Through a lot of experimentation, we have found the very best babies were produced giving optimum performance when fed a super high protein pellet in conjunction with their grain diet. We feel that champions are made before the egg is even laid and equally as important during the first 10 days after hatching. All birds raised by us are fed the best possible diet containing this specialized pellet. Its "Purina" 500 trout pellet....with a protein content thats nearly 40%. The round dark brown, nearly black pellet is the size of a small maple pea and easily eaten by the birds.....the "500" is the size, anything else may be too big .. We free feed it in a separate container to the breeders during the egg cycle and prior to breeding for 30 days....you will then take note that there will be no ' fret ' marks on the babies at weaning time. Couple this with other nutrient items and extended daylight and you can be assured that what you purchase is off to the best possible start it needs to become that potential winner on race day. Note: we have gone back to feeding the pellets in a separate feeder and not mixing it with grain. Either way works, its just our preference.
It costs money and time to provide our breeders with supplements. What I don't understand is how anyone could possibly think that grain alone can be good enough to develope our future racers in the nest. I like to look at the entire breeding process as an investment. The time and effort plus the money spent divided by the end results. The breeders in our loft have laid and now the eggs are starting to pip. We not only have the Aquamax 500 pellet mixed into our grain feed but liquid vitamins in the water as well. At this time we also like to once again ad calcium to the water with the product from Vitacost.com. The breeders had it prior to egg laying and now once again as the babies pip and hatch. Lets see, we have liquid vitamins, calcium in the water and Aquamax 500 pellets mixed with grain. You can buy the same liquid calcium for less money at Vitacost.com .........Use it frequently on the breeders and especially when the babies are hatched out..........DONT FORGET THIS CALCIUM.......But do remember, when giving any antibiotic, give no calcium. Recently I have found another source at a great price in generic form for Emerald Greens. "Spiriluna", get it nearly anywhere in powder form or go to www.vitacost.com and then type in spirulina scroll down and find it in the 1lb. container (powder) and at that price you will reap a super deal....... This is a whole food within itself. I also use it and give it in tablet form to my children daily.
I use it with the breeders at a minimum of twice weekly using fine oil or v-8 juice as the adherent. We also use it on the Race birds in the Winnerscup Loft mid week during training and the races. We feel you cant do enough for your breeders when you are attempting to produce winning pigeons. Do your part and once the bird is shipped, its up to them and the race managers to do the rest.
Check the "links" and you will see "vitacost.com'". I have recently ordered the Lecithin in large bottles for dirt cheap. The beauty of this online vitamin store is that the prices are super and the shipping is capped at 4.99!!!!!!!! We will be using the Lecithin as our adhesion source for all the health related powdered additives that we use. If there is something in particular you need, just type it in the search box and it will come up for you. You cant go wrong with their prices....oh yes, we ordered liquid brewers yeast as well because with that 4.99 cap? we may as well order all the "heavy" items that drive the cost of shipping up on regular orders right?............. links: www.vitacost.com
We will keep this regiment of feeding noting how much aquamax the breeders are leaving in the cups. We increase it at hatching and start decreasing the percentage at about 10 days of age but watch and be alert as the breeders themselves will tell you when they start feeding less of it to the babies. Make sure the spirulina is given to the babies on grain for the first 10 days . After that you can switch to twice a week until weaning time. We never stop the liquid vitamins until they are out of the nest and then we can back off somewhat.
Flagyl When the babies are18 days old, we administer a quarter tab of a 250mg. flagyl tablet to each youngster. Prior to this, the breeders had already been treated but one week prior to the babies hatching, we gave them the product (breeders) cocci=geel for three days. Most important? when your youngsters are weaned and you are preparing to ship them to the oneloft races...........give them another half tab or around 100 mg. of flagyl as you put them inside the usps container. (force water afterwards, especially in warm weather) prior to shipping. While we are on the subject of USPS containers, remember to use a "dust free" type absorbent in the bottom of the box. we prefer shredded newspaper, as its highly absorbent in this form and pretty dust free. If you have a product preference here that you feel is superior, please email me with that info..... Off to the races now, we have given the youngsters everything they need in the way of tools to show what their abilities are. Now the rest is dependent on their arrival and treatment at the one loft race location. If they are strong, have good immune systems? How stressed are they in that loft? Do they have to fight for a perch in an overcrowded loft? This is where YOU come into play mr. Breeder.....support the races that take care of the birds and go the advertised distance............big blowhome drops prove nothing..