bluebar99 Posted November 7, 2008 Report Share Posted November 7, 2008 hello folks....I have read the curtain being described as the two little pallets that has a crease in the middle that lies in the back of the throat. Recent reading accompanied by a recent visit to a friends loft has made me think otherwise. Can you share any of your opinions on what it really is. My last reading on this subject described it at the slit that lies on the roof of the mouth,( upper beak) . What did Mr Tasker mean by this curtain? Is it the back of the throat or the slit? I did notice though all my top pigeons this past yb season had closed slits? Does the slit mean anything? One friend told me the slit opens while in condition, but I really doubt it. Any help would be great. fred Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilkins Posted November 7, 2008 Report Share Posted November 7, 2008 right at the back of the throat, 2 lines dead straight and close so you hardly see the gap, not the one in the roof thats easy to see Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PigeonTracker Posted November 7, 2008 Report Share Posted November 7, 2008 The pigeons mouth is simular to a humans. Here's how the mouth is made up. The soft area at the back of the roof of the mouth (the soft palate) The tonsils and two ridges of tissue in front of and behind the tonsils (called the tonsillar pillars), it could be these pillars that are referred to as curtains. The pallet, the part with the line as you put it, that's simply there to seperte that oral cavity (the mouth) from the nasal cavity (the beak or nose). They don't move as suggested, they may appear to seperate in the soft palate due to infection and swelling but physically they can't move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest IB Posted November 7, 2008 Report Share Posted November 7, 2008 I always understood ‘the curtain’ to be the fringes lining each side of the slit in the roof of the birds mouth. The Sunday name for that slit is the choana, and the name of the curtains, papilla (spelling). The last time I looked at a bird’s throat for any length of time was during antibiotic treatment years ago and from memory there also appeared to other curtains on either side of the glottis? Right at the back of the birds throat just before the gullet? Honestly didn’t know that there was a second ‘slit’ visible behind the choana, think that these might be the openings into the connection between the bird’s throat and ears, that is also present in ourselves, eustacian (spelling) tubes in us. May be infundibular cleft in birds? The whole set-up is quite neat. Obviously when the bird is flying its mouth is closed. When closed the opening of the wind-pipe and the choana fit into each other forming an airtight seal. Air is breathed in thro the birds nostrils, dust is filtered out there before warmed air goes into sinus (behind eyes) where it is warmed and passed back down thro the choana into the wind-pipe, lungs and air-sacs. Obviously any problem with the curtain would affect how efficiently this system worked? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chairman Posted November 7, 2008 Report Share Posted November 7, 2008 The only curtain you need bother about is closing them on your windows when its gone dark to keep out the peeping toms. Its a load of cobblers, just another unproven theory to take your attention away from the simple method of racing your birds, its just like eyesign unproven, my mate has an eyeglass on his birds 365 days of the year for the last 12 years he has paired and brought in stock defined as top notch by the eye theory.In the last 12 years he has won 2 races, both young bird events with a hooligan tailwind blowing through, before he has got the the coast 220mls with the widowers his cabin is empty. I urge you to use the commonsense you were born with and forget all this crap before you get dispondent because it does not work. FORGET IT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest slugmonkey Posted November 7, 2008 Report Share Posted November 7, 2008 Chairman, I do use the throat as an indicator of form and health but not a guide for culling and selection, like eyesign it is a tool, and when used correctly it will help in loft management If the slit is wide open or closed completly there is a respitory issue if it is narrowly open most of the length the bird is ok I would never use 1 indicator for breeding selection throat, eye, feet, droppings, vents, head shape or any other 1 thing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest IB Posted November 7, 2008 Report Share Posted November 7, 2008 I agree with you Slugmonkey, nothing to do with theories and more to do with checking the bird's throat for signs of illness. For me not a regular chore, last time I had to open a bird's beak was to administer antibiotic. Mind you, it has its limitations as her throat was OK, but her shoulder joint wasn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebar99 Posted November 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2008 I agree with you Slugmonkey, nothing to do with theories and more to do with checking the bird's throat for signs of illness. For me not a regular chore, last time I had to open a bird's beak was to administer antibiotic. Mind you, it has its limitations as her throat was OK, but her shoulder joint wasn't. slug, so the slit should be slightly open. not closed like a zipper. When I do check the throat in my race team I like the calm semi closed windpipe...I never paid attention to the slit till of late last year. Thanks the the replies.....any more? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest slugmonkey Posted November 7, 2008 Report Share Posted November 7, 2008 yes slightly opened, really narrow if its wide they say stress, closed sickness ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebar99 Posted November 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2008 yes slightly opened, really narrow if its wide they say stress, closed sickness ?? sickness you mean as in respiratory? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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