Feeding Beans

Anyone successfully racing their birds who feeds beans in the mix ? What percentage and for what distances? Young birds, old birds or both?

Read an article recently barnie where a top fancier fed nothing but beans, available to them all the time, hopper fed.

When I was young many fanciers fed farm beans, along with dog tooth maize etc;

As with humans you can get all that is necessary from many different sources, it is just a matter of choosing what suits you and your pocket.

One thing for sure polishing corn only adds to the price.

Regards.

Very few beans used in Canada. Green peas are popular. I look out of the window and see barn pigeons eating soybeans spilled from harvest last year.
No one has told them they are considered toxic!!!!

Think the pigeons if left alone know exactly what is good and bad for them, only when fanciers think they know better the problems start.

Regards.

Me. Basic most weeks was either tic beans or Maple pea. Nary a care which. Just depending on price at farm … cleansed free now a days I reckon Misty. Was paying  £4 '50 per 25k. Went up to £6:50P last year.
Wheat / Barley went up to £4.50.25K. Always clean. Hopefully not over polished. Polishing just pleases the eye. Leaves a little behind that is good, g=for the bird. Certainly no harm whatsoever.
Fed all the year round. The best added feed is undoubtedly Groats! Especially for breeding. No finer fed then. Good for racing too. Only takes a mo to work out - if one really wants too, what mix. Not rolled Oats as such. But taste like Porridge. Is porridge which has a slow, and long last release of units etc.

never feed beans i use maples or peas just my preference ,groats abound here we also use the pin head oatmeal for trapping ybs

Used beans before for stock but not racing . Too heavy for my liking .

halcanada80 wrote:

Very few beans used in Canada. Green peas are popular.  I look out of the window and see barn pigeons eating soybeans spilled from harvest last year.
No one has told them they are considered toxic!!!!

Same down here Hal Heard the saying thou, Beans beans & more beans etc but on average part of the dinosaur type era I suspect in a pigeon sense now. End of the day bean/pea, if of good quality achieve much the same type scenario from my perspective. Final word Oh how some of todays flyers with their fancy polished type mixes would have liked to have achieved/done what some of the old brigade did on beans, beans & more beans type of thing at the distance, when bought straight out of the paddock as such .

In the seventies a friend and I used to buy a ton of farm beans between us from a fellow who had a small shop in town.

He then branched out into a unit just outside town and I have got all my pigeon feed from him since, right up to having to part with my feathered friends.

Beans suddenly become hard to come by in this area, think demand had something to do with it when all the polished stuff came out.

My pigeons flew and won their share on the main grain being beans.

I then had to have a re think, so I decided to have a real mixture, from then on I used a mixture that included several grains, from peas, maize, wheat etc; and also a bag of trapping mix, the two had the same weight.

To the latter I added more linseed, a small amount and the same amount of hemp.

I had them in two containers and the pigeons got the same amount of each every day of the year.

The first was served straight on to the deep litter and the latter on a small area where I could remove any left overs, yes the pigeons did not clear the small seed every time.

With open loft the pigeons would go onto the garden and get that which polishing had removed (my way of thinking).

The pigeons did everything I asked of them both racing and showing.

Oh I forgot pea nuts, they were my main means of control both in feed for racing different distances and handling.

ONE MANS MEAT etc;

Regards.

Funny you say that a old flyer we had in our club flew his birds on just beans and won. He was a clever man as well and knew how to motivate his birds ect but yes he done well