dreaded y/b sickness

once again it rears its head the dreaded y/b sickness touch wood i aint had it but i watch them very carefully i hear its rife up our way but sadly most not got a clue they stuff them wi corn then wonder why they get sick and wonder why they dont come home ffs its not rocket science observation is the key first signs treat them only healthy fit birds score whats other members thoughts on it sean

correct seanl feed small grains easy to digest, if you vaccinate y/b as they leave the nest, they are less likely to get young bird sickness, education is what alott of fanciers lack ?  

a lot don't know there arse from there elbow   and wonder why they get so many losses ...its a daily routine first thing in the morning and last thing when I lock up at night to observe the ybs for signs of ill health and I always watch them feeding ...its rife down this way and I am glad my ybs are still ranging at present ...keep yer eyes peeled lads

the first signs you will notice if your watching them is that they might not
all come in at once some might not be intrested at all just stood there looking in to space
then they will not eat all the food you put down you might notice one or two dropings go slimey green but the birds might look ok if your training you might drop 1-2 or they might come back in small batches .
ive been using virkon S quater of a tea spoon in the drinker for 5 days if you use it the right way its good stuff it wont stop it but use it on a regular basis it will help keep the nasties at bay .

DuPont™ Virkon® S is the breakthrough disinfectant formulation that defines on farm biosecurity. With powerful, proven performance against over 500 strains of viruses, bacteria and fungi including Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), Avian Influenza, Salmonella and Campylobacter, Virkon® S is selected by governments worldwide for Emergency Disease Control.

Note it kills bacteria.Good and bad! then you have to build up the good bacteria again. Fennel tea and acids work better.  However..each to their own.
Same as disinfecting a loft. Kill s both good and bad bacteria. No immunity for the birds to build up. Back to square one. Another cycle of problems. No wonder this crap occurs every year. Never had YB's here. Some others also but assume 98% of fanciers get it. Whatever.

how do you know for sure you not had it , ive spoken to people like you
before at the club they say the same thing , but when i look at there birds in the loft i know just by looking at them they have it , just because they look right doesn,t mean there right , i know all about VIRKON S , . have a good day im off to work now .

never had yb sickness last season ...I think it stems from the breeding process and lays dormant until the ybs are under any stress either from another pathogen or mentally and has nothing to do with darkening jmo mind you lads so hold yer fire lol new stock or ybs brought in would be suspect for me.also I agree with hal to some extent and would not personally use virkons as it kills all bacteria good and bad but each to his own I have heard good reports about virkons and some that say it did not work ...probably because they did not act fast enough I would think ...if I were to get it I would use primalac and belgasol in the water for 5 days (probiotic and electrolyte compounds) its all about noticing it early and acting fast otherwise you have to reach for the meds atb

Kevin let me re-phrase. I should have said I have not had it in 10 years. I do not introduce new pigeons. Neither do I disinfect the loft. I have used Virkon by the gallon in the hog barns but that is a different sanitation program entirely. Mass production needed not performance. These birds have never had Paramyxo or Adenovirus or Circovirus. Salmonella yes years back and probably still some carriers here. It does not matter to me what other folks do. I do not have super disease free pigeons. What I do have is 99% have natural immunity. With the hogs everything had to be sanitised constantly. Vaccinated constantly. Could not afford not to. In the book "The pigeon" by Levi years ago, he had thousands of pigeons he raised squabs from. His uptake on everything was that dried droppings worked best. nest bowl etc,. Natural immunity. This year did not fly young birds or old. But put my money where my mouth is and sent to One Loft races. Did it few years back and won $1000. Those one lofters have birds from everywhere. YB's go through all sorts of health problems. If you can spot a bird that has had young bird sickness then you are a better fancier than I.

my ybs have  been on natural the last two seasons and i,ve not had it funny enough ..i will be back on the dark next season so we,ll see what happens then.

peel bros wrote:

my ybs have  been on natural the last two seasons and i,ve not had it funny enough ..i will be back on the dark next season so we,ll see what happens then.

that will be interesting ?  

we took the first 4 in one club last week and should have won the other but by accident the sec cleared the clock
how 24 hours can change in pigeons monday they were all down with ybs and looked like sh**e how ever after fasting them for 2 days and starting on light feed there on the mend well put it this way they look far more alive than they did this time last week nothing but water has been given to them for 2 days then slow feeding if they got anything about them they will pull through no good proping them up with meds jmo
so we will let them out tuesday if they look ok and take it from there but we wont race next week no good thinking they look well when maybe they aint as well as they look rest is always a better opption

halcanada, who,s right and who,s wrong all roads lead to rome they say
yes i can spot ybs ive made it my mision to read as much and study it as much as i can . we raced today from littlehampton with the west of england south rd combine 118 miles to me ,east to west route with a brisk south west wind and boy have they had to fly today just about doing 1,000 yrds a min my first bird a little blue hen ive 3 from 5 sent find out later how ive done . kev

seems like a stiff race kev good luck

oldstrain wrote:

seems like a stiff race kev good luck

hi daz , got 4 out of 5 , but behind today we had 3 members not clocked but returns wise most members had good returns so all in all happy but they can do better ive got some fresh ones to go next week lyndhurst so ill see how they cope with the combine .

Kevin good for you! We all race pigeons and have our own methods, training, racing health. There is much YB's around here same as every year. Fortunately it doe's not affect mine last bunch of years. Nearest loft to me is 15 miles or more away. Open loft here, so birds field etc,. In West Hartlepool in the UK my first birds were housed above the coal house. 4 of them. 60 years ago. You are a very intelligent person and have studied and researched a lot of stuff apparently. Way back then mid fifties, but the problems back then were just basic. Seems every year there is something new occurring health wise. New med's to combat them etc,. Perhaps the majority of birds today need them? Do not know. Speeds faster than back then? Doubt it. Looked at eye sign, tried different meds. Healthy motivated pigeon will accomplish a lot.