Feeding your birds

[Guest cosmic dave]

Do you you guys buy lots of different ingredients and make your own feed or is there one feed that suits all on the market ? as you know I am new to all this and don't want to harm my birds by not feeding them correctly.

Any feeding/watering tips to keep your birds in the best condition would be great.

 

Cheers again

 

David

[Guest strapper]

Do you you guys buy lots of different ingredients and make your own feed or is there one feed that suits all on the market ? as you know I am new to all this and don't want to harm my birds by not feeding them correctly.

Any feeding/watering tips to keep your birds in the best condition would be great.

 

Cheers again

 

David

 

dave you wont harm your birds by giving it any kind of pigeon corn.

when racing you will have to maybe change the way you feed to get the best from your birds.

there are different corns availible for all round feeding and i would say that feeding the most expensive isnt always the best way and wont garantee you success.

 

make sure they have clean water each day, and change the water twice in the summer.

over feeding will render your race birds uncontrolable and a strict feeding programme must be kept.

i feed different corns from a farm and it makes no difference to their racing ability.

too many mutli vits can give your birds the runs and can be confused with illness.

hope this helps

 

i should add..that fanciers use all types of different corns to win so no one corn mix is really used by all.

[holmsidelofts]

Hi dave.

I have done  both, mixed my own and used commercial mixtures, im currently using gem breeding adding to it gem g10 pellets, for the racers at the moment they are getting 50% breeding 50% barley as i havent paired them up yet. they all get fresh grit / minerals every day, i use gem matrix. In the water they get a good multi vit once a week and i use the dave allen tonic throughout the racing season. When youngsters hatch they get calf colostrum on the corn a couple of times a week. racers get brewers yeast and fresh lemon on the corn, plus once a week on there return they get calf colostrum on the corn whilst racing.

 

There are tested and treated where necessary and are vaccinated for PMV and salmonella every year.

 

Its really up to you mate really. As long as they are kept healthy, fed a good mix and managed well they will fly well. Everyone has there own way of doing things theres no right or wrong, you have to find out what works for you, All situations are different.

 

Jas.

 

[Tony C]

You could say there's three seasons, winter/resting is one breeding another and racing the other. No two seasons do you feed the same, by that I mean the same grains are fed but in different proportions. Winter you would feed a higher proportion of Barley, breeding a higher proportion of Tic Beans or peas, racing a higher proportion of maize. I would suggest you buy a good breeding mix as a base mix along with a bag of Tic beans a bag of Barley and a bag of Maize and add these to the base mix as the seasons dictate.

[Guest wes hall]

hi is versalaga breaders  good enouph as a base feeding i add peas to it  how do i stop them from throwing peas out when hopper feeding or do i have to suffer it

[Tony C]

hi is versalaga breaders  good enouph as a base feeding i add peas to it  how do i stop them from throwing peas out when hopper feeding or do i have to suffer it

 

The answer could lay with the quality of the peas (have they wrinkled texture) or the ratio your adding or if you have squeakers in the nest or not.

[tomkirby1]

holmsidlofts what is the dave allen tonic  and where do you get it

[marmite]

all depends what will b ur first birds m8 if getting in ybs that have just been weaned then i would suggest a good breed and wean mix plenty of maple peas good for ybs if older birds ur getting in to breed off i would go 4 a good all rounder mix till they rearing then the breed and wean . also make sure they have grit and minerals at least once a day and good clean water then u should b fine

[Guest ROCKYandRAMBO]

if i was you i would stick to one bag of corn as your base mix eg i use veselaga best all round , in the breeding season i add my peas and homoform in the racing i add homoform and a bit more maize when needed , in the moulting season i add lots of linseed and sunflower seed and in the winter they get 50 percent best all round and 50 percent barley hope this helps

[Silverdale Lofts]

holmsidlofts what is the dave allen tonic  and where do you get it

 

Tom when you get the recipe make sure the wifes out of the house for the day when you make it up.

[holmsidelofts]

 

Tom when you get the recipe make sure the wifes out of the house for the day when you make it up.

 

yeah you are right it does stink but its really good for the birds, i wouldnt be without it. I will post up the recipe later for everyone if you like.

 

Jas.

 

[Guest kevin b]

hi is versalaga breaders  good enouph as a base feeding i add peas to it  how do i stop them from throwing peas out when hopper feeding or do i have to suffer it

 

Try putting the peas in a jamjar in the box, when they want the peas they will use this, only peas in the jar then they wont throw them out.

[Guest mick bowler]

Dave i have always found the breeding mixes can be used as a year long feed, just lighten or adjust it with single feeds (barley, maples, wheat, maize etc) as required for racing, wintering etc

[wilkins]

i think if you use a all round mix( which had peas/beans in it ) with 25% barley added is not a bad mix then add 25% maize to this from tuesday or wednesday,

but after 250 miles i would drop the barley and add more maize and fats to the breeding mix maybe

50% breeding , 40% maize 10% fats you can get any energy type mix for 250 miles plus

 

up to 200 miles fed all they want on saturday of barley /protein/seed mix .then only around 1 oz sunday and monday, tuesday 1 and1/4 ,wed 1 1/2 ,thursday all they want , friday just energy mix all they want

 

over 200 you will need to feed more early in the week

[jimmy white]

Do you you guys buy lots of different ingredients and make your own feed or is there one feed that suits all on the market ? as you know I am new to all this and don't want to harm my birds by not feeding them correctly.

Any feeding/watering tips to keep your birds in the best condition would be great.

 

Cheers again

 

David

 

a  balanced diet will keep a bird healthy, but as said b4 in past posts, there are many fanciers change their feeding to suit,, i,e the seasons, the racings and the showing etc,, pigeons are naturally clever feeders, they will eat what they need , at the time they need it,, i,e when feeding youngsters they will push the maize [carboheydrates to the side and eat the protein [legumes] peas/beans etc, this will come natural to them,, the problem lies in feeding for the different races,, as off course they dont know their going to a race, or the endurance needed for the particular race, so    my opinion must be fed accordingly,, many fanciers have many different ideas on this,

in my opinion,they  need extra protein  when moulting, or when feeding youngsters, also plenty grit minerals and vits, etc,, the growth rate of a young pigeon is so great i,e from  the  newly hatched egg to a 4 week old pigeon that is fully feathered and almost flying,,,,,, again in my opinion, the first three weeks of a pigeons life is the most important  thing of all, the adults  will eat mostly protein foods [and a little of what they fancy] just  to feed these fast growing youngsters, my tip for what its worth, is adding babies milk powder, a couple of tablespoons to a full drinker

 

maybe just a smile ;D [i do sometimes do this ;D]   i read that the first three minutes of our own lives are the most important,,,,  ;D then it occurred to me ;D ;D ;D that  the  LAST three minutes are nothing to write home about either ;D ;D ;D,, good luck ;D