# DIY Pigeon Mix



## xclusive (Sep 25, 2013)

Hi All, 
Now that I am gaining a little bit more confidence, I am thinking of making my own pigeon mix next time. So, there again, need your expert advice. What should I have in the mix and what should be their proportion? It's about the end of winter here in Melbourne (Australia) and even though it is spring, we do get cold weather every second day or so. Melbourne weather is most fluctuation - they say you can predict Melbourne weather two hour in advance. From about mid to end of November till about say April, we'll have summer. I am guessing the diet will be slightly different for different season (summer and winter). I read somewhere about giving corn in winter not in summer as that's it fatty diet. Is that true?

Anyway, if this topic has already been covered then please point me to that or please advice.


As for my current mix, I bought a ready made mix from the pet shop, which a lot of different seed (from what I see). My pigeons love everything but the corn and wheat. When I give them the food, it looks so colourful with the mixture of different coloured seed, but when they're done eating, it looks blend as it's left with corn and wheat. 

Please see the image below. Left is what I give them and the right is what I find when they're done eating. How should I get them to eat all of that? 

Please note that I am not a racer though I may have one or two in the mix (they don't go outside the loft like the other birds). So I don't need 'fuel for flying' diet but need diets that keep them healthy, energetic and helps them breeding. 

Thanks in advance!


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## Crazybird (Jul 13, 2013)

Looks like a pretty good mix. You may want to cut back on the amount you feed them if you are getting alot of left overs after they are done eating. They will certainly pick out their favorites and leave the rest. I had the same problem they would eat everything but the corn. I cut back on the amount I gave them and now they eat all the grains in the mix.


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## ozarkbill (Aug 17, 2008)

The trouble with making your own mix is getting the small amounts of grain to mix without paying a lot. Even if you start with Chicken scratch mix you have to pay for 25-50 lbs. If you only have a dozen or 2 birds. It gets old before you feed it.


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## Abdulbaki (Jul 31, 2013)

your mix looks pretty much the same as mine, my solution for the problem is to give them small amounts of food ... I saw somewhere in the internet that a champion racer was feeding his birds 6 times a week and they did good!
feed them once in the morning and the evening start with small amounts and don't leave anything there, If you notice that there is still left overs don't feed until the feeder is clear ...


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## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

Well, I suggested you in your other thread that give them what they need in one go then you won't have problem of leftovers. If you're gonna give them more than they need then they definitely will get choosey. A pigeon eats about a tablespoon of feed so measure accordingly. Give them grit also to help them digest. 

5-8 % corn should be there all year around for pigeons and in winters you can give upto 10-15% of it to help them stay warm in winters. *Wheat proves to be very useful and important (when fed in moderations) because wheat has vitamin B1 which is very important for skelton growth (especially in squabs),helps nervous system,it helps liver and digestive system and helps in metabolism. Pigeons digests it easily and it also has vitamin E which is very important for fertility in pigeons.* So make sure your pigeons eat the required wheat proportions.

Your feedmix looks good. Well,(I'm not neglecting the value of good quality feedmix)IME if one don't show or race,pigeons thrive on almost every feedmix if you have good quality grit available and you keep giving them a little supplements time to time .


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## xclusive (Sep 25, 2013)

brocky bieber said:


> Your feedmix looks good. Well,(I'm not neglecting the value of good quality feedmix)IME if one don't show or race,pigeons thrive on almost every feedmix if you have good quality grit available and you keep giving them a little supplements time to time .


Thank everyone for your advice.

Brocky, according to your estimate (1 teaspoon per pigeon), I just checked and it turns out I've been giving enough food for 30 birds twice daily. As you know I only have 16 birds. So no wonder they're being picky as they way too much than their need. 

As for the grit, please see the image of the mix I recently bought. It's got a lot of things in it including what I think is the sea shell (white shells). The white shells would be the same size as the corn. Should I break the to smaller pieces? Please note, this grit was for pigeons only, not like the one that can be used for dairy like chicken.

(Couldn't attach the file. Will try again later.)


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## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

Grit shouldn't be in form of fine powder nor as big as a corn. Grit should be in shape of tiny pebbles or small stones which help pigeons to digest the feed in the gizzard. You should crush them to size of a millet and/or/between wheat grain.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

xclusive said:


> Thank everyone for your advice.
> 
> Brocky, according to your estimate (1 teaspoon per pigeon), I just checked and it turns out I've been giving enough food for 30 birds twice daily. As you know I only have 16 birds. So no wonder they're being picky as they way too much than their need.
> 
> ...




First of all, Brocky said 1 Tablespoon, not 1 teaspoon. And if you give them 1 ounce each in the morning, which would be about 2 Tablespoons, and pick it up at the end of the day, rather than feeding twice daily, then you can see how much is left. Go from there. No reason to feed twice daily if you aren't even flying them. If there is feed left at the end of the day, then cut back a little. Many birds prefer cracked corn over the large corn.


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## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

Thnx for pointing out Jay, I really didn't notice that xclusive wrote teaspoon.


So xclusive,how do you feed your pigeons, I mean by feeders or spilling the grains twice a day???







