# What do feed your Yb's



## g0ldenb0y55 (Dec 23, 2008)

I was told to use a 15% protien racing mix that we get from a local feed store around here. What do you guy use?


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

g0ldenb0y55 said:


> I was told to use a 15% protien racing mix that we get from a local feed store around here. What do you guy use?


I think 15% to 16% is good, but when breeding you should bring that up, some go as far as 20% for breeders.


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## Ed (Sep 18, 2008)

I make my own mix for the YB racers
I use 4 parts 15% regular pigeon mix ( browns international mix )
1 part pigeon pellets
2 parts barley
1 part safflower
1 part white millet


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## Lovelace (Jan 10, 2008)

Badens, we get from canada it is 15% we use it on all the birds. have not had a weak bird yet.


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## Pegasus (Feb 6, 2007)

I give mine Vinny mixed from Browns...If I noticed that they are skinny I give them safflower mixed with pellets, put a lot of weight in them to build their body structure...


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## g0ldenb0y55 (Dec 23, 2008)

Thanks for the comments guys and gals....sorry for commenting so late...I had forgotten about this thread! Lol.


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## ohiogsp (Feb 24, 2006)

Once I start flying mine I use the regular 15 percent but mix 50 percent barley. I am sure it is no where near 15 percent after that. Birds will fly and stay lean and mean if you feed this. After the sprint races are over they go on to the 15 percent when I am not carb loading for a race.


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## g0ldenb0y55 (Dec 23, 2008)

ohiogsp said:


> Once I start flying mine I use the regular 15 percent but mix 50 percent barley. I am sure it is no where near 15 percent after that. Birds will fly and stay lean and mean if you feed this. After the sprint races are over they go on to the 15 percent when I am not carb loading for a race.


Great info! Thanks!


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## whitesnmore (Sep 9, 2004)

ohiogsp said:


> Once I start flying mine I use the regular 15 percent but mix 50 percent barley. I am sure it is no where near 15 percent after that. Birds will fly and stay lean and mean if you feed this. After the sprint races are over they go on to the 15 percent when I am not carb loading for a race.


I cant add anything more to this as this is pretty much the way we do it. Works tooooooooo!


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## RodSD (Oct 24, 2008)

What kind of barley are we talking about? I think there are different kinds. At supermarket they have like pearled barley or something.


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## Brummie (Feb 16, 2009)

g0ldenb0y55 said:


> I was told to use a 15% protien racing mix that we get from a local feed store around here. What do you guy use?


Do you have a menter?


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## Brummie (Feb 16, 2009)

StoN3d said:


> I make my own mix for the YB racers
> I use 4 parts 15% regular pigeon mix ( browns international mix )
> 1 part pigeon pellets
> 2 parts barley
> ...


That's heavy Just my opinon


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## Brummie (Feb 16, 2009)

...Just a follow up.A pigeon crop does'nt have to be full


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## whitesnmore (Sep 9, 2004)

RodSD said:


> What kind of barley are we talking about? I think there are different kinds. At supermarket they have like pearled barley or something.



Rod, I use the Diamond Barley (not a brand but a shape) just make sure your barley you buy is clean. If not, roll it in an old Bingo canister to remove all the dirt and dust.
Ken


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## g0ldenb0y55 (Dec 23, 2008)

Brummie said:


> Do you have a menter?


I have resources....lol. But no one that I can call a mentor. Most of these guys are to far away to keep in close touch with. The only other guy in my area is a newbie just like me.


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## g0ldenb0y55 (Dec 23, 2008)

whitesnmore said:


> Rod, I use the Diamond Barley (not a brand but a shape) just make sure your barley you buy is clean. If not, roll it in an old Bingo canister to remove all the dirt and dust.
> Ken


Ken, that's a great tip! Thanks!


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## Ed (Sep 18, 2008)

I buy my barley from Brown's also
Its Noble barley


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## ohiogsp (Feb 24, 2006)

I get my barley off the combine. Not the club, the machine.


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## Timber (Jan 6, 2009)

Heres what we use and have found it to be a good mix for us here in FLA.

For the birds not breeding or flying, we use US Racing Mix (Baden) which has 13.8% protein. 


For the flying birds we use Browns International and add white safflower for distances out to 185 miles, then to that we add extra pop corn for the longer races. Upon their return from a race, we feed a depuritive which we blend ourselves (equal parts: wild bird seed with black sunflower seed, white safflower and barley)


For the breeders durring breeding season, we feed a blended mix of Browns International with Moulting Mix (Baden) which alone has 18% protein and will from time to time add additional white safflower seeds. We have done this now for two years and all of our youngsters are big and well developed by the time they reach the YB section of the loft. By exposing them to such things as corn and peas early, they have no issues eating them once they become independant youngsters. 


All the birds have unlimited access to a good quality grit with charcoal. Once or twice a week we will coat the feed with Flax oil or Red Cell and blend it in with Brewers Yeast w/ Garlic which provides a little extra in the minerals dept.


We dont use many medications in the water other then once or twice a year depending on the rains, Globals Respitory Plus. We will put a table spoon of fresh minced garlic to one gallon of water once a week. Upon return from a race however, they have electrolites in the water or we may simply put one teaspoon of honey and one cup (lipton tea bag), to one gallon of water. When we dont use this method the birds have freash water. 


When we started using this method we jumped from little to no returns on race day, to a true contendure placing in the top 10% to 20% every week.


So as the feed game is as much important to raceing as is training, its all worthless if you dont have quality stock to start with. If you have an average pigeon, you can give him all sorts of stuff but he will still only be average at the end of the day. 


Food for though.....


