Baby Milk

[scott mca]

Hi Guys does anyone use Baby Milk when rearing there young in the nest if so whats the benefits, what rate do you mix it and do you make it up the night before in hot water, when do u start to give it before hatch or after a week etc and finaly do you give every day or just once or twice a week or would you not bother.

[Bryngwynt Lofts]

Hi Scott,

I mix 1 desert spoon scoop of baby milk.I also add 2 desert scoop of lemon juice.Then mix it all up,leave it to dry ready for the next day.Other option add some oil.

[Guest strapper]

Hi Guys does anyone use Baby Milk when rearing there young in the nest if so whats the benefits, what rate do you mix it and do you make it up the night before in hot water, when do u start to give it before hatch or after a week etc and finaly do you give every day or just once or twice a week or would you not bother.

 

if you use baby milk do not use the normal type, pigeons cannot digest it and its a waste of time.

if you do use baby milk then use the lactose intolerant type .

pigeons do not have the enzymes to digest lactose...so it could cause the bird to have very loose droppings.

[frankdooman]

Why would u need to use baby milk?.

[greenlands]

Why would u need to use baby milk?.

My sentiments as well Frank,I like to see well bred young birds but some of them can't get off the loft floor to a perch and sit about the garden for weeks.

[gulkie]

My sentiments as well Frank,I like to see well bred young birds but some of them can't get off the loft floor to a perch and sit about the garden for weeks.

Why would you give milk to youngsters when the parents supply them with it ?????

[scott mca]

Thamks for your thoughts guys had just read somewhere yhat a top guy used baby milk to rear on and was woundering what other peoples thoughts were dont think I'll bother

[frankdooman]

I just feel it's the start of the selection process a good pair of birds even racers should be able to rear strong robust y/birds and not show any signs of distress to either them or y birds just the same with pellets yes they will help the y/birds but I felt it was a draw back when I started training JMO

[Guest strapper]

the reason for giving baby milk is its high volume of good ingredients(which is essential in the 1st days of life)sometimes although pigeon milk is sufficent baby milk can add to the quality of feed from birth,baby milk and pigeon milk are entirely different.

 

as ive already said ..pigeons like some mammals cannot digest ordinary baby milk ,and some will/can take adverse reactions to it.

[greenlands]

Why would you give milk to youngsters when the parents supply them with it ?????

I don't

[Edinburgh west]

I know a few guys who use baby milk but that's to get the birds trough the moult quicker . Try putting your birds on whey protein from holland and barretts you get big strong young birds .

[billt]

It's even second best for babies

[Guest Owen]

At one time I tried out all sorts of ideas on feeding and rearing youngsters. After many experiments and attempts to find something that would help me produce special babies I found that most of these things are a wast of time and money. Here is a little experiment you can try on yourself. Take 1/2 lb of carrots and eat then raw and note the time and effort it takes you, then take a second 1/2 lb of carrots, cook them and then eat them noting the time and effort for you to do it. The nutritional value of both lots of carrots will be more or less the same yet the raw carrots will take far more energy to eat than the cooked ones. Many people think that it was when people learned to use fire for cooking that the human race made to most progress because they didn't have to expend much energy in eating and digesting food.

The same set of rules apply to pigeons and other creatures. If they are fed the food that their bodies have become accustomed to over millions of years but cooked they will save energy, be properly nourished and achieve the best growth. Feeding anything that is alien to the pigeon's digestive system is usually a wast of time and money. So my conclusion is that food designed to nourish pigeons in pellet form is far more suitable and will give the best results. When the pellets are made up of either cooked or partly cooked ingredients the results will be even better. In addition it is a big advantage if in the production of the pellets the producer ensures that the nutritional content of the pellets is adjusted to give the best results. A good example of successful pellet feeding can be seen in farm livestock and poultry. The pellets are balanced to give the required results and the creatures eating them thrive and achieve the results expected.

An example of when things go wrong is when we used to try to use cows' milk to rear kittens and puppies. They would scourer and die. Even lambs and some calves would not benefit from it. Those that did not die would more often than not not flourish. Years ago before dog food was sold we used to feed the Farm Dogs on the food cooked prepared for people a lot of the time. Again it was a disaster for the dogs because many of them would get fits and become ill. Some people cottoned on and fed their dogs on meat but many did not. It is only in recent years that people have realized that dogs must have dog food to thrive.

I reckon that all animals and birds do much better if they are fed the food that is appropriate to their digestive systems and will benefit even more if the food is processed either by cooking it or grinding it so that it becomes more digestible and offered in pelleted form.

