Silky Feathers

[Diamond dave]

Just sent my widowhood cocks and asked the guy how they handled - He said that the birds were "Dry" - he gave me someone elses birds to handle and they were like silk to handle. Is this a sign of form or is there something I can give to the birds to get this silky feel.

 

D.D.

[OLDYELLOW]

a bath on a thursday

[PATTY BHOY]

johnstones baby powder.

[OLDYELLOW]

its prety simple realy pigeons have a oil gland which they use when preaning there feathers so how to get them silky is to make them prean there feathers to produce the oil that water proofs the feathers , depleated or old oil drys out and creates bloom  

[rooster]

get them checked out for canker

[carlsberg]

give them some carrs adherb on the corn great stuff

[just ask me]

sedochol mate and lots of baths cant do better than that i think

[weecunny]

condies crystals  in there bath mate they will soon  be coverd in bloom, but mind not all birds will feel like silk

[Roland]

Alittle bleach in the water, then once a week Nettle water, Be as tight and silky as you'd want .... won't make them fly  / home any better.

Needs to be acheived naturally to be of benefit.... means they are in condition then!

[Guest chrisss]

sedochol mate and lots of baths cant do better than that i think

 

yep job done cannot get better 8) 8) 8) 8)

[carlsberg]

give them some carrs adherb on the corn great stuff

 

cant beat adherbs

[mac1]

do silky pigeons win races :-/

[steve]

not all silky ones win races

[just ask me]

do silky pigeons win races :-/

 

well in a way yes as as silky pigeons show a sign of good condition  but remember u can condition a bad one too

[Larry Lucas]

The late Jan Grondelaers bred his birds for silky and thick feathering. In general, feathering with a little more flex wears better than dry, brittle feathers. The birds I have down from his Bourges Pair have wonderful feather. And yes, they win. I don't think I ever had a pigeon with dry, brittle feathering that raced well.

 

Also, sometimes the oil gland can become plugged by parasites (there is a worm that is the culprit) or an inbalanced diet. A friend once visited my loft to look at my breeders and commented that a hen's feathers were far too dry. He looked at her oil gland and pronounced that it was plugged and before I could stop him pressed the gland between two fingers and expelled an oily plug. Sure enough, in the next few months her feathering returned to normal and were no longer dry. For what its worth.

[Guest]

Just sent my widowhood cocks and asked the guy how they handled - He said that the birds were "Dry" - he gave me someone elses birds to handle and they were like silk to handle. Is this a sign of form or is there something I can give to the birds to get this silky feel.

 

D.D.

 

yes dave try some redband and some oil on the seed feeding is very important ask hotrod hes an expert on feeding what he doesnt know about feeding isnt worth knowing

[jimmy_bulger]

try a little linseed once a day about the size of your little finger nail per bird.

[Novice]

I agree that it is a sign that your birds are not in as good condition as the silky feathered ones. How to improve this may be slightly more complex.

I believe that there is now a company-----may be Crossgates or a name similar to that who analyse feather samples and give advice on what your birds are lacking on the basis of this analysis.

They say this is an established practice in the poultry industry.

[hotrod]

NOT ONE  of you experts have mention a good clean moult  , with plenty of OIL SEEDS AND PROTIEN during this time .THE YEAR STARTS WITH THE MOULT .

[Guest Hjaltland]

try a little linseed once a day about the size of your little finger nail per bird.

 

You'll be amazed the difference linseed will make to the feathering.. go easy with this though , as jimmy says, a very small amount per bird.

[rembrant2coo]

NOT ONE  of you experts have mention a good clean moult  , with plenty of OIL SEEDS AND PROTIEN during this time .THE YEAR STARTS WITH THE MOULT .

 

agree 100% there my friend thats where it all starts

[OLDYELLOW]

NOT ONE  of you experts have mention a good clean moult  , with plenty of OIL SEEDS AND PROTIEN during this time .THE YEAR STARTS WITH THE MOULT .

 

probably as he asked how to get the feathering silky now on his birds , the moult is the most important part , selenium which is scientificaly proven to promote good feathering is in linseed and also has many other great health propertys in it ,  and this i mix up in my small seeds mix to help condition my birds   i add my small seed mix to make my dupurative and also to there daily feed  

[hotrod]

while your right in what your saying o.y ,if you dont start right the feathers will NEVER be silky (proper sliky if you know what i mean)

[OLDYELLOW]

i have to agree whilst moulting this is a big stress for the birds so the best foods and supliments are needed to ensure the moult goes well a birds feathers tells you the condition of a bird as these feathers keep them alive dry / warm / cool / waterproof , so i encourage my birds to prean themselves by give baths as near often as they want

[hotrod]

wednesday is always been the latest day before a race for a bath for me anyway (for my BIRDS  before all the numpties come calling me smelly) but sunday morn birds alw3ays have a very hot bath with salts and condish crystals  in it. MY BIRDS ALWAYS SLIP THROUGH YOUR HANDS