How Much Feed?

[Guest jellams11]

Im sure there is great controversy and a wide range of different methods used, but how much should i feed my racing pigeons in grams per day/per bird and where you get the feed from and rough costs for a quality diet per week/month. And the ratios of fats,carbs and protein.

Thanks

[REDCHEQHEN]

In or out of season?

Short or long races?

Young or old birds?

 

To give you an idea, we feed 1 to 1 and a half ounces per bird per day during the racing season but use a variety of feeds over the week. Usually split over 2 feeds (in grams 30g - 45g)

[PIGEONPACKMAN]

Try abit of barley in your mix say 10 -15% hand feed them abit at a time till they leave barley .l dont race the get versa laga pro racing and breading all year round £10 a sack lasts me about 3 or for months for 8ish birds .they get a premade grit and mineral mix and cider vinegar in the water twice a weak. Keep it simple to start with there are loads of so called miracle potions on the market do your research and tryfind the ones that come recommened by allot of fanciers and not by the company its self.

[Guest Owen]

A lot of the ideas on feeding require you to hand feed and try to guess the amount your birds might need. To me this is old fashioned and fine if you want to treat your birds like pets. The idea that you should feed a barley mix until they start to leave the barley works but it will depend on the mixture you use and the type of grain you use. If, for example, the main feed is a hi fat mix you can still overfeed and spoil your birds chances of winning anything by getting them too fat.

The test is the way your birds fly at exercise. Fit pigeons should fly high and range away from the loft. You know you have it wrong when the birds land on the nearest house or fly in small circles just clearing the nearest houses or trees.

Why not cut to the chase and feed your birds on all barley before you let them out and trap them with something they like. If you do this twice a day it will not be long before the birds will enjoy their exercise and actually benefit from it. It is important to allow the birds time to eat what they need but it vital not to leave any food lying about in the loft. Most pigeons are fed far too much protein and most pigeons are performing well below their potential because their owners have no clue about the way to feed.

To be honest it is the same sort of thing with dogs. I have lost count of the times I have gone into someone's house and seen dog food in a dish uneaten. Then the people wonder why Bonso is difficult to train and is over weight. If they would only pick the food dish up and make Bonso wait until the next meal if he does not eat heartily they would have a healthier and better behaved animal. Pigeons are exactly the same. They either respond to the call and work with the routine or wait until the next meal. The idea of routinely rationing the birds or trying to force them to comply with the loft discipline by withholding their feed is just plain daft. Before anyone gets on to me about the fact that barley is deficient of some import elements it becomes easy to add what you need to make the feed suitable.

Just to put the record straight, I win a lot of sprint races and I know that there are people who know me who think I deprive my birds of food and fly them to the corn tin. People who know me better know that my birds are never hungry and despite that they are wonderful trappers and never land anywhere other than the loft.

[PIGEONPACKMAN]

Like all other posts read it is hard to dtermine an exact measurement as some days pigeons are hungrier than others dpendant on workload ie, racing, breeding, cold weather , can be detrimental to how much and what feed a pigeon needs l think you need to get a system that works well for you and stick to it , some fanciers have no problem hopper feeding the birds whereas others don, t like it it depends on your own personal circumstances how much time you have to comit to a feeding regime and what you want out of your birds .

[William Reid]

A lot of the ideas on feeding require you to hand feed and try to guess the amount your birds might need. To me this is old fashioned and fine if you want to treat your birds like pets. The idea that you should feed a barley mix until they start to leave the barley works but it will depend on the mixture you use and the type of grain you use. If, for example, the main feed is a hi fat mix you can still overfeed and spoil your birds chances of winning anything by getting them too fat.

The test is the way your birds fly at exercise. Fit pigeons should fly high and range away from the loft. You know you have it wrong when the birds land on the nearest house or fly in small circles just clearing the nearest houses or trees.

Why not cut to the chase and feed your birds on all barley before you let them out and trap them with something they like. If you do this twice a day it will not be long before the birds will enjoy their exercise and actually benefit from it. It is important to allow the birds time to eat what they need but it vital not to leave any food lying about in the loft. Most pigeons are fed far too much protein and most pigeons are performing well below their potential because their owners have no clue about the way to feed.

To be honest it is the same sort of thing with dogs. I have lost count of the times I have gone into someone's house and seen dog food in a dish uneaten. Then the people wonder why Bonso is difficult to train and is over weight. If they would only pick the food dish up and make Bonso wait until the next meal if he does not eat heartily they would have a healthier and better behaved animal. Pigeons are exactly the same. They either respond to the call and work with the routine or wait until the next meal. The idea of routinely rationing the birds or trying to force them to comply with the loft discipline by withholding their feed is just plain daft. Before anyone gets on to me about the fact that barley is deficient of some import elements it becomes easy to add what you need to make the feed suitable.

Just to put the record straight, I win a lot of sprint races and I know that there are people who know me who think I deprive my birds of food and fly them to the corn tin. People who know me better know that my birds are never hungry and despite that they are wonderful trappers and never land anywhere other than the loft.

Always enjoy reading your posts Owen .

[Guest strapper]

i agree with owen in what he says ,the moment you start to loose the fact your birds are athletes then you start to loose your way.

the competition will have a head start if you relax, so think what you feed.

 

no one knows more then i do ,because i relaxed over 3-4yrs although still topping the fed 1-2 times,i lost motivation and wasnt given the birds the fuel/motivation to compete,it wont happen again!

[neila]

Hi Owen

 

can I ask when you send to more water races as I am sure you mentioned in another post how would you go about for example a 6-7 week run of 250- 350-450- 550 miles with a week off in between will barley still be a big part of you feeding?

 

I have fed program and national program with 220-400 miles each week for 8 weeks would you just feed a lot more fats than barley ?

[Mattydoos79]

Interesting read about the feeding well I did wrong in the past but not measuring correctly my pigeons become a bit fat or unresponsive to my calls, they just sat on roof or fly low so I changed the amount of fed and all gets fed twice a day, half of feed in morning and all in evening. Then I noticed a big change they fly higher and longer and the best thing is they respond to my call and goes in the loft.

[DODC]

A av.pigeon weight is 14 oz you want them to have a good body and light, old fat is heavy, birds don't fly in this condition, so you need the new fat, look at the skin on the breast it should be pink and not white. If they are not exercising they could be too fat and not hungry, getting the balance right is a factor. Just remember some birds will eat faster than others, don’t have the feed in when you’re taking them in as the first ones will eat most of it, say if two don’t come in take the two oz off the amount you are feeding, that two will get the next time you exercise and feed. They will soon learn.Once you have this control increase a bit not much.I use mostly a oil seed mix,but do give them 50% protein on Thursday evening and Friday morning ,just a very light feed Friday morning for sending to race.

[AdamArcher]

I usually stick to about 30g per bird per day, a bit more before a long distance race.

[dunc50]

Serious stuff pigeon racing,, did yer mam weigh up your tatties and mince at dinner time

[mill house]

Serious stuff pigeon racing,, did yer mam weigh up your tatties and mince at dinner time

yea ken yours never git misured wae a gub that size hehehe