Pigeon Talk

[backyard pigeons]

As far as eye sign... I use it to a certain extent. And I will admit that's because my father was much better at understanding it than I am. There's always things you wish you could have learned better when you had the chance...

yeah. It's weird to me... People would buy a feral if they thought it had a good eye sign. They think that a homer with a good eye is worth racing. But, they ignore other important things. same with pedigrees! People seem to buy the pedigree, and then they're like "cool! It comes with a pigeon too!" Dont get me wrong, peds are great! But I don't care about pedigrees. I care about quality pigeons with the race records\owners records from their direct parents to prove it. And I don't care about the parents hatch mate, neice, nephew, grandparents, uncles, pets, aunts etc, I want to know there immediate family... But, if they aren't banded, I don't buy (unless they are given to me). If someone doesn't take the time and effort of record keeping, I don't think they are worthy buying from.

Edit: so, i do care about peds, so I know the parents. But I don't care about knowing about their aunts uncle etc.

 

[backyard pigeons]

Alright guys. ANY help is appreciated.

I am really struggling to mantain health. I mean, I have not had firm, round droppings in 8 months. My bird arent dying, but aren't thriving. They are sometimes on the floor fluffed up, they sneeze, and have watery droppings, sometimes with green in them. I have tried and tried to correct it, but nothing helps for any amount of time. And it seems to be messing with their performance. How fast do yalls birds return to their coop after a toss? I have never had bird beat me back. They seem to take about ten minutes per mile, if we are within 10 miles. Today, I tossed 9 birds 7 miles away, and none are back and it's dark. It has been 3 hours. I am just confused why I can't get fast results, and why I lose so many, especially hearing that you only lost one @old strain lover.They always come back the next day, but this isn't normal, and I'm really upset that I can't mantain health and good results.

 

[biophiliac]

Alright guys. ANY help is appreciated.

I am really struggling to mantain health. I mean, I have not had firm, round droppings in 8 months. My bird arent dying, but aren't thriving. They are sometimes on the floor fluffed up, they sneeze, and have watery droppings, sometimes with green in them. I have tried and tried to correct it, but nothing helps for any amount of time. And it seems to be messing with their performance. How fast do yalls birds return to their coop after a toss? I have never had bird beat me back. They seem to take about ten minutes per mile, if we are within 10 miles. Today, I tossed 9 birds 7 miles away, and none are back and it's dark. It has been 3 hours. I am just confused why I can't get fast results, and why I lose so many, especially hearing that you only lost one @old strain lover.They always come back the next day, but this isn't normal, and I'm really upset that I can't mantain health and good results.

Fixing your tag for @Old_Strain_Lover

 

[Old_Strain_Lover]

Alright guys. ANY help is appreciated.

I am really struggling to mantain health. I mean, I have not had firm, round droppings in 8 months. My bird arent dying, but aren't thriving. They are sometimes on the floor fluffed up, they sneeze, and have watery droppings, sometimes with green in them. I have tried and tried to correct it, but nothing helps for any amount of time. And it seems to be messing with their performance. How fast do yalls birds return to their coop after a toss? I have never had bird beat me back. They seem to take about ten minutes per mile, if we are within 10 miles. Today, I tossed 9 birds 7 miles away, and none are back and it's dark. It has been 3 hours. I am just confused why I can't get fast results, and why I lose so many, especially hearing that you only lost one @old strain lover.They always come back the next day, but this isn't normal, and I'm really upset that I can't mantain health and good results.

Sounds like respiratory problems to me. In general I don't like giving medication recommendations as I am not a licensed veterinarian, however you will most likely have to end up treating them with doxycycline. I'm not sure on length of time, but it's probably a minimum of 10-14 days, and make sure you remove any sources of supplemental calcium (grit, layer pellets etc). Are you keeping the lofts clean? Scraping and sweeping every day to every other day? I hope you aren't using a deep bedding of some kind. I really despise using beddings as they hold so much dust in them... dust is bad for their respiratory health of course.
As far as return times... on really short tosses they might not beat you home because they will often end up routing on the real short flights. 7 miles should be far enough where they just go straight home though. It could be that hawks are scattering them (especially at this time of year). It sounds like you are tossing in the evening... any particular reason you are doing this?

 

[backyard pigeons]

Sounds like respiratory problems to me.

okay thanks! i'll research this some.

Are you keeping the lofts clean? Scraping and sweeping every day to every other day? I hope you aren't using a deep bedding of some kind. I really despise using beddings as they hold so much dust in them... dust is bad for their respiratory health of course.

I am currently using bedding... Several inches of straw. I was using bare wood, but I'm not a fan. I asked myself "who have I visited that has the healthiest pigeons I have ever seen"... My answer came to two people that use bedding. so I am trying to replicate their care as best as I can.

Yes, I scrape perches and boxes daily. When it was bare wood floors, I did twice a day.

It sounds like you are tossing in the evening... any particular reason you are doing this?

yes... Because that is when the most drivers are available. I always try to give them plenty of time to return home before dark, but didn't yesterday I guess. I have gotten 8\9 backs so far.I



Does respiratory make for bad droppings?

thanks again for your help. I really need it!

 

[Old_Strain_Lover]

Does respiratory make for bad droppings?

Absolutely it can... most of the sicknesses can cause pigeons to have bad droppings

 

[Pigeon28]

Picked up 5 more squeakers from the gentlemen I got the first 15 from. 2 more blue bars, a blue check and 2 silvers

 

[biophiliac]

Picked up 5 more squeakers from the gentlemen I got the first 15 from. 2 more blue bars, a blue check and 2 silvers

Nice!
It would be cool if one of the ash reds, aka silvers, is a hen. Look for blue flecks on the feathers - if you find them, you definitely have a male.

 

[Pigeon28]

Nice!
It would be cool if one of the ash reds, aka silvers, is a hen. Look for blue flecks on the feathers - if you find them, you definitely have a male.

I knew I had heard a different name other than silver for them! I am definitely hoping for at least one hen! The blue check looks like a hen to me also, but What do i know. And good to know about the flecking, should I be able to see it now if it has any? Or will I have to wait until after molt? I had a blue bar that had really pretty chocolate bars but seemed to lose them after this heavy moly.

 

[biophiliac]

I knew I had heard a different name other than silver for them! I am definitely hoping for at least one hen! The blue check looks like a hen to me also, but What do i know. And good to know about the flecking, should I be able to see it now if it has any? Or will I have to wait until after molt? I had a blue bar that had really pretty chocolate bars but seemed to lose them after this heavy moly.

The blue flecks should be visible now but likely to become more prominent with each molt. They just indicate your ash red cock carries the blue allele also and will pass on red or blue color to offspring, 50/50.
If a male is homozygous for red he will not have flecks. A red hen won't have flecks either because she only carries one color allele. The neat thing about a red hen is you can sex the babies by color if you pair her with a blue/black or brown cock.