UkPigeonRacing

Just for something to do, I had a bit of a look at the prices of various pigeon foods advertised in the UK compared to what we are paying here.
It seems to me that feeding pigeons is a bit more expensive over there. For example one supplier is selling safflower for about Au$50 for 20kgs, while I am paying Au$39 for the same thing.
Other grains seem to be a bit cheaper here too, but it varies.
Am I right in thinking that, or is it just the way the wages and economy are, and it's not too hard?

Corn prices have certainly shot up here lately. Unfortunately I think one of the big problems over here now is that so few of the seeds are home grown. With the cost of importing anything it is going to make things expensive. Sunflower hearts for example come from Ukraine and the price has doubled since the Russian invasion. Of course with the pet shop I can see how much prices have increased.
The other big cost here is the cost of transport. I don’t know what you’re paying over there for diesel Murray, but here it is around £1.79 per litre, and that is lower than it has been for sometime now. Did hit £2.00 per litre.

That works out to about Au$3.15 per litre. At my service station today we are selling regular diesel for $2.15.7 and Premium diesel for $2.17.7.
It has come down a bit here too.
Of course the distances in Australia can be very big indeed, and the cost of road transport is becoming an issue.
One of my friends runs a small freight company with one large truck for the daily run around the north of the state, and one Toyota van for city deliveries. His fuel bill went up by $30,000 for the last 6 months!
It all get's passed on in the finish, and a bag of pigeon corn gets more expensive.

I used to pay £8.60 for a 20kg bag of all rounder now I pay £13+ not far off double and that has increased over about 9 months, has been stable last couple visits to get some just hope not speaking to soon now

Buster121 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 12, 2023 6:44 am I used to pay £8.60 for a 20kg bag of all rounder now I pay £13+ not far off double and that has increased over about 9 months, has been stable last couple visits to get some just hope not speaking to soon now

That is very interesting, Buster. Just goes to show how the price of everything is being pushed up.
Just out of interest, what brand of feed do you use, and why do you find it the best?
Down under we only have a few companies supplying pigeon mixtures. Not a lot to choose from.

Murray wrote: ↑Thu Jan 12, 2023 10:06 am

Buster121 wrote: ↑Thu Jan 12, 2023 6:44 am I used to pay £8.60 for a 20kg bag of all rounder now I pay £13+ not far off double and that has increased over about 9 months, has been stable last couple visits to get some just hope not speaking to soon now

That is very interesting, Buster. Just goes to show how the price of everything is being pushed up.
Just out of interest, what brand of feed do you use, and why do you find it the best?
Down under we only have a few companies supplying pigeon mixtures. Not a lot to choose from.

It is the farms own widowhood mix but no different to the all rounder I buy sometimes from Bamfords which is just under £15 per bag and what I had to purchase today as no farm mix until next Tuesday
I find it the best as no different to Bamfords and there is less waste with it than other mixes I have used

I have to admit I have gone back to the old boys feeding and have started mixing my own. There are so many faddy mixes around now at ridiculous prices that for the winter months at least I'll continue to mix my own.
I haven't worked out how much its actually costing but its definitely saving me a lot of money and the birds seem to be doing well on it.
I buy mixed corn, layers pellets, and wild bird seed from a local feed merchant all for about £10 per bag. I brought half a dozen bags of tic beans at £9 a bag through another local fancier and I got hemp seed from another local feed merchant for £25/15kg. Apart from the hemp seed this is mixed to a ratio given to me by Des Coulter, whether I use it to race on remains to be seen but for now its certainly saving me money.

I have always mixed my own feed, Trev. It is much cheaper than buying mixtures from grain stores, and I can make what I want.
This is what my pigeons are eating these days.
It's pretty basic, but the bit of vetch and two sorts of sunflower make it look a bit fancy.
I do have some breeder mix with popcorn included in it, so it has two sorts of maize and the breeder has different peas as well. I think it is a good thing and might keep including a portion of it in my feed mix.
It works here just now, because it has not too much maize or peas. Ideal for this hot weather. They might run a bit lean on it in your cold winters.

When I was mixing my own I only used peas(white and blue/green), beans and maize saved loads money as other say but had a lot of waste as 2 sections used to leave lots peas so went back to the mix

And that is why I never feed a lot of peas or beans.
They don't need them so they won't eat them. If pigeons have nothing but peas and beans to eat, they will eat peas and beans. Obviously.
It reminds me of the old crocodile hunter up in the top end of Australia. He was interviewed for a TV report. When asked if crocodile was good to eat he replied, "Its the best meat you can get, if you cant get any other meat".

I never stop looking at what they are eating, or more importantly, leaving.