a little something ive found you might find interesting happy reading,
Health Program Prior to Breeding:

The importance of a Pre-breeding program is to insure optimum fertility and for the reproduction of healthy youngbirds.

After Youngbird Season Vaccinate all birds on the premises for PMV and Paratyphoid.
To play it safe, booster the Paratyphoid 3-4 weeks later.

Four Weeks Before Pairing

Increase protein levels to around 18% to prepare the birds for the stress off breeding. This can be accomplished by adding 20% protein pellets to the regular feed.

Vitamins and Minerals including Calcium should be offered 3 times a week. Powdered vitamins and minerals can be added to the grit and changed every other day.

Three Weeks Before Pairing

Start 10 day course of a broad spectrum antibiotic to (theoretically) Clear up any subolinical bacterial problems. Baytril may be a good Choice if you have had a history of Paratyphoid problems.
Note: It is always best to base your antibiotic choice on culture/sensitivity tests.

Start a 5 day course of Canker treatment. The drugs used to control canker (Ridzol,Emtryl,Spartrix,Flagyl) May have an adverse effect on fertility in the cock. Avoid these drugs After pairing before the eggs are laid and when feeding young. It is best to treat 3 weeks before pairing up, then agian while on eggs.

Two Weeks Before Pairing
Have fecal exams done on the breeders and if possitive treat accordingly. If unable or unwilling to have fecal exams done, treat for Coccidia (Corid or Sulmit) for 5 days and worm with 1-2 drops of Ivomec orally per bird.

Increase light to 14 hours a day. This is best done by turning the Lights on in early morning so the birds have a natural dusk. (e.g., if dusk is at 6pm, turn lights on at 4am. and off at 8 or 9am.) This will insure that they Are not caught off their nests at night.

After the breeding season, the birds should be given a rest from medications To decrease the risk of developing resistance to these drugs and allow The birds to develop some level of natural immunity.

J.F. Higgins, V.M.D.

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Healthy Young Birds

To insure success in the upcoming young bird (YB) race season, fanciers must have their birds in supreme health. Here are some tips and recommendations to keep your YBs fit for the demands of racing.

I recommend putting YBs on the floor of the breeding loft at 14 to 16 days of age. Here they are pumped by the breeders and quickly learn to eat and drink on their own. Scalping is always a threat, but is actually a rare occurrence.

When they are almost fully feathered under the wing at about 23 to 28 days of age, the YBs are moved to the YB loft. At this time I usually treat for tichomonas with 1/4 of a 250 mg tablet of metronidizole (Flagyl) for 2 to 3 days or a Spartrix tablet for 2 days. I also give 1 teaspoonful of Clorox (or any regular, unscented bleach) per gallon of drinking water daily to help slow down water borne disease transmission and acidify the droppings You can add bleach to the water all year long except when giving other medications.

Vaccinating YBs is very important. I usually wait until the entire YB team is bred and moved to the YB loft, then vaccinate the whole group for pox, paramyxovirus (PMV) and parathyroid. I am reluctant to give all 3 vaccines at the same time, preferring to give pox and PMV together , then parathyroid a few weeks later. Parathyroid and PMV vaccinations are repeated after the YB season in late October. It is important that the pox vaccine be given to all the YBs in your loft at the same time and that bathing be curtailed for 10 to 14 days after this vaccine because pox vaccine is a live vaccine and the pox virus will be transmitted to untreated YBs.

I do not routinely recommend antibiotics unless a problem arises and then I try to select the appropriate medication based on culture and sensitivity results. However, I put the YBs through a medication program 2 to 3 weeks before the first YB race using Aureomycin (or another tetracycline such as doxcycline), Tylan powder, Corid, and Ridzol. I then repeat this for 2 days every other week during the season. (See the summary below for dosages). Remove grit from loft when giving tetracyclines since the calcium in the grit neutralizes the medication.

One final thought on keeping YBs healthy -- YBs are stressed by moulting, training and racing, making them susceptible to disease. We must pay close attention to the early signs of disease and practice sound management, including keeping the loft clean, uncrowded, well ventilated, and dry.

Young Bird Health Program Summary
Wean YBs 24 to 28 Days of Age When Feathered Under the Wing

Administer Spartrix (1 tablet daily for 2 days) or
Flagyl (1/4 of 250 mg tablet daily for 2 to 3 days)
Clorox (or unscented bleach) in water daily (1 teaspoon/gallon) except when giving medications.

Have droppings checked for intestinal parasites every 4 to 6 weeks and treat accordingly with Ivomectin at the rate of 0.1 cc in the mouth of each bird and repeat in 2 weeks.