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## g0ldenb0y55 (Dec 23, 2008)

Timber said:


> Heres what we use and have found it to be a good mix for us here in FLA.
> 
> For the birds not breeding or flying, we use US Racing Mix (Baden) which has 13.8% protein.
> 
> ...


This is very detailed. Thanks for posting this up! I was lucky enough to obtain a very good stock of birds and I want to do my part as the flyer to give them what they need to show their true abilities.

Henry


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## LUCKYT (Jan 17, 2009)

All i can add to this is Adjust your feed to the birds flying. A full crop, is a sure sign of over feeding when you are training. Except maybe If they are working REAL hard. Volume, is as or more important than feed mix. A pigeons crop is a Storage system, i keep hearing too feed for ten minutes and that is the amount..... I wish i had raced against those that fed like that ! LOL! JMHO... Dave


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## g0ldenb0y55 (Dec 23, 2008)

I measure out 1-2 Tbs. per bird and give them ten minutes to get their fill then i take away the feed tray. They normally eat everything before the 10 minutes is up. I wouldn't recommend doing an all-you-can-eat for ten minutes.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

LUCKYT said:


> All i can add to this is Adjust your feed to the birds flying. A full crop, is a sure sign of over feeding when you are training. Except maybe If they are working REAL hard. Volume, is as or more important than feed mix. A pigeons crop is a Storage system, *i keep hearing too feed for ten minutes and that is the amount*..... I wish i had raced against those that fed like that ! LOL! JMHO... Dave


I've never figured that one out either. I MEASURE my feed and feed according to weather, excercise (or lack there of) and whatever else figures into it. If I have 10 birds (just throwing out numbers here) then they get 10 ounces. IF they devour that in a very short time, then I decide whether to give them more or not. 
The only way to know how much EACH bird is getting to feed individually. Have fun trying THAT with 40 young birds......LOL
If you measure your feed, then you KNOW that your total of birds is NOT going to get more than they should. Will a few get a little more than others? Probably, but those slow eaters will learn REAL quick that they better eat and eat fast or they're going to get shorted. 
I've never used the "time" method.


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## RodSD (Oct 24, 2008)

Timber,

Thank you for that detailed info.


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## RodSD (Oct 24, 2008)

I experimented once how much can a pigeon eat so I decided to put 4 ounces inside a box. That bird ate all 4 ounces! I was shocked. And this is an old bird.


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## ezemaxima (Jan 12, 2008)

RodSD said:


> I experimented once how much can a pigeon eat so I decided to put 4 ounces inside a box. That bird ate all 4 ounces! I was shocked. And this is an old bird.


I got a breeder that once ate 6 oz of mixed grains... you should have seen his crop, he almost resembled a pouter but it all disappeared after he fed his babies.


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## Timber (Jan 6, 2009)

Lovebirds said:


> I've never figured that one out either. I MEASURE my feed and feed according to weather, excercise (or lack there of) and whatever else figures into it. If I have 10 birds (just throwing out numbers here) then they get 10 ounces. IF they devour that in a very short time, then I decide whether to give them more or not.
> The only way to know how much EACH bird is getting to feed individually. Have fun trying THAT with 40 young birds......LOL
> If you measure your feed, then you KNOW that your total of birds is NOT going to get more than they should. Will a few get a little more than others? Probably, but those slow eaters will learn REAL quick that they better eat and eat fast or they're going to get shorted.
> I've never used the "time" method.



I know exactly what your saying here! We do the same thing. Sure when we first started, I gave way to much and always had feed all around. Big Mistake! They didnt feel the urgancy to return home. 


For the last two years, we have adopted the 1 oz. to 2 oz. rule of thumb. 1 oz. per head if nothing special is going on. (Just hanging out) If we are loft flying about 1 oz. but no more then 1.25 oz. per head. (Moderate Flying) If its gonna be a hard race or long toss, then we still give the 1.5 oz. but once eaten, we generally give more in stages but never go over 2 oz. per head. (Mostly for the longer races) If I have fed 1.5 oz or more, then we simply add barley in the mix to keep the weight gain to a minimum. Simply put, it all depends on the work load they had or will have the following day(s).


The timed method never seemed quit fair to me. If you have a pigeon who is in perfect form, he/she generally does not eat with the masses and instead picks its grain sparingly but suprisingly still consumes enough to maintain form and have plenty of energy to perform as you have asked of it. (Just something I have observed with a few of my better racers)


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## RodSD (Oct 24, 2008)

Ken,
Thanks for the info about diamond barley.

ezemaxima,
You beat my birds with 2 ounces. LOL!

Timber,
I myself don't do that 10 minutes stuff. I used to do it, but I ended up giving more. Some birds eat more than others. I now always measure what I give them. I noticed that my good birds usually don't fatten themselves up. Have you noticed that, too?

Obviously my breeders eat more. They seem to fatten themselves up before having eggs.


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## Timber (Jan 6, 2009)

RodSD,

I do notice that. Like I said they know exactly what and how much to eat based on the workload.


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## whitesnmore (Sep 9, 2004)

g0ldenb0y55 said:


> I measure out 1-2 Tbs. per bird and give them ten minutes to get their fill then i take away the feed tray. They normally eat everything before the 10 minutes is up. I wouldn't recommend doing an all-you-can-eat for ten minutes.


Your dead on here. An overfed bird is a bird that you cannot control. If you want to feed more give them barley as it will make them fly longer and also help you tell if you are overfeeding. If you feed barley with the mix and there is barley left you are overfeeding. You can adjust the mix depending on the race distance, but for the most part they will receive all they need in 10 minutes to perform well.
Ken


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## Char-B Loft (Dec 28, 2008)

g0ldenb0y55 said:


> I was told to use a 15% protien racing mix that we get from a local feed store around here. What do you guy use?


I like to keep the protein around 12% when racing and I also carb load a few days before a race...


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