SEASON REMINDERS FOR AUGUST
Note: Our racing starts in September
and flying in Southern California, USA.
Adjust your schedule accordingly.
Feeding is always somewhat different in
regions of America due to weather conditions. Colder climates
need more fuel than hot and dry areas of flying. I believe
feeding twice a day is the correct way by this method; the crop
doesn’t over expand to adjust to the once a day feeding routine. You
can adjust the bird's condition a lot faster with twice a day feeding.
Lighter seeds are more suited for the hot areas, and heavier seeds for the
cold climates. I prefer to feed the light seeds early in the week
and more of the corn, peanuts, sunflower at the end of the week
during the race season. Some peas in the mix are OK. Safflower
late in the week is good to blow them up for that corky, balloon
feeling. Rice is a great grain for the hot areas with its
absorption of water and the high carbohydrate content. “The great
fanciers are experts at feeding.” Try to insure feeding enough for
all the birds when in training and use barley as the gauge for
monitoring. Some barley left over in the tray is just enough,
especially when in the initial training mode. This is the learning
period since they need to be rewarded, but not over fed.
The base mix is a mixture of grains
with about 15% - 16% protein. With this, you cut or add to the
mixture as needed. I use a Jedds Lite or depurative mix to
accomplish this. With this basic mix you can then add your other
grains as needed based on conditions such as weather, body feel, mind
conditioning, training response, and so on. With experience you’ll
get good at it! “Control of the physical condition is very
important to make a Champion”. This will get your birds home in
race time and make them competitive. Many other things are needed to be on
top of the sheet, such as environment, motivation & health.
August is the month of training and the
need to hydrate is very important. There are many products are out there such as electrolytes with glucose, dextrose, grape sugar or honey which are a real
asset during this time. Jedds B12 Liquid (code #9001) or Gem Impact (code #gem020 are a great source of vitamin B-12 and are recommend using at the end of the
week. Now, toward the end of the month I use Gem's Flight Fuel (gem014) or
Vydex Jet Stream (vx042) which both very high in creatine & ATP muscle building
ingredients. This takes some time to go to work, but you’ll feel
the difference when handling the birds. Remember, as previously
mentioned in the July Season Reminders, another dose of malaria
medicine (code #med044) is recommended.
I’m not going into training your
birds, but remember, if you can train on high ground with land marks
such as tall buildings this is a benefit for the birds. I believe
they use landmarks for the last 30 miles to locate home, but their
homing ability takes over after that to the general area. Marking the loft with a big colored X or something on the roof top would be a good landmark for the birds. I’ve even used a strobe
light mounted high on the loft roof. Train the straight line for your
initial training and release only your birds. Take a map and draw a
straight line from the release point to your loft and train along that line the first 30 miles. “This will pay dividends down
the road”
I’ve even grounded the loft by taking
a 6 ft piece of steel re-bar and inserted 4 ft into the ground and
attached to loft to help with any magnetic electrical interference.
“I don’t know if this has any value, but just so you know, I’ve tried
a lot of things over the years to gain the desired edge”. Product
called Magnetite sold at Jedds (code #9003) is used by some successful
fanciers who swear by it!
Medication & stimulant readiness:
The items below can be purchased at Jedds Pigeon Supply at www.jedds,com or similar products at your favorite pigeon store.
Have in your medicine cabinet items such as Tony’s Treasure Tablets (Jedds code #7984) which is a
general shot gun pill for all types of issues. Fabry Ideal Pills (code #fp006) or Vita King's Ideala Pills (#1431) a great appetite & fortification
pill. Tri-Coli code #VP003 or Spartrix (code #1412 ) are both effective individual
treatments for canker. Also, Medizole or Canker-X Plus are great meds to use as a flock
treatment. Respiratory items such as Doxi-Tyl (#5005), Saunovil (#1421), and Aureomycin concentrate #1159 as flock treatment. Spiradox
tablets code #A2525 or Doxybird tabs #med 020 for the individual
bird. For parasite infestation use Mediworm Pills (#med034) or Vetefarm's Worm-out pill (#7974) for the individual bird. Vermisol or Worm-out Gel are great for flock treatments. Moxidectrin, purchased from Siegel, can also be used for flock treatment. For coccidiosis issues, you can use Endocox (Baycox) code #1452, Sulmet #1103,or Coximed tabs (#med061).
Ivomec drops code #1161 or #1158 for
the air sac mites are also highly recommend to be administered 2 weeks before the
first race.
For adeno virus syndrome, use this time
tested product called Adeno Zap (#1830) mixed with Amoxicillin 20% (code #1269) for 7 days when virus presents itself.
You also need to use respiratory and
canker treatments throughout the season. With a stocked medicine cabinet readily available you can take immediate action as you see the condition of
the birds worsen. Learn to read your pigeon symptoms and have a
mentor to communicate with during this time period.
Work on your game plan for the races.
Peak your race team on race day, NOT in the middle of the week.
Remember: health, training, and motivation, along with good birds, win races!
Yours in the sport,
Greg McKnight
