# Pre Race Food



## Maacoman (Mar 10, 2008)

I'm a first year pigeoneer and sent 10 birds to our first YB combine race of the season last weekend. Long story short I had 7 of 10 birds return THREE DAYS LATER. It was only 132 miles. I was told I may be feeding to much. I currently give them about 1 ounce of food per bird, 17% protein mix,a day. I mix a little Flight Fuel in water 3 days before(yeast and B12 powder mix). I heard I should be cutting back on regular food and begin to mix with lighter additives a few days before each race. I just dont know what they should be. Can you add in Oatmeal oats? I know that gets me fueled up in the morning. 

I realize many of you have pigeon racing trade secrets but any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance. Chris


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## ace in the hole (Nov 27, 2007)

Hi Chris,

You are feeding way to much protein. You can cut the protein back to 11 to 13 %. As the distance gets longer you can add more carbs. It is not only how much you feed but what you feed.

Ace


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## Young Bird (May 2, 2007)

http://dennisweinreich.tripod.com/id16.html 
http://www.birdhealth.com.au/bird/pigeon/race-feeding.html

Take a look at these two sites they might help you a bit.
I have been doing a lot of reading on feeding racing pigeons and almost all of them are a little different.


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## SmithFamilyLoft (Nov 22, 2004)

I think there must be as many ideas on this subject, as there are racing fanciers. I really don't know what the perfect racing mixture might be, as I am always tinkering with the mixtures depending on the activity level and how the birds are flying. The DVD's "Secrets of Champions" which I have been criticized for recommending in the past, is the direction I have taken, which like Ace said, is a reduced protein diet. 

I find suspect, any suggestions which recommend a very specific amount, or an exact mixture, as no two colony's of birds are going to have the exact same requirements. As I have stated in the past, and will suggest now, feeding is an art form. It is a difficult concept to teach, as I have found out with the half dozen new guys I have been mentoring locally. I gave all the same suggestions and directions, and ended up with six very different results.


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## re lee (Jan 4, 2003)

Maacoman said:


> I'm a first year pigeoneer and sent 10 birds to our first YB combine race of the season last weekend. Long story short I had 7 of 10 birds return THREE DAYS LATER. It was only 132 miles. I was told I may be feeding to much. I currently give them about 1 ounce of food per bird, 17% protein mix,a day. I mix a little Flight Fuel in water 3 days before(yeast and B12 powder mix). I heard I should be cutting back on regular food and begin to mix with lighter additives a few days before each race. I just dont know what they should be. Can you add in Oatmeal oats? I know that gets me fueled up in the morning.
> 
> I realize many of you have pigeon racing trade secrets but any help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance. Chris


How have they been trained. Exersised, road training and such. Then you have to look at the birds are they good enough for the races. Far as feed amount sounds to me like you are not over feeding. 1oz a day and exersise the birds should not be fat. Do they exersise well. Being out of shape. drag of other birds And race quality all plays the part. Plus how did the other club members do in getting there birds home.


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## Lovebirds (Sep 6, 2002)

re lee said:


> How have they been trained. Exersised, road training and such. Then you have to look at the birds are they good enough for the races. Far as feed amount sounds to me like you are not over feeding. 1oz a day and exersise the birds should not be fat. Do they exersise well. Being out of shape. drag of other birds And race quality all plays the part. Plus how did the other club members do in getting there birds home.


How about he's not feeding enough? That of course depends on how much exercise/training their getting like you said. If they are trained hard then 1 oz may not be enough. If they're sitting in the loft between race week ends, then it may be TOO much. 
I agree that the protein is WAY to high. 
We actually don't know enough to give him a good answer.


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## Maacoman (Mar 10, 2008)

Wow, Thanks for all the quick responses. I do take my birds out twice per week between races 25 miles. I also let them loft fly 1-2 hours on the other 3 days. They get exercise, maybe not enough long distance. 

There must be something I can cut there food with thats nutritious and less filling. I'll check those sights out on feeding. I'm sending a few out in Sundays race 130 miles. I hope they dont take a vacation this time. 

This is such a cool sport. Chris


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## re lee (Jan 4, 2003)

