the moult etc.

[jimmy white]

now we are nearing the ; big moult; what would be the forums views, ideas, management, i,e feeding, exercise etc. be??  after the racing stops.

[Guest]

After racing stops mine dont go out at all. they will moult in the loft i will give them a bath in the loft, i find this works as if i let them out with them hardly having any feathers on them they find it hard to get  away from 'percy' or the 'sparra' i did this last year and had the best old bird season ever could of 2nds 3rds etc and 1st club, 1st fed, 1st section 1st national so i cant complain.

[Guest shadow]

Mine are fed a high Protien diet, linseed and conditioning seed until the moult is finished. Only out twice per week for a bath, They wont want to fly much during the moult and it leaves them more vunerable to attacks from predators. once through the moult, then barley is introduced to the  diet so that they do not get overweight. During the winter out once per week for a bath. :)

[jimmy white]

hi gez and  shadow      nice to hear opinions, as all opinions are worth it especialy for the new starter, as i think this is one of the most important time of the year to ensure they have a good moult, but one question ? do you separate your birds, as im sure most new starters will be interested in all this, and at least its positive,  thanks for your contrbution   jimmy

[Guest shadow]

Yes I seperate my birds,as I fly roundabout all the cocks stay in their boxes and all the hens are put in their section, including stock hens. If I breed any latebreds for stock they go into the young bird section. where they can fly out if the weather is good. The idea behind this is to eventually get rid of prisoner stock birds. I hate to see birds caged up for life. :)

[Guest]

yeah once racing is finished (old birds) they are paired together again and left to sit aprox 10days. with the young birds sometimes i leave them togethre to moult out other times i settle them to the widowhood boxes(cocks) and they moult out in their new home. this year i think i will do the later.

[carl]

Now oldbird racing is finished my oldbirds only get out once a week for a bath.I find they dont want to fly much.I seperate them just after the last race and find they drop to bits straight away.This year a pair of my oldbirds were bringing up a youngen at the end of the season and i decided to let them bring it up because i liked the look of it.

With me letting them bring up the youngbird these two birds now look like they have hold on to there moult for a bit longer than the others.These two look nice and tight the rest look shabby as anything..

 

[jimmy white]

my own pennith worth on the moult is plenty of peice and quiet, plenty of baths , a higher protein diet  and a handfull of linseed everyday, i would separate the birds ,with the cocks in the nest box section, and when it got near to the last flight up, iwould let them out on consecutive days.as at this time they have built up fat, when you think about it , in ,early january its not light till 9 and dark at330 ,so all they would do is sit on the perch fly down to feed, then up again, so its at this stage i woud exercise them, to keep excess fat off, and help the hens lay easier, when pairing up. but what i would say is try toget them in b4  one p.m as after this they begin to get a littly spooky, and could remain out all   night especialy the hens      just thinking ahead

[PIGEON_MAN]

GOING ON FROM THE ABOVE WHAT ARE FANCIERS THOUGHTS ON THE BEST WAY TO TREAT DARKNESS YOUNGSTERS TO GET THEM THROUGH THE MOULT.

[carl]

As soon as my darkness youngsters are finished racing they will get the same treatment as the oldbirds.only out once a week for a bath and like jimmy white said above,plenty of peice and quiet and a high protein mix.

[carl]

One other thing is leave them to moult out in the younbird loft,dont be throwing them amongst your older birds just yet.Let them moult in peice..

[Guest]

I consider myself a new start too. Still trying to find a feeding system that works!!! I stopped YB racing last week and this is my second year of switching all my birds onto a proprietry moulting mix.

Last year I only fed this for one month - Sep/Oct time, this year I started as soon as all the birds (natural OBs and YBs, still paired and running free amongst each other) showed signs of starting to fall to pieces.

Still unsure if I should feed this mix for another month (or two?) Any thoughts?

Also, I feel I made one howling cod of things last year. Normally I go back to Breeders, and feed this right through the winter, pairing up, laying and feeding periods. John Harwood he of the BHW fame, judged at one of the local shows and although he really fancied all of my young hens - he marked them down because they were too fat, and told everyone about it in the Homing World. Thanks John.

So breeders / depurative mixed 1:3 over winter period got the fat off them ok, but my weaned youngsters (singled reared) weren't of the body standard I usually get.

So next question - after moulting mix,  what would you feed next, and why?  

[jimmy white]

after the last flight is up i will then go on a lighter diet  and exrcise well then fortnight before pairing feed slightly stronger mix wiyh maze etc mixed in with some wheatgerm oil, when feeding young ,a very high protein diet,  the birds will not eat the maze much anyway, whilst feeding, and much would be just waisted, afew peanuts whilst rearing bring on the ybs a treat

[Guest]

Once the old bird season is over I let them raise a baby, then let them go through the moult quietly, no loft flying baths once a week and a diet of 14% protein mix with an extra pot of Canadian Maple Peas.  

 

When the younguns are finished racing they go on natural light and within a week the loft is like mattress factory.  I feed same as old birds until moult is finished, no loft flying and weekly baths.

 

Our birds are never let out at all from the end of Young Birds to Approx April 1st, when the ground prey comes out of hibernation, they are far easier targets for the raptors who will then leave the pigeons alone.  During the winter I feed a good quality barley to keep weight down.

 

[frank-123]

i was told not to under feed when there going through the moult so filled the hoppers with a high protein feed right or wrong?

[Guest WINGS 04]

YOU ARE RIGHT BART BIRDS WILL ONLY EAT WHAT THEY NEED I ALL HAVE FOOD IN FRUNT OF THE BIRDS IN THE MOULT

[celtic]

Do you leave down as much as they want then Wings? AND DO YOU LEAVE THE HOPPERS DOWN FOR THEM AT ALL TIMES?

[Guest WINGS 04]

yes in the moult as the birds will only eat as mush as they need they will eat a lot at first then they will only eat what they need

[snowy]

what seed is best for them molting? linseed?

[Silverdale Lofts]

After the last old bird race mine would never see out of the loft until march same with the darkness ybs would be locked up and left to moult i would feed winter mix moulting mix and high protein mix all mixed together i would have tea in the water or naturline in the water.

[johnnysfarm]

We start racing in a week and a half.I kinda used the lighting system. They are finally getting back to looking like pigeons again. I let two pair hatch babies They are the best looking birds I have. I really don't think they are as ready as they could be but with gas as high as it is I can't take them on tosses as much as I would really like to. We'll find out soon.........  

[jimmy white]

in my veiw  all these posts are valuable to the new starter  [and the old fancier] but just to answer snowies question about linseed     , yes this is very good in the moult ,, but to give them it sparingly, as giving too much will , will loosen the droppings

[snowy]

thanks jim

[Guest speckled]

When old bird racing has finished, i dont re pair,hen in one loft cocks in the other,i do like to if the weather is fine let them out very day,as routine though the moulting should be tha same as the racing but insted open door for both lofts which means thay can fly if thay like or stay in the loft ,90% of the time thay will fly,as this is what thay used to,but the flying is differnt,thay are enjoying there fly,wings up glidding,in find it helps keep the pigeons in tiptop condition as with the moulting mix thay are on,stuckin the loft just piles on the fat,which as we all no is hard to shift once there,so even if thay fly 10 mins that fine,I alway put a bath out twice a week,for the birds which thay will alway have,as its part of there routine.So i do not change a lot,& if ya see me olden now thay are falling well & truly apart,feahters everywhere.So really i dont change alot let the bird do what thay wont, instead of what i wont.Speckled.