What are Members feeding now...?

what are members feeding their birds now, are they still on a light(ish) mix whilst sitting eggs , or are they on a heavier mix while sitting or are they feeding a heavy mix because they are rearing young birds...?

Got mine on bamfords widowhood express as it has plenty of maize because they were leaving the protein

mine seem to be eating less over the last week, I cankered them a week or so ago so wondering if this has anything to do with it......

Bert Braspenning feeds Marimans Variamax throughout the year for breeding, racing, moulting and resting. A combination of 30+ or so grains (I stand to be corrected)

Bert has won all before him so cannot be wrong in his approach to feeding with the system he races.

My first thought is that different varieties of peas, maize, dari etc all contain the same nutrients within a small percentage of content so therefore 3 types of pea really count as one type of grain and 4 varieties of maize also count as one type of grain etc; so the Variamax mix may only be a combination of a dozen or so actual different grain types.

So my questions are;

Are so many different grains needed anyway ?

Does feeding breakdown and building up fats etc help promote fitness and form ?

Are extra/additional types of grain needed for breeding/racing/moulting/resting ?

Please do not reply saying I should ask Bert

I think the easiest reply to all 3 questions caramel is yes and no to all of them.....each fancier has their own thoughts on each of these and each get different results......all 3 questions are valid and relevant I would say caramel, because all 3 are instrumental in our everyday management.

David wrote:

I think the easiest reply to all 3 questions caramel is  yes and no to all of them.....each fancier has their own thoughts on each of these and each get different results......all 3 questions are valid and relevant I would say caramel, because all 3 are instrumental in our everyday management.

1 Yes

2 Yes also protein after racing

3 Yes

mine are on a lite mix until 7 days before hatching when I introduce the breeding mix gradually then onto junior plus for the ybs

Ours have been on a mix of depurative and high protein economy,50/50 mixed together, a week before the ybs hatched we switched to gem breed and wean, although the birds are leaving a lot of the maple peas

caramel wrote:

Please do not reply saying I should ask Bert

OK . Cheers.
*****

caramel wrote:

Bert Braspenning feeds Marimans Variamax throughout the year for breeding, racing, moulting and resting. A combination of 30+ or so grains (I stand to be corrected)

Bert has won all before him so cannot be wrong in his approach to feeding with the system he races.

My first thought is that different varieties of peas, maize, dari etc all contain the same nutrients within a small percentage of content so therefore 3 types of pea really count as one type of grain and 4 varieties of maize also count as one type of grain etc; so the Variamax mix may only be a combination of a dozen or so actual different grain types.

So my questions are;

Are so many different grains needed anyway ?

Does feeding breakdown and building up fats etc help promote fitness and form ?

Are extra/additional types of grain needed for breeding/racing/moulting/resting ?

Question 1 No. Question 2 Maybe. Question 3. All part of the spin & bling to get a sale etc I say. Cheers.

breed & wean, breeding extra 1/2 and 1/2

I have some couples with little babies and others sitting eggs, and yet others (my race team) that have not yet coupled - so what I have done is -

Made up a light mix with around 25% barley - I give this to the ones that have not laid, and those sitting on eggs.

I have also made up another mix that is a bit heavier with NO barley and I give this to the couples with youngsters. I also have little galley pots in with the ones with babies and I will start giving them a little extra high protein mix in their pots.

I don't put so much in the pots, so they don't need to go down and eat with the rest, as I believe this can make the birds very picky. But I do believe that birds feeding youngsters need a slightly higher protein supplement.

Phil

redrog wrote:

breed & wean, breeding extra 1/2 and 1/2

For me I buy the cheapest mix around etc. Buy 10 get one free at 13 dollars a bag 20kg. Similar at other places are around $20/22 a bag as such. I then sieve/riddle it with a home made sieve I made to get the large maize out of the mix & then are only left with the small maize the size of a pea etc & then I add peas & safflower for the breeders. Works Ok for me & I will leave the 30 mix trick for those that believe it is required . Cheers.

will be adding depurative back into my mix tomorrow, I stopped using it a couple of weeks ago and went onto a heavier mix which I`m not happy with, will lighten it up again for now until they are all feeding ybs.


have often thought of adding wild bird seed to my mix, it looks to have plenty of variety in it and is cheap at less than £4 a big sack, similar size to a normal sack of pigeon corn....

Aldi sell a big bag of wild bird food from what I've seen its not a bad mix. I'm going to get some natural maxi all pro season tomorrow and maybe some of bamfords new acticell

the depurative ive been using is bamfords mark, ive used a few of their mixes and find them pretty decent corn...

It's not bad corn at all dave I like their multi task a lot 21 different grains in it and the young bird popcorn mix

David wrote:

will be adding depurative back into my mix tomorrow, I stopped using it a couple of weeks ago and went onto a heavier mix which I`m not happy with, will lighten it up again for now until they are all feeding ybs.


have often thought of adding wild bird seed to my mix, it looks to have plenty of variety in it and is cheap at less than £4 a big sack, similar size to a normal sack of pigeon corn....

Wild bird seed is an absolute non starter. My local corn merchant adds all his unsold/out of date grains into his wild bird mix.

He is only cutting his losses and the grains may still be ok, personally I would never even contemplate using the stuff even if I did not know it`s history

your quite right in what you say caramel, if the corn man does that I`d not be buying any off him......we have a local shop near me called B&M, which is a super market type of shop, they tend to sell things which should have been more expensive cheap, this is where they have the wild bird seed.

even so I`m not going to give them any at the moment it was only a thought....

David wrote:

your quite right in what you say caramel, if the corn man does that I`d not be buying any off him......we have a local shop near me called B&M, which is a super market type of shop, they tend to sell things which should have been more expensive cheap, this is where they have the wild bird seed.

even so I`m not going to give them any at the moment it was only a thought....

Careful with the thought process etc David it could leed you into the un known as such. Here I've often looked at the wild bird mixes etc but most tend to have oats in them to a large degree & don't take my fancy because of it. Groats on the other hand I would feed every day if it wasn't so dear to buy down here, sadly. Cheers.

mould spores springs to mind with wild bird seed so go careful...be better off with a bag of barley and wheat or depurative ....atb

yes that's what I`m getting this morning Darren, the bamfords depurative is nice enough stuff ive found....

yes I like the bamfords mixes m8 ...just to far to travel to get it here

Can I just say:-

I believe that you only get out of your 'Racing' pigeons, what you put in!

And, if one is buying wild bird seed to save a quid. Then you end up with a far Inferior product with all the added complications that that might bring - Isn't that 'False Economy'?

Members have mentioned mould, what about dust, mouse poo, mites, weevils and maybe a whole host of other nasties.

Lots of people go out and spend untold amounts of money on 'So-Called' wonder drugs or tonic this or energy that - and most of it is crap! Not to mention all the needless antibiotics some people pump into their birds.

In my opinion, it is better to buy Quality feed and less stuff that comes out of a bottle!

Phil