It will not take much to reduce the protien. Add a little milo. and whole corn. At 18 % add say 20 pounds tootal to a 50 bag. Not that would be 10 pounds of each. It should reduce protien down to say 12 percent. Then increase the carbs also by increased corn. BUT even if you are giving to high protien YOUR birds did not have that slow of a return because of it. 3 DAYS I believe say the birds flew off course Foolowed the pack per say. Then slowly wondered in. Because 132 miles a 18 percent protien level of feed NEVER could cause this. It could be many things. Now far as a balanced race mix There is no such thing. IT is the balanced concept of the owner that feeds the mix. Increased carbs give a engery boost for over improved results. BUT at short distance not that much energy is burned up. 132 mile figure around 3 and a half hours to 4 hours you can see the first birds. Take a head wind you see birds in 4 and a half to 6 hours. BUT 3 days something else You can se improvement on your second race if it is not the birdsHow is your line of flight with the combine. More off line you will haver drag put on your birds IF the fail to break for home out of the box. YOU can figure easy how much your birds need in feed Feed 2 times daily. Let them eat all they want in say 10 to 20 minutes. Any extra remove it from the loft each time. Be sure you feed your birds before you basket them to take to the race let them eat then drink. That way they go to the race having ate and drank. DOES your combine give water and feed before a release. How old are your young birds Did they come from race bred birds. Have you train the line of flight. Do they exersise well each day. Is it still rather warm when temps get up birds get thirsty stop to drink. BUT agin 3 days something is going on with the birds in the race. Be it drag. hawks . or such I usume you race this weekend also. Post you results after the race. IF better and closer to race times then your birds needed that experiance to get there self together. Feeds, vitimans, Additives ect are loft owner desighn. Some lofts feed things that you would never think of doing. KIND of voodoo practice. If the birds do not have a good sence of direction . They take longer getting home. IF they Go way off coarse from a drag of a combine the may end up flying a hundred miles the wrong way then have to figure how to get home from there. Like i said let us know how this next race went.


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## george simon (Feb 28, 2006)

*Look For Another Reason*



Maacoman said:


> I'm a first year pigeoneer and sent 10 birds to our first YB combine race of the season last weekend. Long story short I had 7 of 10 birds return THREE DAYS LATER. It was only 132 miles. I was told I may be feeding to much. I currently give them about 1 ounce of food per bird, 17% protein mix,a day. I mix a little Flight Fuel in water 3 days before(yeast and B12 powder mix). I heard I should be cutting back on regular food and begin to mix with lighter additives a few days before each race. I just dont know what they should be. Can you add in Oatmeal oats? I know that gets me fueled up in the morning.
> 
> Chris


Hi Chis, Over feeding does not cause race birds to be 3 days late. You best check that they don't have some type of sickness in you loft .The one that comes to mind is pseudomalaria[pigeon malaria].Pigeon malaria is a more important factor then most people realised.This is because the birds Do Not Look Sick.Affected birds show no clinical signs of sickness,yet these birds will not preform well on race day.You must rember that loft flying is not the same as being in a race of 130 miles,Pigeon Malaria is not transmitted by mosquitoes but is transmitted by the pigeon fly.I also think that the race may have been a tuff race for others in your combine.Any way if I were you I would look for another reason for your birds being 3 days late. ..GEORGE


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## Maacoman (Mar 10, 2008)

*Pigeon Malaria?*

Ive noticed pigeon flies on my birds. I thought they were spiders at first because of the way they sort of slid between the feathers until one flew off. How would I know if they have malaria? My vet friend looked at them this week and said I should dip them. I'll call Siegels for ANOTHER order.

I cut the food 2 days ago with popcorn(uncooked) and brown rice. Picked up some barley also. The birds felt a bit lighter. We'll see what happens. The pre race diet needs to be implemented at the start of the week and I only introduced this new mix yesterday. Ill see what happens at tomorrows race. Thanks, Chris

PS Can we catch pigeon malaria?


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## george simon (Feb 28, 2006)

Maacoman said:


> Ive noticed pigeon flies on my birds. I thought they were spiders at first because of the way they sort of slid between the feathers until one flew off. How would I know if they have malaria? My vet friend looked at them this week and said I should dip them. I'll call Siegels for ANOTHER order.
> 
> I cut the food 2 days ago with popcorn(uncooked) and brown rice. Picked up some barley also. The birds felt a bit lighter. We'll see what happens. The pre race diet needs to be implemented at the start of the week and I only introduced this new mix yesterday. Ill see what happens at tomorrows race. Thanks, Chris
> 
> PS Can we catch pigeon malaria?


 Hi CHRIS,No you can not catch pigeon malaria.If you have pigeon fly in your loft its about a 90% chance that your birds have pigeon malaria the birds should be treated with Primaquin for 10 days at least 1 month BEFORE the race season. GEORGE


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## Maacoman (Mar 10, 2008)

*Clocked a bird*

Well its official. I clocked my first bird this morning after a 132 mile race. She came in 42nd place, Oh well, but she came in. 1208 ypm. Not bad for a first timer. I only had 3 birds in the A race. The other 2 are MIA. Probably sitting due to the rain. Chris


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## fastpitch dad (Nov 21, 2007)

congrats 
I think thats great with only three birds in the race.


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## Maacoman (Mar 10, 2008)

*3 for 3*

Well the other 2 came in yesterday morning. 3 for 3. I'll tweak the diet this week and probably send 5 birds in this weekends 225 mile race. 

Is it wise to send the same birds week after week if they look healthy or do people rotate there birds? Thanks, Chris


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## Young Bird (May 2, 2007)

http://www.kjsgroup.com/rprs/aspx/docview.aspx?/rprs/itlasp/March2001/GrainsFuelandPigeonRacing.asp

Take a look at this article on feeding racing pigeons I think it is a really good one.


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## Maacoman (Mar 10, 2008)

All the articles Young Bird has referenced have been very helpful. Thanks for the help. Chris


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