Vaccinate the entire YB team at one time

Administer Intervet for pox and Maine Biological or Colombovac for PMV according to manufacturer's directions

2 to 3 weeks later administer SalBac for parathyroid

Repeat PMV and parathyroid treatment after YB race season

Race Season: Treatment for 5 days
Two to three weeks before races begin, administer the following for five days:


2 teaspoons/gallon Aureomycin (or another tetracycline such as doxcycline) and

One teaspoon/gallon Tylan powder along with

One teaspoon/gallon Ridzol and

One teaspoon/gallon Corid

Then, give Aureomycin or tetracylcine and Tylan for 5 more days. Again, remove the grit. for five additional days.

Repeat treatment as a preventative 1 to 2 days each week or every other week with all 4 drugs during the race season.

In areas where Haemoproteus (pigeon malaria) is prevalent, use anti-malarial drugs (like Quinacrine) for 30 days prior to the race season, then 1 to 2 days each week during the season. Follow the manufacturer's suggested dosage.

Dust with permethrin dust (Insectrin GP) every 2 weeks to control pigeon flies, lice and mites.

By: James F. Higgins, V.M.D.

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Canker in Racing Pigeons


Canker, or trichomoniasis, is a parasitic disease primarily affecting the throat (although the liver and naval can be affected) of pigeons caused by the single celled parasite Trichomonas gallinae.

Infection occurs via the drinking water and from regurgitated food or crop milk. The common "textbook" clinical picture consists of yellow spots on the throat where the parasites have altered the tissue into a cheese-like substance. Most pigeon flyers are familiar with these symptoms, but we must concern ourselves with the subclinical picture.

These symptoms are more subtle and may only manifest themselves by slight inflamation of the throat and strings of mucous. Sometimes we see no symptoms at all. Recent studies of racing pigeons have revealed a negative effect on performance in even the mildest of cases. Perhaps more importantly, even a subclinical case of canker in pigeons stressed from shipping and racing can open the door for more serious viral and bacterial respiratory problems.

Diagnosis of canker is accomplished by swabbing the throat and crop with a saline soaked Q-tip and looking immeadiately under a microscope for the moving parasite. Treatment should be caried out for 5 days before the racing season and then 1-2 days every other week during the season (eg. Monday & Tuesday if the race is on Sunday). The drugs commonly used to treat canker are: Ridsol, at 1 tsp/gal; Emtryl, at 1/4-3/8 tsp/gal; Flagyl, at 25-50 mg/pigeon or 1250/2500 mg/gal; and Spartrix, at 1 tablet/pigeon. These drugs can safely be mixed with most antibiotics to treat respiratory infections.

It is important to exercise caution when treating for canker during the breeding season as the above mentioned drugs can have an adverse effect on fertility in the cock. Avoid these drugs after pairing, before the egges are laid, and when the breeders are feeding young. I usually treat for 5 days before pairing up, then again while on the eggs, then each youngster is given a Spartrix tablet before going into their youg bird loft.

The birds should be given a rest from medications during the off season to decrease the risk of developing resistance to these drugs and to allow the bird to develop somje level of natural immunity.

By: James F. Higgins, V.M.D.

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Antibiotics During Racing


Although the practice of using antibiotics for only a few days each week is considered inappropriate in veterinary medicine, it is a practice approved by most pigeon veterinarians.

Our birds are highly stressed during shipping and racing and are therefore very susceptible to various infectious agents. To prevent problems, the birds can be treated with antibiotics every week or every other week for 2 days. This practice is helpful in preventing bacterial diseases, but has no effect on viral infections.

The antibiotics I'm comfortable using during the race season are: SMZ-TMP, either doxycycline or tetracycline in conjunction with Tylan Powder, Gallimycin, Vetisulid and amoxicillin. I have combined these antibiotics with Corid and Baycox (for coccidia), and Ridzol and Emtryl (for canker) without any obvious undesirable effects.

While we're on the topic of disease prevention, be sure your birds are vaccinated for PMV and parathyphoid (and Pox for young birds), as these diseases are far easier to prevent than cure.

By: James F. Higgins, V.M.D.
Northside Animal Hospital
185 Mikron Road, Bethlehem, PA 18017
Phone:(610)759-5922 Fax:(610)759-2326

tell you what,i think we might have lost chanco,s columns but we have IAN the new master pigeon man,keep it up ian good reading for us all

very helpful thanks ian

excellent read ianco, just the right time for us to be getting all this info you are getting for us.......hope it helps some of us with our racing.

sure it will

think a lot are straining to get them paired up now and get on with the breeding.....

yes david not long for me , i will give you one of my avator picture he has bred me fed winner , also one of blue and whiye cock of sheaders ,

excellent ian, will be very happy with those.......even happier when they win.

lets hope so

havent got a picture David

ianco,

MerryXmas everyone, Very interesting.. I have a question about the paratyphoid vaccinations, I have never heared of this and dont know anyone who has ever done this. Where do I get it from? is it expensive? and is it any good? Also is it easy to do or do you need a vet? many thanks