Wing lock

[Devo1956]

Not had it after winter or anytime
Can see the theory of a winter kept in being the reason but mine will be in now for 5 months

I think in winter months, weather permitting allows them to fly out. In which i did before finishing the sport. It's all about keeping the birds active in the winter season. A good thing is having a aviary for the birds to fly in and out through the day.

Unfortunately the sparrow hawks are already killing in the garden here a dove and what looked like a sparrow carried off before I could act in the last week

Yes Neil, that is why i always had an aviary on the front of the loft. Much better than the birds sitting on a perch.

[Andy]

Mine are shut in now. Will only go out when I can watch them.
I’ve only experienced what I think you could call wing lock once back in 1990 when I had a hen win Lerwick 650 miles on the third day. After arriving home and trapping it was about a week until she could get back up into a perch. She did recover but never raced properly again. Took 10 days to return from 350 mile race the following year. She wasn’t going to put herself through that again.

[MIL]

You typically find this when birds have been confined to the loft during the winter period and then start back "moving" again pre-season

Mike then why does it only effect certain fancier's birds? If it was purely down to birds being confined then it would effect studs and those with stock lofts? Many have birds confined for YEARS and not just over Winter, and don't have this problem? I like many fanciers keep the birds in over Winter with zero troubles, have done for over 50 years.
And I also believe the stiffness caused by holdovers, is different to this 'wing lock' the sprint men get.

They typically show signs of this in March and April when birds are being asked to use the muscle a lot when its not really had any test for 5-6 months

I never had it myself (and I was a sprinter) but i used to like to get mine out in the winter. Never in the wet/damp. But as long as it was dry I never cared how cold it was

And yes I know distance men who get it

[king]

You typically find this when birds have been confined to the loft during the winter period and then start back "moving" again pre-season

Mike then why does it only effect certain fancier's birds? If it was purely down to birds being confined then it would effect studs and those with stock lofts? Many have birds confined for YEARS and not just over Winter, and don't have this problem? I like many fanciers keep the birds in over Winter with zero troubles, have done for over 50 years.
And I also believe the stiffness caused by holdovers, is different to this 'wing lock' the sprint men get.

They typically show signs of this in March and April when birds are being asked to use the muscle a lot when its not really had any test for 5-6 months

I never had it myself (and I was a sprinter) but i used to like to get mine out in the winter. Never in the wet/damp. But as long as it was dry I never cared how cold it was

And yes I know distance men who get it

I know it happens in both Sprint & Distances lofts Mike, I wasn't saying it only happens in Sprint lofts, although they do seem the most effected. I have to disagree with this being due to birds being confined. This 'Wing Lock' is a another relatively new thing. It wasn't around 20 years ago and many fancier still over Winter their birds in the same way they did then.
I don't a fancier myself who's birds have had this. My own thoughts are those that get this problem are doing something different to those that don't get it?. ie overmedication, or breeding off birds that have previously themselves had this condition.
I myself used to fly out over winter, but BOP stopped me doing this.

[MIL]

Precisely!!!

Fanciers keep their birds in now much more over winter than decades ago because the BoP threat now is so great
99/100 you hear of Wing Lock in March/April

Lee Painter used to get a small number with it each year. He only changed his wintering habits following my guidance and now hasn’t had it for 3 years

Same birds, same everything else you care to think of

[king]

Precisely!!!

Fanciers keep their birds in now much more over winter than decades ago because the BoP threat now is so great
99/100 you hear of Wing Lock in March/April

Lee Painter used to get a small number with it each year. He only changed his wintering habits following my guidance and now hasn’t had it for 3 years

Same birds, same everything else you care to think of

Keeping birds confined may give fanciers an cause to point too, but how do you explain the 1,000s of fanciers who still keep the birds in over the entire Winter and don't get any wing lock though? And why does it effect some birds and not others? A weakness, underling health issues?
Whilst many more fanciers are keeping birds in over Winter for BOP problems many used too long before BOP was a big problem without getting wing lock.

[MIL]

Because when pigeons are being asked to increase their workload in the weeks leading up to the race season some fanciers are better at managing that workload

I could go and run a marathon tomorrow but don't ask me what I'd be like the day after




Before BoP was the threat that it is today I don't believe fanciers did routinely keep their birds in all winter

Certainly in Rugeley with a town of 80 fanciers no one used to keep their birds confined for extended periods of time

The sky was full all the time in the winter

[goose1]

In my opinion I believe its more of a problem now, yes one reason being the confinement over the winter, but also pigeons are now in my opinion hitting levels of form in terms of physical condition than they used to, which is no different to every athlete on the planet be it man or animal. And the more highly tuned a person or athlete is the more likely something is to go wrong. I don't think I'd be speaking out of turn to say our loft has always flown a good pigeon for 50 years, my father would tell you now the pigeons that were winning feds years and years ago excised nothing like the pigeons that win now. Their just at another level as are most peoples. And that's just the way of the world, nutrition, supplement use everything moves forward and gets better. My previous job I was 11 years as a person trainer so I do have a decent understanding of how increased levels of fitness and muscular development increase the risk of injury. This season one week we topped the amal around 2000 birds, this was a blow home as had been the previous 5 weeks, the following Saturday was the first real testing race of the season, we won the race again think we were 5th combine, by tea time that day we had 3 pigeons with wing lock and another the next day. On enquiring other lads who were flying well were the same. Only reason I've mentioned the results was to show that the pigeons were in form and flying well when the problem occurred. As I've stated on here previously we medicate our pigeons very little so certainly don't think it's anything to do with that. I've probably rambled a bit there buts that's my thoughts on it.

[MIL]

I can certainly buy into what you're saying more than I can with what King is saying

King did basically imply that sprinters get it more than distance men

Show me the evidence of that!

[Devo1956]

Wing lock in racing pigeons can be caused by a number of factors, including:
Stress-induced damage
After long-distance flights or training, the shoulder joint of a pigeon can be damaged by the physical forces of flight. This damage can cause pathological changes to the joint's capsule, cartilage, tendons, and bone structures.
Disease
Paratyphoid, a type of salmonella, can cause pigeons to have swollen wing joints, fly awkwardly, and limp. Streptococcus gallolyticus, also known as muscle or wing disease, can cause pigeons to be unable to fly.