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Welcome back Fanciers!!


     Today's blog will contain video and pictures of our newest breeding stock supplied in co-operation with one of our Senior Club Members. We have one five bird team almost ready to go to The Empire Classic one loft race and several are going to Taiwan to be sold into their racing community. Any and all purchase enquiries can be made to myself at glenn@pigeonpals .com. Please remember to send us your comments on Chris's wonderful newsletters which you can find today at the bottom of the blog. ENJOY!!





















Email all inquiries to glenn@pigeonpals.com


The Pigeon Insider newsletter sample:

From Heavyweight to Featherweight, Pigeon racing goes primetime with it’s own reality show!

Former world heavyweight champ Mike Tyson will take flight on Animal Planet with a new sport — pigeon racing.

The network this week announced a new reality show that will pit Tyson, a novice pigeon racer, against serious competitors.

The show is currently titled “Taking on Tyson” and promises to bring audiences inside this “intensely competitive and bizarrely fascinating world.”

Tyson has raised pigeons all his life but will take to the rooftops as a racing rookie. The network says he’ll be assisted by a colorful team of pigeon experts as he rears, trains and races them.

“I’m honored to be a part of this monumental show on Animal Planet. I feel a great pride acting as an official representative for all the pigeon fancier’s out there. I want people to see why we love these birds. It feels good returning to the rooftops of the city where it all started for me — New York.”

The show is scheduled to be taped this spring in New York City and air early next year.

Watch the video below as Mike Tyson takes us inside his pigeon loft:

 

Electrolytes? Yes sir!

Fanciers often ask me ‘what are electrolytes?’ Are they really useful and when  should I give them to the birds? Since it seems to intrigue so many I will give a short explanation but will not go into details, since that would be too complicated a story.

The term is a medical (scientific) one for salts, specifically ions.

They are commonly found in sports drinks for humans and they are used to replenish the body’s water levels after dehydration caused by exercise, diarrhoea, vomiting or starvation.

If a person exercises heavily, he loses lots of electrolytes in his sweat, particularly sodium and potassium, which are major electrolytes and need to be replaced as soon as possible to restore imbalance, once it occurs. Mostly carbohydrates and glucose are added by the manufacturer to provide energy.

PIGEONS
Not only humans but pigeons as well may lose big amounts of salt and ions, especially after heavy exertions in hot weather. Dehydration may be a direct consequence and therefore birds may need some help to restore fluid levels.

How to help them?

‘Electrolytes’ is the word.

The next question may be which are the best?

That is hard to say but… you are on the right track if you find the words sodium (Na), potassium (K), chloride (Cl), calcium (Ca), magnesium (ma), bicarbonate (HCO), sulphate (So3) on the label.

Pretty many different medicinal dehydration sachets or drinks are available for both humans and pigeons. For ‘us’ the best thing is to get them from an experienced vet or a trustable firm.

FUNCTION AND ADMINISTRATION
What do electrolytes do to the body and what are their functions?

When to give them?
The best timing is directly after the exertion (a race in hot weather). So it should be in the water on homecoming already. It is also useful to give them before basketing if the weather is hot. ‘If the birds come home and nearly fall apart due to the loss of water/salts, you are too late’ In this case you should add the electrolytes on the grains with some (Cure) Oil, thus the typical salty taste of a water solution of electrolytes is avoided. Soon after eating, the electrolytes dissolve in the crop and stomach, birds get thirsty and consequently they will drink an extra volume of water which is well fixed in its system. This will probably give the pigeon a feeling of self confidence too. You can increase this technique by adding, intestinal-conditioners (Cometose). Fibers can suck up a lot of water and keep this water a long period in the intestinal transit. By doing so birds will not try to land during a race and lose time in hot weather conditions. After a long distance race electrolytes may be administered for 2 or 3 days in order to help them to recover more quickly.

FINALLY
It sometimes happens that 10-day-old babies suddenly produce watery droppings; sometimes it is more water than sh… After you have put electrolytes in the drinker the result may be spectacular and within 2 days the droppings may get back to normal. Birds that suffer from Adeno (E coli) drink very much and their droppings are very watery as well. For such birds electrolytes are also helpful. Electrolytes and even sports drinks can be homemade as well, but some expertise is required to use the correct proportions of sugar, salt and water. After this you may have understood that electrolytes, sedochol and beer yeast belong to the very few feed additives in which I believe. Apart from grit of course, but that should be obvious.

Electrolytes  by: Ad Schaerlaeckens

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Thanks for tuning in!!
Glenn West