(Yeah one more thing is that sea shells have a lot of salt in them when they are freshly collected and also have bacteria. They shouldn't compose major part of your grit. Excess salt can cause botulism in pigeons. Just thought of telling you this )


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

brocky bieber said:


> Thnx for pointing out Jay, I really didn't notice that xclusive wrote teaspoon.
> 
> 
> So xclusive,how do you feed your pigeons, I mean by feeders or spilling the grains twice a day???
> ...


*
*


I think the poster meant oyster shell that came in the grit. So I would think that it was already cleaned. People do buy oyster shell for their birds. And they do need some salt, but not too much. That wouldn't be good for them. But too much salt doesn't cause botulism. As a matter of fact, botulism likes a low salt and low acid environment. Not a salty one.


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## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

Yes you're true,both low and high salt consumptions ain't good for pigeons.


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## xclusive (Sep 25, 2013)

Jay3 said:


> [/B]
> 
> 
> I think the poster meant oyster shell that came in the grit. So I would think that it was already cleaned. People do buy oyster shell for their birds. And they do need some salt, but not too much. That wouldn't be good for them. But too much salt doesn't cause botulism. As a matter of fact, botulism likes a low salt and low acid environment. Not a salty one.


That's exactly what I meant - oyster shells in the grit mix I bought. That should b enough, right? And Brocky, what supplements do u suggest I give them on top of the good food and grit mix?

Btw, I actually meant tablespoon not teaspoon.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

If the pieces of oyster shell look too big, I'd remove them, unless you can hammer them up smaller. I give mine calcium and vitamin D3 in the water once a week too. A good vitamin supplement once or twice a week is good. Not sure what you have there?


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## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

xclusive said:


> That's exactly what I meant - oyster shells in the grit mix I bought. That should b enough, right? And Brocky, what supplements do u suggest I give them on top of the good food and grit mix?


Hi xclusive,
As already been explained you can crumble the oyster shells into pieces that pigeons can easily eat. Water soluble vitamins are good,supplied by Siegel pigeon supplies in Australia. I give water soluble ultimate vitamins by Foys and vit A,D and K soaked in feed once a week. And calcium once/twice a month as grit also give calcium to my pigeons.people also give Red cell meant for horses if one don't have vitamins at hand.

(In your other thread you were talking about that you live near beach and you can collect sand from there to be used as grit,so I had that pic in my mind that you've collected sea shells freshly. But you bought oyster shell so that's been sorted out. No need to worry. In 1992,Victoria, Auatralia a research showed that pigeons of all 10 lofts which were fed sea shells for a short period of time developed Botulism, as sea shells have bacteria and much salt in them. I wanted to attach that file but I couldn't find it. Bacteria on rotting meat inside the shell can cause botulism and/or the excess salt in them can cause salt poisoning. Point is to buy sterile ones )


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

Botulism doesn't grow well in a salt environment. Salt is used to help to prevent it's growth. But baking the shells for 200 degrees for 20 min,(actually a lot less time), will kill the botulism spores which create the toxins. So baking them will sterilize them. 


Botulism
Refrigeration temperatures combined with salt content and/or acidic conditions will prevent the growth of the bacteria and formation of toxin. 
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs270/en/


C. botulinum prefers an anaerobic (oxygen-free) environment that's not too acidic, not too salty, not too crowded with other bacteria, and it does especially well at warm temperatures. A unique characteristic of C. botulinum is it's ability to survive high temperatures for relatively long periods of time.
http://www.wildfermentation.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3654

Although a high salt content will prevent Clostridium from germinating (and producing its toxins), some meat dishes are not necessarily protected simply by adding salt. 
http://www.tarakharper.com/b_botuln.htm


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## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

Thnx for sharing Jay ,...
O yes, I checked that fresh sea shells can give pigeons that C.Botulinum bacteria and/or excess salt in them can cause salt poisoning. The above stated experiment in 1992 was administered by Dr.Colin Walker.


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## xclusive (Sep 25, 2013)

Thanks Guys for your feedback. 

I did get some sand from the beach but I didn't mix that with the grit. Instead, I spread them on the loft floor. 

Brocky, thanks for the Vitamin info. 

And as for the grit size, overall they're good size for pigeons to swallow, except for a few shells that look a bit big. What do you think of the size? I put the feed next to it so you can compare the size.


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## Jay3 (May 4, 2008)

They aren't large...................just very sharp looking. Never seen whole little shells like that in a grit.


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## Jass SamOplay (May 29, 2012)

xclusive said:


> And as for the grit size, overall they're good size for pigeons to swallow, except for a few shells that look a bit big. What do you think of the size? I put the feed next to it so you can compare the size.


Quality wise your grit looks good. The red grit looks to be of nice size. My pigeons wouldn't eat the shells in it. They need to hammered. What I do is give my pigeons grit and then I hammer the stuff which they won't eat as they scatter or leave behind that grit stuff which can't be swallowed. I feel it to be sharp and a little large in size except for red grit. If you can hammer the other stuff to the size of the medium sized red particles then it will become awesome grit serving the purpose of "grinding mill" used by pigeons to crush seed in their system.


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## xclusive (Sep 25, 2013)

Thanks again guys. I think they don't eat the brick much as I mostly find the bricks as leftovers. I'll try to break the shells a little bit.


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