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Double Widowhood - Part 4
As
stated before, my first priority is to separate the hens as quickly as possible
and wean the youngsters to their own compartment. Once this is achieved then I
can start to cut back on the quantity of feed given and the type of grain that
I feed. For those unweaned young birds they will still receive legumes ( peas)
in their boxes in cups. In this way, I can control the feed given to the other
widowers which do not have any youngsters. Good quality malting barley is a
favourite way to get the droppings looking just right ( small round marbles)
and to start the process of taking off any unwanted weight from the team. Also
you will notice that as you concentrate on the carbohydrates and steer away
from the proteins that the flesh will pinken a little faster. In the last four
decades that I have been in this sport let me say that there is not any
magic ELIXIR on the market that will place pink flesh on the breast of
your pigeons. Other than physically painting it on them, the only method that I
know of is to reduce the number of inmates (thereby increasing
the oxygen for each bird), reduce the protein content ( cut down
on the peas and increase the carbohydrates), increase the wing
time ( make sure that they are properly trained prior to the race they are
undertaking), eliminate respiratory problems immediately ( medicating
when necessary especially for trichomoniasis), provide plenty of motivation and last but not least
let the widowers have complete rest during the day. Since the birds will be fed
twice daily, they will receive only barley ( top grade malting barley) in the
morning. In the evening I will give them a carefully monitored amount of barley
( 20-30% ) and a mixture ( 70-80%). My
racing mixture will change throughout the racing season depending on
availability and the quality of good grains. At the beginning of the racing
year my mixture will contain; 40% corn ( of which 30% will be of the red/yellow seed
quality corn variety and 10% yellow/white kaffir (milo) not the reddish kaffir which contains tannic acid), 30%
peas/ lentils ( consisting of a variety of brown maples, yellow peas,
trapper/century peas, vetch or tares, French or Eston lentils etc.try for a
variety ) 20% wheat ( hard western , Goose etc.) 5 % safflower and 5% brown rice. Once we start racing
I drastically reduce the protein content to a point where they will not receive
any legumes ( peas, lentils etc.) at all. Of course, as the distance races
increase so must the carbohydrates and fats up until they make up the entire
meal.
At
this time, I will begin to choose those candidates that I will exclude from
certain meals. These are the birds from certain lines that inevitably put on
too much weight. I have a line of Janssen pigeons that tend to become
overweight very quickly. Just last
winter, I finished reading P. DeWeerdt's latest book and I found it interesting
that he feels that one of the most redeeming qualities of the Janssen line of pigeons
is their ability to put on weight even when given very little food. For me, I
see this as more of a detriment than anything else. I have a few birds which
require that their rations be strictly defined in order for them to reach
optimum race conditioning. Here I am referring to that buoyancy almost
weightlessness that widowers who are in top form seem to achieve. Once you have
handled a group of widowers who are in top form you will get an understanding
of this weightless feeling. Just recently this point of buoyancy was reaffirmed
to me. Due to steady rain for three days my widowers were neither trained nor
exercised. As I was placing them in the basket for a toss I noticed how heavy
feeling they had become in the span of three days. They certainly did not have
that weightless feeling to them. When widowers are in form you can release them
from your hands in the loft and they will almost float and clap their wings to
their box. They don't have that huge encumberance called extra weight
holding them back. During this three days of inactivity I had been feeding them
the same as if they were active instead of changing their diet to suit the
workload. I feel that this is extremely important. Remember, most of what
happens during the year, both the successes and the failures can always be traced
back to the manager, coach, or trainer( namely you).
After
a week of controlled feeding the widowers should be flying well either in the
morning or evening( depending on whether you train your pigeons in the morning
or the afternoon ). Please keep in mind that once the first race is over
training becomes optional. From years of experimenting, I have found that my
results are not enhanced by road training after the first race. However, having
said that, I know of many top widowhood fliers that train throughout the entire
race programme with tremendous success. The key here is to decide what fits
your particular situation taking into consideration time allotment, family and
business commitments. The widowhood cocks and hens that do not go to the race will
receive an 80-100 mile ( 130-200 km) race or toss each week-end. In our area we
are extremely fortunate to have a gentleman that transports our birds for a
sprint race each weekend. This is ideal, as it gives the birds about a two hour
fly and eliminates the need for taking them out on Sunday, thus leaving this as
a day of rest for you, your birds and most importantly your family.
Depending
on the duration of the race I will either bath the birds on race day which is
Saturday or I will wait until the next day. If the race has been very easy and
all the birds are back before noon I will place a very warm bath out for both
sexes in their own separate compartments. However, if the weather is cold or
damp I will wait for Sunday. I have in the past given them a forced bath , but
only if the race was extremely hard on them. Usually they will take a warm bath
very quickly. On return from the race they generally only receive a mixture of
small seeds for the first few hours. The small seeds are a mixture of rape,
millet, niger etc. Later in the day, they will be given malting barley, rice,
safflower, white kaffir and wheat. I like to keep them a little on the hungry
side for the first day or two. It is also very important to replenish salts and
minerals which have been lost due to the race. I try to accomplish this in two
different ways. First, I will prepare a concoction of water, honey, lemon,pinch
of salt and a little gatorade. This is out for them when they first return.
After they have been home for a few hours they will receive plain cold water in
the drinking fountain. The second way that I try to replenish their lost salts
and minerals is by placing fresh pick stone, vitaminerals, granite and oyster
shell out for them. Generally, if it has been a challenging race they will
definitely partake of the pick stone because of the 25% salt content.
Sylvan Lofts
J. & J. Marles
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