Why Pigeons need to Bath

[Guest valiant]

THE BATH

 

 

PIGEONS SHOULD BE BATHED AT LEAST ONCE PER WEEK IN ORDER SO THEY CAN REMAIN IN TOP CONDITION, BUT THERES ONLY A FEW THAT KNOW HOW TO USE THE BATHING OF PIGEONS TO INCREASE FITNESS.

 

BATHING HAS AN EFFECT ON THE FEATHERING; IT BREAKS UP THE OLD OIL THAT PROTECTS THE BIRDS FROM THE WEATHER. THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THIS COMES ABOUT BY CHANGING SKIN TEMPRETURE, WHICH SEEMS TO CAUSE A HUMIDIFIEING EFFECT BETWEEN THE FEATHERS. HAVE YOU NOTICED THAT ONCE YOUR PIGEONS HAVE TAKEN A BATH THEY WILL PREEN THEM SELVES, CAREFULLY EXTRACTING OIL FROM THE OIL GLAND AT THE BASE OF THE TAIL AND APPLYING IT TO OTHER FEATHERS. AT THIS TIME YOU WOULD FIND IT HARDER TO WET A PIGEON AFTER IT HAD TAKEN A BATH THAN A WEEK PREVIOUSLY BECAUSE, OF COURSE, THE OIL ON THE FEATHERS IS VERY FRESH.

 

THIS IS WHY IF YOU HAVE SOME TIMES NOTICED WHEN YOU SEND THE BIRDS TO THE CHANNEL AND THEY INCOUNTER A LOT OF RAIN YOU DON’T SEE THEM AGAIN. BECAUSE THEY CANNOT FLY WHEN THEY ARE SOAKED WITH RAIN THEY KEEP GOING LOWER AND LOWER FROM THE WEIGHT AND EVENTUALLY DROWN. IT’S SAD, BUT IT’S TRUE. JUST BY BATHING THE BIRD YOU CAN ENSURE THAT THE BIRDS PERFORMACE WILL IMPROVE, AS THEY WILL BE BASICALLY WATER PROOF, AS WELL AS MORE BOYANT IN FLIGHT. BUT ITS WHEN TO ADMINISTER THE BATH AND WHEVER IT’S A HOT OR A COLD BATH, EACH BATH IS FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF RACES.

 

NOW IT’S A FACT THAT BATHING A PIGEON WILL KEEP THE MOULT CONTSTANT. ONCE A BIRD HAS A BATH, WITHIN 24 HOURS ONE WILL EXPERIENCE A DOWN MOULT AMONG FIT PIGEONS. MOST TOP FLIERS ACTUALLY BATHE THEIR YOUNG BIRDS ABOUT TWO OR THREE HOURS BEFORE BASKETING AS THIS WILL OFTEN LEAD TO A FLIGHT DROP AND IN TURN BRING THE YOUNG BIRD INTO FORM.

 

ANOTHER USE FOR A BATH IS THE FORCED BATH OF WIDOWERS ON THERE RETURN FROM RACING. THERE A MANY TOP WIDOWERS THAT USE THIS METHOD, BECAUSE IF ONE GIVES THE WIDOWERS A FORCED BATH ON THEIR RETURN FROM A RACE IT HAS THE EFFECT OF CALMING THE BIRDS DOWN AND IS SO EFFECTIVE THAT MANY TOP FLIERS BELIEVE THEY OWE MUCH OF THEIR SUCCESS TO THIS OPERATION. THE WAY FORCED BATHING IS DONE IS FILL A BUCKET WITH WARM WATER. AFTER THE WIDOWER HAS DESIGNATED TIME WITH THE WIDDOWER HEN AND SHE HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM THE LOFT HOLD THE WIDOWER IN THE NORMAL WAY PLACING HIS BODY IN THE BUCKET OF WARM WATER WITH HIS HEAD COMFORTABLE OUT OF THE WATER FOR ONE MINUTE THEN CAREFULLY PLACE HIM BACK INTO HIS BOX. WHEN YOU ARE SPRINTING WIDOWERS FROM WEEK TO WEEK THIS CALMING EFFECT SEEMS TO ENSURE GRATER FITNESS FOR THE NEXT RACE. THESE WIDOWERS ARE RESTING FAR EASIER THAN UNBATHED ONES WHICH SEEMS TO TAKE AT LEAST TWO MORE DAYS TO SETTLE DOWN AGAIN.

