Health Topics – By Tom Domanski
| The key ingredients of a racing pigeon; 1 teaspoon of fitness, 1 teaspoon of training, and 1 cup of health. Mix well and add to racing schedule as necessary. Overview Entire books have been devoted to health. Why? Because it is a key ingredient to racing success. As discussed under breeding, what we have in our lofts is potential. The best pigeon under a poor handler will not attain 100% of it’s potential. Likewise an average pigeon under a superior handler may attain 100% of it’s potential which may far exceed the best performance of a poor handler. The pillars of success are genetics, health, nutrition, fitness, training, management and motivation. Health is an ingredient that should have just as much if not more attention than training, breeding and racing systems. I am not an expert in this area and rely on information collected from such sources as the few dedicated pigeon veterinarians our sport is truly honored to have amongst our number, such as Dr. Colin Walker and Dr. David Marx, and information published by such sources as the Racing Pigeon Digest and the Internet. This section is to provide a basic understanding. It will provide an example of my health regimen and a basic understanding of what health issues we are constantly striving to prevent or deter. If you have a serious problem in your loft, seek out a professional. It is money very well spent. Here is what is covered to this point: Dosage Conversion Table Injuries My Health Regimen The Moult Strays and Feral Pigeons Bio-security The Importance of Record Keeping Mentors Mites and Lice Here is my short list as to what I consider important regarding health Clean healthy loft Clean fresh water daily I live in the country and have well water. I add a small amount of chlorine to the water which is changed daily. If you live in the city, you don’t have to worry about it as chlorine is most likely already added to your water supply. In addition to this regardless if I am using covered water pans or if I am using automatic waterers, all water dispensing items are cleaned and scrubbed with warm soapy water daily. I think this is one of the most important things that can be done to prevent disease. If you have the automatic water types with the jug that sits on top, you need to clean the inside of the jug daily. They have been made to make watering for several days convenient. I use them in the summer when water consumption is way up as the temperature is in the 90’s or even over 100 degrees. Mine can hold up to 2 gallons of water. If you are using them when water consumption is low, it’s very tempting to skip a day, but you really should be diligent and change and clean it daily. I use two sets so I have a clean on to up into the loft every day and I clean the one removed shortly after or before I switch out the next day. Clean good quality food given in a proper feeder hop Preventive medications There have been many written arguments about the heavy use of antibiotics. I also believe this is true. But I still think that routine worming and canker preventives are important. I also am an advocate for the use of probiotics on a regular basis especially after medicating. Vaccinations I believe in vaccinating for PMV-1 and Paratyphoid. I have at times not vaccinated for pox, but I think pox vaccinations should be done as well. Selection based on health I sure that disease resistance or a healthy immune system or lack of one is a genetic trait and like all other traits it can be used for selection purposes. |
