn't mean to cause you any embarresment but very grateful for your advice - as from everyone contributing to this thread.

The debate now seems to be taking 4 angles -

1). Those that think the silky feathering is inherent in the strain...........

2). Those that think it can be fed into the pigeons .........

3). Those that think it is applied (through the bath or sprayed on).........

4). Those that think it is induced by form..........

 

Many of the fancirs that have commented on this thread are top fliers and some have different opinions - for Novices and beginners this now becomes a little confusing. Is this condition now a Myth or should we be striving to use all of these methods prior to basketing our birds.......?

[Guest cloudview]

mine have very silky feathering in abundance ,

i put this down to strain , family etc , as mine dont get any fancy oils or the like .

 

fed on bamfords moulting with a handful layers pellets thrown in

[Guest]

Sorry Don - didn't mean to cause you any embarresment but very grateful for your advice - as from everyone contributing to this thread.

The debate now seems to be taking 4 angles -

1). Those that think the silky feathering is inherent in the strain...........

2). Those that think it can be fed into the pigeons .........

3). Those that think it is applied (through the bath or sprayed on).........

4). Those that think it is induced by form..........

 

Many of the fancirs that have commented on this thread are top fliers and some have different opinions - for Novices and beginners this now becomes a little confusing. Is this condition now a Myth or should we be striving to use all of these methods prior to basketing our birds.......?

like many other questions put to fanciers Dave ,youll get many answers ,from the four listed above ,i beleive all to be true.                  andy.

 

[Diamond dave]

Hi Old Yellow - your comments regarding the bloom and the bath are very interesting. I have often looked at the bath water after the birds have bathed and noticed the white bloom on the top of the bath is exceptionally water repellant, to a point where I have oftened wondered if it could be used perhaps scientifically as a bi-product. It almost takes the form of silicones.

For this reason, I would respectfully challenge your comments by suggesting that the bath may take the "waterproofing" off the pigeons and if you have anything in the bath water then you could be inducing the "false" condition and taking away the natural condition.........

D.D.

[Guest IB]

mine have very silky feathering in abundance ,

i put this down to strain , family etc , as mine dont get any fancy oils or the like .

 

fed on bamfords moulting with a handful layers pellets thrown in

 

I agree with you 100% about strain / family. Differences in our management:- mine get oil once a month for their probiotic, and I feed only moulting mix, no pellets.

 

On the bath front, mentioned it a few times, there's usually garlic in their bathwater, when they come out of it, or after showering in heavy rain, they'll give themselves a shake, and I'll see them shake out a cloud of dust. So the water isn't getting very deep into the feathers. And as I've remarked before, seeing that makes me think the oil from the preen gland that they put on their feathers , isn't the whole story about the bird's waterproofing.

[OLDYELLOW]

Hi Old Yellow - your comments regarding the bloom and the bath are very interesting. I have often looked at the bath water after the birds have bathed and noticed the white bloom on the top of the bath is exceptionally water repellant, to a point where I have oftened wondered if it could be used perhaps scientifically as a bi-product. It almost takes the form of silicones.

For this reason, I would respectfully challenge your comments by suggesting that the bath may take the "waterproofing" off the pigeons and if you have anything in the bath water then you could be inducing the "false" condition and taking away the natural condition.........

D.D.

 

any products i use in the water are for antiparasitic to help deter parasites and keep airways clear be hard to prove that bloom does protect from rain as a powder it must be absorbant but you could argue when mixed with water it could change back to an oily state for protection , but in order to experiment you would need two identical pigeons feather wise ectra perhaps twins one bathed one not and to cover same terrain when raining , i would say my birds are more hard day birds and have never had a problem in most weather conditions if i expect rain i like my birds bathed as i believe that new bloom is better than old , but each to there own  

[leighton1984]

I think many of you are missing some thing.

when a pigeon baths it cleans of the old bloom and skin  then the pigeon starts to use its beak to press the the oil out of its gland then spread the oil all over its fathers.

If you look at the birds later they have a shine some times they have oil marks on there flights this is a good sign that the bird is very happy as it spend lots of time preening it is very relaxing for the pigeon to preen.

Iodine is a must as this is a important constituent of the thyroid gland hormone.

I have seen many birds in my time and many winners when the birds are right they shine but this is not from any bottle but top health and top management look for the ring round the neck but when the birds are right every thing shows up.

spend your time leaning about how racing pigeons live and work and you will understand how to work them right.

 

breed many kill many keep only the very best.

    

[Guest frank dooman]

I think many of you are missing some thing.

when a pigeon baths it cleans of the old bloom and skin  then the pigeon starts to use its beak to press the the oil out of its gland then spread the oil all over its fathers.

If you look at the birds later they have a shine some times they have oil marks on there flights this is a good sign that the bird is very happy as it spend lots of time preening it is very relaxing for the pigeon to preen.

Iodine is a must as this is a important constituent of the thyroid gland hormone.

I have seen many birds in my time and many winners when the birds are right they shine but this is not from any bottle but top health and top management look for the ring round the neck but when the birds are right every thing shows up.

spend your time leaning about how racing pigeons live and work and you will understand how to work them right.

 

breed many kill many keep only the very best.

    

 

great post the best yes silky feathering naturaly is just the best sign of good condition and they will win in this condition