Secrets of a Successful Pigeon Fancier (Part 4 of 4)

Secret 18

Need to up the protein during breeding?  Add a high protein small kibble dog food to the mix.  Ten to twenty percent dog food in the mix will do the trick.  My pigeons would rather eat dog food over safflour.  Pigeons love the animal protein plus all the vitamins, minerals and calcium is very high in dog food.  We like a puppy food because the protein is higher and the food is richer for growing dogs/pigeons.

Secret 19

Before breeding we feed a higher percentage of Rabbit pellets.  Being predominantly Alfalfa, the vegatable like pellet is natures way to add a spring diet to the pigeons during winter.  I feel the rabbit pellet also helps with fertility and the droppings will be firm and black.   We always try to fill in any nutritional blanks with our pigeons.  33% in the mix will be perfect, Rabbit pellets will also help keep their body weight down.

Secret 20

If you have that super old breeder and you usually swap eggs from him or her, try letting the old timer, cock or hen raise a round of babies that you plan to ship out to a big futurity.  My theory is old pigeons have been exposed to more virus and bacteria in their lifetime.  They will then pass this immunity to the young in the pigeon milk.  Worth a try if you need a pigeon with a possibly stronger immune system for a big race.

Secret 21

Need a very inexpensive salt/mineral supplement?  Go to a Salt Water Aquarium Store and purchase 5 lbs of Instant Ocean or similar Saltwater fish salt.  This salt is loaded with endless trace minerals.  Use just a pinch at a time or change regularly because salt will attract moisture.  Another option would be to keep all your minerals on a warming plate.  Pet stores sell a variety of heating units that can be attached to the bottom of a glass aquarium.  You can attach one of these to the bottom of a glass pyrex cookware/dish and add all your mineral cups.  Minerals will stay dry.

Secret 22

I have found a super vita-mineral/grit combination.  The product contains a combination of grits, vitamins, minerals and supplements. If you wanted to just use one grit/mineral mix this would be the one of choice.  It comes in two size buckets 16lb or 22lb. This mix contains, sea grits and shells, small round stones, red grit, tiny mineral pellets, mineralized seeds, pink mineral pellets, B Vitamins, trace elements and assorted beneficial products for the pigeons.  This is a must for every serious pigeon fancier.  I give daily in small containers and move the leftover from the day before to another pot.