March in the Loft
Breeders that have been carefully paired in lofts all across the U.S. are reaping one of the most exciting rewards of the time and money and effort that they devote to our sport, and that is babies hatching. American fanciers everywhere acknowledge the legendary status of Belgian pigeon racers, and the enormous contributions that Belgian avian veterinarians have made to the health regimens that keep our birds breeding and racing.
We all want to give these babies as great a start as possible, and I’d like to share with our readers some valuable recommendations from Professor P. De Backer, a pigeon veterinarian at the University of Ghent in Belgium, along with my own commentary and suggestions. The following seven recommendations focus on what the savvy fancier can do to make a baby pigeon’s start as strong as possible and give it a great advantage in future competition.
#1: From age 5 to 6 days until they are 25 to 26 days old, each baby should get an Ideal pill every other day. This gives them an excellent mix of mineral and vitamin supplements that improves their health tremendously. Wean your youngsters at the age of 25 to 26 days, because feeding youngsters is a big job for the parent birds. If they are going to be as vigorous in raising their third and fourth rounds as they are with their first, they need to have each round taken away from them as soon as possible.
Separation from the parents is very stressful for the young birds, so make sure that everything possible is done to make the new babies feel completely safe and at home. Since at this age they cannot fly, they will spend all of their time on the floor of the weaning loft. Place some straw or bedding material (tobacco stems are excellent) on the floor so that the babies can pile on and snuggle up. This close contact with other babies will help to ease the stress of being removed from their parents. The straw will help to keep them warm and the tobacco stems can help to keep parasites away.
In our loft, we dip our youngsters in a mild solution of 57% Malathion and warm water just as we take them from their parents. This warm water solution is not stressful to the babies. In fact, it seems to have a calming effect on them. Since they are wet, it is necessary to keep them in a warm environment, but the Malathion keeps them free of all external parasites for months. In less than an hour, they are dry, clean, happy and all snuggled up with their loft mates.
#2: About 14 days after separation from their parents, all baby pigeons should be treated for canker. 1-1/2 teaspoons per liter of water of Ridzol-S, or Turbosole from the Australian Pigeon Company (1 1/2 teaspoons per gallon of water for 3 to 5 days). Either of these should go far in taking care of any possible outbreak of this most insidious disease. Make sure that several drinkers are placed on the floor of the loft, where the babies can easily access them. We place three one-liter drinkers on the floor of our young bird section, which is 5′x 9′.
Be very mindful of the youngsters that stay in the corners of the loft or those whose eyes are constantly squinting. These youngsters have not found the drinkers yet and need to be assisted with their first drink. (When we find a “squinting” youngster, we take its head gently between our thumb and forefinger and place the tip of its beak in the drinker. As soon as the baby’s tongue gets wet, it will drink like mad, and will never forget where the water is.)
#3: For the first fourteen days after a baby has been weaned from its parents, it should be given the same feed as its parents, for example, a breeding mix, or breeding mix with added corn. After fourteen days, the mix can be switched to a standard young bird mix of about 14-16% protein. Keep in mind that pigeons should “go to bed with a light meal,” not the other way around.
It is also important to remember that young pigeons should be fed lightly and sparingly. To overfeed a youngster leads to disaster. This concerns their health as well as their discipline in the loft, as young pigeons should be taught to listen as soon as they are weaned. Always use some method of calling to the birds when you are feeding them. In this way, they associate the call with the feed and learn to listen to the fancier. Some fanciers use whistles, some shake a tin full of feed, some whistle with their mouth and others just talk to the birds.
Whatever method you decide to use, do it at every feeding. This can only serve to help create the bond of understanding that is so necessary as the babies grow up and take to the air.
#4: Slow down the moult without using drugs by darkening the loft. For maximum effect, the darkening should be started immediately as they are weaned, this from 6 in the evening to 8 in the morning. You certainly can adjust this to fit your work schedule, but no more than 10 hours of “light” time should be allowed. Fit your windows with drapes or covers, so that extraneous light cannot enter the loft. Some extra method of ventilation may be necessary, such as ventilators, but the race results can surely be most inspiring later in the year, as the young will moult all of their body feathers but retain most of their wing flights.
