Getting the right nutrition fed.

[Trev]

On the menu today, Curly kale, carrot and green beans.
The feedback has been positive. 005.JPG

Every time you post these pictures I think I really must try it but never seem to get round to it, I really must try harder lol

[Murray]

It's a bit damp and cold here this morning, and they were looking a bit too keen for the feed. I like them to have good appetites, but when they start rushing at me they are too hungry.
They had a bit of a fright yesterday when the resident hawk gave them a tickle up, and they flew for a couple of hours. Probably made them a bit hungry too.
So I gave them a couple of extra spoons in the trays, just to fill them up a little bit.

This is what they left.

They left the peas, beans and vetch.
Ate up all the maize, wheat milo and safflower.
There's about 20% peas and only about 1% of the beans and the vetch, but that's what they didn't want.
Interesting.

[killer]

Cold weather they do that ,Maize warms them up ,what’s left are lead sinkers throw them overboard ,Lol

[Murray]

Cold weather they do that ,Maize warms them up ,what’s left are lead sinkers throw them overboard ,Lol

Yep, I am feeding the legumes because I have them, and they aren't being trained up at present.
Ad Shaerlaekens wrote that peas have no place in the diet of young birds, unless you really want them to have blue flesh and be late from the races.

[Buster121]

Looks a very nice mix does that

[Murray]

Looks a very nice mix does that

It's a simple mix,
1 tin peas
1 tin maize
1 tin wheat
1 tin milo/sorghum
1 tin safflower
1 cup beans
1 cup vetch.

The beans and vetch are there because I was given some.
It's not a perfect race mix, too many legumes, or a perfect breeder mix, not enough, but they do well on it.
And it's their diet all the time so they aren't being chopped and changed all the time.

[Murray]

In that picture you see a tin, a cup, and a plastic scoop.
Those are my measures.
6 scoops to a cup, 3 cups to a tin. It would mean nothing to anyone else, but I know exactly how many cups and scoops the young birds eat in the morning, and how may at night.
With the pigeons in boxes, they each have a bowl, and I know exactly how many scoops each will eat.
The funny thing is, I had a baby a while back that was getting pushed out of the feed trays. So I put it on a perch and fed it with the scoop. Guess what?
Now I have about 15 pigeons on perches all looking very excited while I go along feeding them with the scoop!
Even if they have had a feed on the floor, they seem to like the contact with me. They really aren't hungry, they just like to be given a little bit of food off the scoop. I don't mind, it strengthens the bond, which may be the difference between winning and losing a race one day.

[Buster121]

In that picture you see a tin, a cup, and a plastic scoop.
Those are my measures.
6 scoops to a cup, 3 cups to a tin. It would mean nothing to anyone else, but I know exactly how many cups and scoops the young birds eat in the morning, and how may at night.
With the pigeons in boxes, they each have a bowl, and I know exactly how many scoops each will eat.
The funny thing is, I had a baby a while back that was getting pushed out of the feed trays. So I put it on a perch and fed it with the scoop. Guess what?
Now I have about 15 pigeons on perches all looking very excited while I go along feeding them with the scoop!
Even if they have had a feed on the floor, they seem to like the contact with me. They really aren't hungry, they just like to be given a little bit of food off the scoop. I don't mind, it strengthens the bond, which may be the difference between winning and losing a race one day.

[Trev]

It's a bit damp and cold here this morning, and they were looking a bit too keen for the feed. I like them to have good appetites, but when they start rushing at me they are too hungry.
They had a bit of a fright yesterday when the resident hawk gave them a tickle up, and they flew for a couple of hours. Probably made them a bit hungry too.
So I gave them a couple of extra spoons in the trays, just to fill them up a little bit. 005.JPG
This is what they left.
004.JPG
They left the peas, beans and vetch.
Ate up all the maize, wheat milo and safflower.
There's about 20% peas and only about 1% of the beans and the vetch, but that's what they didn't want.
Interesting.

They look like proper old school tic beans like our Dad used to feed, you struggle to find beans like them over here these days. The beans you can get are much smaller and paler, I'm afraid I'm still a fan of beans and do hopper feed them. I know they won't do me any favours from the short races but if we do ever get any distance again I hope they will pay off

[Trev]

In that picture you see a tin, a cup, and a plastic scoop.
Those are my measures.
6 scoops to a cup, 3 cups to a tin. It would mean nothing to anyone else, but I know exactly how many cups and scoops the young birds eat in the morning, and how may at night.
With the pigeons in boxes, they each have a bowl, and I know exactly how many scoops each will eat.
The funny thing is, I had a baby a while back that was getting pushed out of the feed trays. So I put it on a perch and fed it with the scoop. Guess what?
Now I have about 15 pigeons on perches all looking very excited while I go along feeding them with the scoop!
Even if they have had a feed on the floor, they seem to like the contact with me. They really aren't hungry, they just like to be given a little bit of food off the scoop. I don't mind, it strengthens the bond, which may be the difference between winning and losing a race one day.

I use an old tin measuring jug, 2.5 tins am and pm is just about the right amount but I do have to make the odd adjustment either way from time to time depending on the weather and what they've been up to lol