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Useful and convenient

Useful and convenient (Part 1 of 2).

 

I'm actually pretty happy with where I live. Near forests, fields, scenic bike paths but at the same time barely a kilometer from the center.

Also a good place to keep pigeons?

Hmm. Could be better. My neighbours live a bit too close.  


 

HOUSES

Some years ago it happened for the first time: Pigeons on my neighbour's roof. Those were youngsters that began to explore the environment and occasionally an old bird that was not in good shape.

Understandably I was far from happy with this.

A catapult helped me to solve the problem. It is the same thing that fisherman use to shoot bait. I learned it from Klak. He used pieces of potatoes as 'bullets', but I found something better: Acorns.

It works better because of the noise that such an acorn makes when it hits the tiles. So there is at least one thing that Koopman and me have in common: Acorns.

He finds them good food for pigeons, I scare them off with it.




BACK

In the past when we clocked our birds manual it sometimes happened after a race that we did not notice that a bird had come home.

When you suddenly heard a loud cooing in the loft you there was a big chance a bird had arrived.

But still there are times that it is useful to have a look inside the loft.

That is, when days after a smash when you lost birds, you see a stray bird on the roof. A bird may have gotten home.

After a smash you may also be hopeful when the wind has turned.

 

MICE

A source of much misery are mice. Paratyphoid in particular is a risk when you let mice go their way. 

Geerinckx and Eijerkamp know what I am talking about.

Whereby you get these unwanted guests?

Food! That's why you better not spill any, which is not easy if you're like many people who have birds in lofts or aviaries with grills.

Pigeons spill easily, feed falls through the grates and you have a perfect bait for mice. I put a useless pigeon beneath the grates. With water, of course. It will eat the feed that was spilled and no food means no mice.

 

DAMAGED EGGS

Broken eggs, caused by fighting, is a common annoyance, especially when the breeding boxes in your loft are pretty small.

What makes a huge difference is to put the breeding bowls on a small heightening.

Preferably right and left alternately in the separate nest boxes. . 

Its only eggs and there are so few good birds you may think?

That's exactly why. That one egg that is broken or not can make the difference between fame and obscurity. Eggs broken and therefore rely on the next round?

It is not that simple. A super bird with worthless brothers or sisters is not exceptional but rather common. 




MINERAL POWDER

Mineral powders, such as the known vitamineral, are popular in pigeon racing.

Sometimes people complain that their birds do not like it. B. S.

They let the powder become wet and then indeed they do not pick it.

What you can do is put such a jar containing the powder on a heating pad.

 

TRANSPORT EGGS

Especially beginners sometimes ask themselves what is the best way to transport eggs, since they realise they should not be cold too long.

First and foremost, eggs 'can stand' a lot in warm weather.

Then they can be transported for many hours unheated.

But it is not always warm weather.

The best method is to put some pigeon food in a microwave and heat it, not too much of course. Get it out and put the eggs in the food. It is amazing how long heated cereals actually stay warm.

Once again: Be careful that the food is not too hot and it is obvious there must not be any chance that the eggs can touch each other.



It is amazing how long heated grains stay warm.

FROM THE DEAD

The following thing most of us have experienced. You enter the loft and find that baby next to nest or left alone by the parents. Two or three days old, as cold as ice, totally rigid and very dead. So you think.

But wait a while before you throw it away. I have brought such babies 'back to life'. What you should do is open its mouth slightly, put it against your lips and blow warm air into the 'dead body'.

Keep the baby in your warm hands for a while, put it back under the parents or other nesting birds and possibly such a trivial thing will still be brought to life.

 

HARMONICA DOORS

Today most pigeon lofts consist of more departments. And between departments belong doors. The traditional revolving doors you will not see much more, sliding doors all the more. But they have the disadvantage that you cannot attach roosts on the side of the sliding door. This can be overcome with a harmonica door. They are much more convenient, but nowadays a bit hard to get.

 

NICE STUFF

For my convenience, the blinds to darken my lofts go up and down by means of a timer. And of course the inevitable happened one day.

A pigeon was stuck under such a hatch. The wing joint was blue and swollen for over a centimetre. If something like that happens to me I always fool myself thinking that it would be my best. Like with eggs that were broken.

Anyway, a friendly vet gave me some stuff and to my surprise the swelling disappeared like snow from the sun.

Afterwards I had a baby with a very swollen leg. I had put it on a ring too late and too rough. The same stuff again worked spectacular.  

The name is Meloxivet. 0.3 cc.

It works sensationally in case of an inflammation, but be careful. It is on the so called doping list, so a note of a vet is required. How strict especially the Belgian legislation is relating to drugs and antibiotics fanciers like Vergotte and Platteeuw can tell you.

  

 

 Platteeuw got many problems. What he did "wrong" was just 
medicate his birds.