Racing birds moulting

I chaps, I am after some opinions and a bit of help for one of my friends. Basically he is a good flyer and very experienced who win well with his birds so should have no problems..but he has...a problem.

He races widowhood and roundabout and paired up same time as me this year around 14th february and has bred a first round of youngsters as usual. I have been to his lofts which are light airy and very nice, his birds are super healthy and fly and train well, however many of his birds are moulting some a lot, as many as 3 or flights have gone, some are head moulting???? Its a mystery as my birds havent thrown a feather yet widows, stock or naturals.

So question is why and whats happening?

martyn that is one big misturey mate shall have a few words to see if anything can help mate

has he had any form of heat or lights on

hi martyn, as you know im a novice so i dont have a clue, it will be interesting to find out whats going on though if any of our more experienced members could throw some light on the matter................

just like David i don't know but think too much small seed may do it george

Hi Lads thanks for the info keep it coming, as this has spoilt a lot of racing birds for him and hes not got ant answers.
There are no lights on or heaters and nothing changed really, he doesnt give treatment either, he does feed seed he got it from me mostly linseed, but noone uses more than me and mine are not moulting...thanks anyway do ask others if they have seen this before.

Rudderfett look up French moulting george

in a question is linseed safe some say no it is a poison my instict still goes with small seed good luck george

as far as i know linseed is an oil seed which issupposed to be good when pigeons are moulting, i feed 50% super diet to my birds which does have a large amount of linseed in it, but my birds havnt moulted ever at the wrong time............one thing i can say is ill/un healthy birds do not moult.

Did they moult fully before going down to breed, because I have had stock, that never fully moulted, but now they have been parted have gone into a sort of secondary moult.

years ago David i used it however if you look on the website for linseed some are now saying it is poison when i used it i soak it in water to get the oil out then pour it over other seeds and bake in the oven george

hi george, yes it does sound familiar what your saying, i think i may have read something along those lines somewhere............maybe giving too much of it could be.

ive also read the use of linseed ecourages birds to exercise/fly, but weather it does or not im not sure..........

Linseed has the highest fat content of any seed, but as for being poison, nothing could be any further from the truth, it helps youngbirds grow and is great for their plumage, but should only be fed in small quantities.
hemp is the one that encourages the moult more than any other as it heats up the birds.

Gary i can only say what i have read under is linseed safe for pigeons and the answer was no it is poison maybe i did not read it right did you read it was safe george

its probably like a lot of things george, fed in small amounts its good for them......too much and it could be harmfull maybe.

I'm not disputing the fact George, that you may have read it somewhere.
I think where the problem lies with it is the high amount of fat it contains and maybe if fed more than 10% of any mix, it could quite possibly cause problems.
There were loads of similar things said about peanuts.

hi Rudderfett any more news on the problem george

Thanks for all the feedback, some very valid points, Linseed is excellant for pigeons, it contains oil and is good for birds digestion. As for boiling it there is a reason but cant remember why but it only applies to horses, we feed ours with it and boil it first, pigeons are different and dont need it boiled.

Going back to the moulting problem, I think we have found the answer, when he first paired up his birds he was working as he runs a cricket club and the nights were dark early, so he left his lights on for a couple of hours so he could check on them when returning from work, and keep an eye on them while pairing up.
So as soon as the birds had laid and settled down he switched them off, so somewhere along the line hes upset nature and caused them to moult.
Thanks again lads.

Rudderfett wrote:

Thanks for all the feedback, some very valid points, Linseed is excellant for pigeons, it contains oil and is good for birds digestion. As for boiling it there is a reason but cant remember why but it only applies to horses, we feed ours with it and boil it first, pigeons are different and dont need it boiled.

Going back to the moulting problem, I think we have found the answer, when he first paired up his birds he was working as he runs a cricket club and the nights were dark early, so he left his lights on for a couple of hours so he could check on them when returning from work, and keep an eye on them while pairing up.
So as soon as the birds had laid and settled down he switched them off, so somewhere along the line hes upset nature and caused them to moult.
Thanks again lads.

i did say had there been any form f heating or light on ah well

yes you did graham, good spot of diognosing there...........have you any idea why this yb of mine has turned out like this ?

yes mate its the treet light go knock the fecking thing out lol

maybe because i was rearing my ybs on piza..............

Yes birdy I remember you did say that about lights, and I did ask him, but it was after he went away and thought about it that he remembered what he had done..thanks

Is it a blue david..lol

father to it topped the fed martyn.........