Generally speaking, the darker the loft, the better. It has been proven that youngsters treated in this way also mature faster and are much more inclined to respond to the mating urge than those that are left on natural light. But be careful when letting young birds out of the loft after they have been in the dark. Many fanciers have experienced horrendous “fly-aways” because they didn’t give their babies enough time in the aviary to “orient” after they’ve been in the dark.
The most successful fanciers we know who use the darkening method always let their babies have a couple of hours in the aviary before letting them out to fly. Some will even let them fly for a while, then call them in before taking them out on a training toss. The theory here is that once the babies have oriented around the loft for a few minutes, they basically know where they are.
#5: What is the safest, cheapest and most efficient medication? Oxygen! Pigeons can never have too much of it! Oxygen has nothing to do with drafts. The simplest solution to having a well-oxygenated loft is to put windows where the air is stagnant. Many fanciers today are using small room ventilators set on a thermostat or timer to ensure that the “contaminated” air is continually removed.
In our lofts, we have our front windows underneath our landing boards. The usual wind direction will cause air to enter the loft from low, drift through the loft taking the contaminated air with it, and leave through the roof ventilators. During particularly windy weather, we close the windows partly or entirely depending upon the severity of the weather. A little can go a long way in providing good oxygen for your birds. Be mindful that the “best bird sitting on a bad perch can’t beat a bad bird sitting on a good perch.”
#6: Young pigeons are just that, young pigeons. Their bodies need to mature and develop, and to do this they need sufficient grit, calcium, minerals and trace elements in their diet. It is a proven fact that baby pigeons given the proper amount of supplementation develop stronger and more robust bodies and brains than pigeons that are deprived of these supplements. Since these are potential racing birds, they need not only have a healthy and robust body, but they must be able to think quickly to orient.
Mineral and trace elements play a larger than expected role in proper brain functions. We always give our birds, especially the babies, an abundance of supplements like grit, picking stones, seaweed grit (which has iodine), and herbal supplements. We especially like the herbal supplement Naturaline from the Natural Company. Another one that we use which is very good and very popular is Orovital from Oropharma.
Another must for the young bird loft is a pro-biotic, which supplements the good gut bacteria and can actually contribute to an increase in resistance to disease. We highly recommend Health Gard, and Digestal from Versele-Laga, Prodigest from Herbots or Cometose from Comed are also all good choices for pro-biotics. It is a well-proven fact that pigeons whose diets include these types of supplements are far less likely to become ill due to bacterial infections.
#7: As soon as the young birds begin to “route” or “trip” away from the loft, it is a good idea to take them on their first training tosses. We like to let our babies become totally comfortable in the training baskets, so we leave the baskets in the loft and let them enter the basket to eat and drink. Often when we go into the loft, we find an entire group of youngsters piled together in one of our training baskets, just relaxing. It is much easier to teach a bird how to eat or drink in the basket, if that bird has been doing it since it was a baby.
Once they become comfortable in the basket, it will be far less stressful on them to be taken on training tosses. Training is just that, training. A baby pigeon need not be taken on a marathon to teach it how to come home. Homing instinct is hereditary. They either have it, or they don’t, but taking baby pigeons on long tosses can often lead to disastrous results that could have been avoided. Let the babies mature into the game by taking them on more short tosses.
We prefer many short tosses. This gets them “coming home fast,” racing home, which is what we want. Our observation has been that pigeons single tossed in their earliest tosses usually dawdle around and don’t learn to break from the release site as well. We usually employ the single or small group tosses later in the training, after the babies have got a “craw” full of confidence. Since we figure pigeons can’t count, once they have their confidence, they don’t care how many birds are flying with them. If they are hungry and fit, they will come home fast. And that will become a habit.
March in the Loft by Ed Minvielle
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