[buster151]

great info there Owen

[philg50]

I also agree with Owen when rearing young i give them layers pellets in their feed.

[Guest strapper]

i feed pellets..i get them off a m8 who works on a farm.

these i use are finnishing off pellets ..used b4 the chickens enter the human food chain.

he races entirely on these pellets ..as he says..if i had to buy the food i wouldnt be racing.

[Guest chad3646]

its all right saying feed them pellets, you will need to know the right pellets you are giving them

 

because some of the pellets are full of steroids to fatten the chickens so beware as the chap said earlier he gave them the finishing pellets from the farm

[Guest strapper]

its all right saying feed them pellets, you will need to know the right pellets you are giving them

 

because some of the pellets are full of steroids to fatten the chickens so beware as the chap said earlier he gave them the finishing pellets from the farm

 

some pellets have cocci medication in them..but you can buy normal run of the mill pellets most places

 

finnishing off pellets dont contain anything that may be considered dangerous to the public .., chickens must be free from medicated pellets for more than 28 days b4 they are considered ok for human consumption.

[Lennut Tar]

It's even second best for babies

 

 

So !!!!!!!!, that's experience talking is it & one could presume etc ??????? you have tried both.

Enjoy.

[Guest Owen]

I agree that we should be careful with the type of pellets we use. I use a small amount of layers pellets and G10s which are designed for pigeons. This year I have taken orders for youngsters I wanted to sell so I was keen to get things right and deliver the best reared youngsters possible. I fixed up daylight tubes in the loft and run the light system with a timer giving the birds 16 hours of light. I fed the old birds on barley with additives until just before they were due to hatch. I had a marvelous result. Out of 14 pairs I had 26 youngsters 24 of which were hatched on the same day and one pair were two days younger.

I then changed the food to a mixture of young bird mix, breed and wean and G10 pellets. There has been no problems and the youngsters look a picture. Meanwhile the old birds have gone back down for their second round. I reckon that if I had messed about with the feeding my results would have been very much different.

[Guest strapper]

I agree that we should be careful with the type of pellets we use. I use a small amount of layers pellets and G10s which are designed for pigeons. This year I have taken orders for youngsters I wanted to sell so I was keen to get things right and deliver the best reared youngsters possible. I fixed up daylight tubes in the loft and run the light system with a timer giving the birds 16 hours of light. I fed the old birds on barley with additives until just before they were due to hatch. I had a marvelous result. Out of 14 pairs I had 26 youngsters 24 of which were hatched on the same day and one pair were two days younger.

I then changed the food to a mixture of young bird mix, breed and wean and G10 pellets. There has been no problems and the youngsters look a picture. Meanwhile the old birds have gone back down for their second round. I reckon that if I had messed about with the feeding my results would have been very much different.

 

glad to hear your having a good start with the ybs owen...best of luck

[frankdooman]

I think there is a huge difference between feeding a bird that is meant for the food chain and racing pigeons it's common fact that stuff on the supermarket shelf is specifically designed to look the part but it doesn't need to actually be the best thing for us I think pellets make birds look the part but none of us know exactly what's in them a bit like chicken nuggets kids love them but it all the sh it that they are made of as for cooking food I was always led to believe cooking can remove allot of the good stuff from the food so I think I will stick to a seed mix JMO

[Guest Owen]

Frankdooman

I don't think anyone can disagree with anything you have said there. One small point however. Cooking can remove elements from food such as water based vitamins. Everything depends on the methods used to cook something. If pellets are produced properly they should not vary in content from one batch to another unlike grain which can vary greatly from one supplier or season to another. Properly produced pellets should give the birds better digestibility and more complete nutrition.

I think we are all aware of what happened in the livestock industry when the Feed Suppliers introduced meat into the diets of herbivores. The problem we have with pellets is the fact that we can't be certain what is in them.

The reason I wrote my original post was because some people want to feed their birds on things that are unsuitable and having experimented widely myself I thought I should explain what I have found out to save others either wasting time by reinventing the wheel or causing themselves problems.

As a further point in an attempt to be helpful probably the most effective things I have done to improve my breeding performance has been the following. Vaccinate all the all birds in November, control worms and house my birds in outside aviaries in the lead up to pairing up.

[frankdooman]

Yes agree Owen and I still like to read your views keep them cumming iam still learning

[blood red]

Yes agree Owen and I still like to read your views keep them cumming iam still learning

Baby milk lol,good pigeons are born, I feed barley beans layers pellets.