 

THE THIRD USE OF A BATH IS PRE-BATHING WIDOWERS BEFORE THE RACE. THIS METHOD IS ESPECIALLY GOOD FOR LONG DISTANCE RACING AND IS SOMETHING I HAVE ALWAYS CONSIDERED TO BE ONE OF MY GRATIST SECRETS. WHEN A WIDOWER IS GOIN TO BE ENTERED INTO A LONG DISTANCE RACE, HE SHOULD NOT BE RACED OR BATHED THE WEEK BEFORE. MAKING IT AT LEAST TWO WEEKS BETWEEN RACES. THEN AROUND TWO TO THREE HOURS BEFORE BASKETING, NORMALLY AROUND LUNCH TIME, WHEN THE WEATHER IS AT ITS WARMIST, GIVE THE BIRDS A COLD BATH. YOU MUST BE SURE ITS TAP WATER ABOUT 20 C, DON’T GIVE A WARM BATH AS THIS WILL QUITEN THE BIRDS TO MUCH.

 

 

 

 

[david]

Hi valiant, Fantastic thread .

DAVID

[DOVEScot]

Not only do they need it they love it ;D

 

[Guest TAMMY_1]

Not only do they need it they love it ;D

 

 

nothing better than watching your birds splashing about in a bath

[wings]

Excellent read,thanks for the information, i now know the benefits of bathing the birds, i new they loved bathing and bath them regular, but thanks to you i now know the benefits, thanks.

[Guest IB]

Agree that the birds love their bath. One thing that puzzles me though is when mine come out 'soaked' and give themselves a shake, they still shake off a cloud of 'bloom' - powder down. Happens even after they shower in heavy rain.

 

So often wondered what the real functions are of the preen oil and the powder down. Because of what I see in and out of the bath I suspect the oil may not be the real waterproofer, it looks to me like its the powder down.

 

I know that the oil contains anti-fungal agents to protect feathers, and Vitamin D-like stuff which UV-sunlight converts to Vit D. It also seems to taste awful when it comes out the gland, because the birds head always gives a slight shudder as if to say 'yuk'  but when the bird eats it again for the Vit D content when its preening, it doesn't seem to have any problem with any foul taste then.

 

But I haven't seen anything on the powder down properties or what its for. And as I said, 'water' doesn't seem to shift all of it.

[jimmy white]

the bath is important for  pigeons , as mentioned above ,, and can be used when needed [for reasons best known to the individual fancier  [remember baths can induce the moult] i remember the great eddie newcombe ,saying that he didnt give his distance candidates a bath , untill the conditioning and trainiing started for nationals . i think what you see on the top of the bath ,,is the old down, and the old bits of skin [as pigeons renew skin regular, especialy in the body]  when all this" muck" gets to much for the bird,,it naturaly wants a bath,,[it knows its got "muck" on it, but youll find that after a bath [in normal conditions ] they will not bath ,for at least three days ,,,,,,,,,to prove this, in the summer , after a bath,, pollute the loft with loft white [i mean put far to much in ] the birds will sence this dust on them ..and bathe again , even the next day,,,,so the bath is a great thing for the birds , and can be used to the fanciers advantage

[jimmy white]

just musing about the advantages of the bath ,brought to mind when brian may was in my house, showing me slides of flight feathers through a microscope,, he reckoned like canaries you get plain and buff ,, these are feathering characteristics , brian called them" silk and satin" he reckoned that some pigeons were "satin" feathered and some" silk" you could see the obvious difference in the webbing of these flights through the microscope, me, being a bit sceptical , put the bath out ,,birds had a bath , after their bath he could tell me which birds were" silk" feathering and the ones with" satin" feathering,, by watching the way they flew from the bath to the loft,, some found it easier than others , these were then checked through the microscope,, and he was right ,, so he reckoned that some pigeons were better suited to repel the rain than others ,,,,,,,just a point of interest

[Tony C]

So often wondered what the real functions are of the preen oil and the powder down. Because of what I see in and out of the bath I suspect the oil may not be the real waterproofer, it looks to me like its the powder down.

 

Oil from the preening gland only makes up 7% of a pigeons waterproofing, pigeon bloom does the rest.

 

Boffins now think that the act of preening (the spreading of oil on feathers) in some species of birds is also a sex/mate indicator, the oil is visible in their ultraviolet sight range thus aiding identification.

 

 

 

[Guest slugmonkey]

There are several guys in our club that swear that giving baths during race season is bad and that removing the bloom on these birds will surely result in losses and slower times  I on the other hand ALWAYS give a bath on basketing day I have a fly pen that I keep some prisoners in I always have a pan in there and these birds will bathe 3 - 4 times a week they will also sit in the rain and take a bath when it rains hard the water will wash off of one roof and they will get in this it runs off so hard sometimes that it will almost wash the birds off the perch it is coming so fast but they will get right in it