Water On Fridays

[greenlands]

For several years now i've given electrolytes at half the recomended dose on Fridays,just been reading a post about the Welsh birds returning dehydrated from a race.I have found the same the passed two weeks??.Usually this only occurs when there's a bit of East in the wind.

Do you give your birds water only on Fridays or have you found something that helps the birds.

Would be grateful for your comments,it won't only help me/my pigeons but fanciers who have the same problem.

Lindsay.

[Guest mick bowler]

I dont think it matters what you give them, you have to hope they get a drink on the transporter. It would be unfair to expect any bird to go near 24 hours without a drink then race their hearts out. The trouble IMO is the availablity of water on the transporter.

 

Having said that i have given rice/oats etc, may of worked may of not very hard to tell.

[Guest IB]

Plain water for me Fridays, but home to honey & cider vinegar on Saturdays.

 

I know that there are those who advocate the use of electolytes in the water on Fridays, even on the transporter. Personally, I think thats a mistake. There is nothing taken out of the bird before the race for it to replace, so it must be creating an imbalance, creating the need for extra water.

 

I'm not convinced they lose electrolytes during flight either. Its conserved during flight as part as bird's flight heat-coping strategies. Water and plenty of it when it gets home is all the bird requires to rehydrate itself. Honey / glucose rehydrates too.