Life in Bendigo.

[Murray]

I had a bit of a fiddle around with the feed mix at the weekend.
I have gone back to my normal light mix, plus about 1.5 % beans and 1.5% vetch. Add a fish oil capsule to about a couple of kilograms of it in a bucket, shake well, and feed.
Yep, that goes down well, all that's left is a few peas and...beans.
The pigeons are on a mixture which is quite low in protein, and a lot of the protein comes from safflower, which is about 16%. People think that safflower is only an oil seed. It isn't.
Adding a new source of protein that they don't want means they are more eager for the carbs and fats, and leave the legumes.
I do think that to keep the feed at about 15% protein in a basic mix, which seems about right, I would be including more saff, rather than thinking, "more beans, that's what they need, more beans".
Of course that's just me. I am usually wrong.

[Buster121]

Would you race on that mix, if so to what distance

[Murray]

Yes, buster, I would race on that mix, at any distance.
When I was a kid in New Zealand, pigeons were raced on peas and wheat. Maize was unheard of. I remember when, about 1980, sunflower seed was 'discovered'. Blokes were buying a sack of it, (not a tiddly little 20 kilo bag, a SACK of it), and paying big dollars.
Those pigeons flew all season and big miles on that.
Now, they would not be able to keep up these days, the pigeons are much faster and feeding and loft designs are better. But, the notion that to fly 300 or 400 or 500 miles they need a certain fed is, rubbish.
I have told the story before of a bloke I knew who fed his young birds maize one season. He had sacks and sacks of it in his shed, so that's what they ate.
I don't recall the exact result, but he was certainly competitive.
Another fancier I visited showed me what he fed them. He explained that he fed 50/50 peas and maize, then added 'the extras'. He won many races and lots of money.
I would certainly race my pigeons on my normal mix, and would resist the temptation to 'load them up' going into a race
Dutch champion Ad Shaerlaekens says that loading them up with fats and carbs is wrong. If they are flying like champions in training on their usual diet, why would you flatten them by making them digest a heap of fats just before a race?

[Buster121]

Thanks Murray, when I raced I used to feed a farm all rounder they call it a widowhood mix but to me was an all rounder

[Trev]

As we have said before I think the main thing is good quality feed, my biggest issue with the modern feeds is that there is almost too much choice of grain/seed. As with us and any other creature each bird will have its favourite seed and will fill itself up with that so we really have no way of gauranteening that each bird is getting the balance of diet we want it too unless we feed individualy in their boxes. With fewer grains so long as the birds aren't being overfed we have much more control of what each individual is getting.
Jmo

[Murray]

True that, Trev.
Although it might not matter. Once again Ad Shaerlaekens tell the story of a hen he had which was a slow trapper. Always late in after exercise.
By the time it went in, the others had eaten the maize and the 'good stuff'. It ate what was left, and that was enough for it to top the Fed week after week.
We have got the idea in our heads that what we feed them can make them go faster. I am beginning to doubt it. I think we can make them go slower by overfeeding, but that's about it.

[Trev]

True that, Trev.
Although it might not matter. Once again Ad Shaerlaekens tell the story of a hen he had which was a slow trapper. Always late in after exercise.
By the time it went in, the others had eaten the maize and the 'good stuff'. It ate what was left, and that was enough for it to top the Fed week after week.
We have got the idea in our heads that what we feed them can make them go faster. I am beginning to doubt it. I think we can make them go slower by overfeeding, but that's about it.

I quite agree with that Muzza, overfeeding is definitely a bigger problem.

[Andy]

I still don’t worry to much about the feed and what it is made up of. As I said before I have food present all day long. It is taken away overnight. I think it’s much more down to what your feeding it too than what your feeding. In other words, it doesn’t matter what you feed a bad pigeon it will never be any good.

[Murray]

I still don’t worry to much about the feed and what it is made up of. As I said before I have food present all day long. It is taken away overnight. I think it’s much more down to what your feeding it too than what your feeding. In other words, it doesn’t matter what you feed a bad pigeon it will never be any good.

That's what I said, Andy, a long time ago.
What you are feeding is less important than what you are feeding it to. An ordinary pigeon will not become a top class one because someone shoves a chemist shop down it's throat and spends too much money on the latest feeding fad.
If the feed is sound and clean, good pigeons will race well on it. There are as many feeding methods as pigeon fanciers, and they cannot all be wrong.

[Murray]

It's Saturday, in the Great South Land, and despite being up at 5.45 to feed the cats, and up again at 7 to have a coffee and go out to scrape out and give the pigeons their breakfast, it's been a rest day. Apart from the phone calls from work about things......
So, my therapy has been mixing another couple of bins full of feed. I know many appreciate being able to buy it premixed, but I love putting my hands in the grain, measuring the portions and mixing it.