First rule of marketing.

[Murray]

Q.What is the first rule of marketing?

A. Sell them what they think they need.

As you may know, I am a bit of a student of pigeon nutrition. Not that I apply it to my own pigeons, but it is an interest.
So, I have been googling around, studying different offerings from leading manufacturers in Britain and on the continent. Guess what I have found? In Britain, things have not changed very much in decades. So mixtures with lots of peas and beans and tares are still in demand. So feed companies make and advertise them.
In Europe, mixtures with low protein and a lot of different ingredients are sought. So Beyers, Natural, Versele Laga etc make them and market them widely.

As in any business, you have to find out what the market wants, then supply a product to fill the demand.

No one ever asks what the pigeons want.

[Andy]

I’ve said many times that I don’t think the feeding plays as bigger part as many make out. Provided they get a good balanced diet the difference between the grains is very little. The birds will eat what they require. I haven’t got a clue how much my birds get. I fill the troughs up morning and evening when called in. It’s left down for about 10 minutes then I remove any left. Any birds that don’t come in just go without until the next feed. I’m currently feeding Bucktons Irish Ruby mix to everything. It’s supposed to be a feed for 300+ miles. I just feed what I can get from my wholesalers as of course I can buy it at trade price rather than retail.
But your right Murray a lot of stuff we buy in our everyday are things we are subconsciously persuaded to buy through good advertising.

[Buster121]

One thing I have noticed since using hoppers birds do not seem to eat as much, I no longer have fat birds Angie said she going to hopper feed me

One thing that does happen though if I put any feed in normal feeder or on floor they like gannets and wolf it down like a streeter would

[Andy]

One thing I have noticed since using hoppers birds do not seem to eat as much, I no longer have fat birds Angie said she going to hopper feed me

One thing that does happen though if I put any feed in normal feeder or on floor they like gannets and wolf it down like a streeter would

Birds certainly eat less when they have food in front of them all the time.

[killer]

Murray try putting E10 in a race car ,when they have to do time trials for grid position ,do they full the tank or lighten it off to enough to do the job , same with pigeons ,the owner as a big say in the out come ,interesting in seeing what the adverage flyer feeds over there ,if it is peas ,tares ,tic beans & high protein grains ,god help them ,but be assured the top blokes are too smart for that ,

[Andy]

Murray try putting E10 in a race car ,when they have to do time trials for grid position ,do they full the tank or lighten it off to enough to do the job , same with pigeons ,the owner as a big say in the out come ,interesting in seeing what the adverage flyer feeds over there ,if it is peas ,tares ,tic beans & high protein grains ,god help them ,but be assured the top blokes are too smart for that ,

While I understand what you say, that’s fine if you know exactly how far and how long a race is going to take. Not just for the early ones but also the later ones. You couldn’t feed to meet both requirements. Alright for sprint races. When preparing birds for the longest races they need to have enough fuel in the tank to last for days. Look at the Barcelona international. I see the Staddon’s timed their second bird this morning to take 2nd section 40th open alone with one from T & J Mather & Steve Hay winning 1st North central section 37th open flying 815 miles. Both timed on the 8th day.