The breeding season

After the moult, the breeding season is also an important season. While it is important during the moult to help the carrier pigeons to get a good and solid new plumage, the breeding season is important to give the young pigeons the best possible start in their new lives.

A few years ago I had a conversation with the president of a pigeon club about feed. The man said clearly that he fed his breeders with the fodder left behind by the youngsters and the widowers. Under the guise that these pigeons don't have to do anything. I've rarely heard such a stupid comment. Breeding pigeons must be fed the best feed available. Simply because the chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The young in the egg, but also as soon as they come out of the egg, have to be content with what their parents can offer them. If that's not optimal nutrition, then these guys are starting out on a crooked skate. Because if these young pigeons have eaten below-average food for a few days, these youngsters already have a deficit that they can hardly compensate for.

Of course, the most optimal thing is that the boys have all the food ingredients they need at all times of their young lives.

In practice, this is more contradictory than one might think. I don't want to write anything at the expense of any food manufacturer. Every feed manufacturer will try to put together a good breeding mixture as far as possible. That makes sense. Because everything is neglected to satisfy the customers.

But even grain traders have to search the world market for the grain they want to use. Many grains that come from North and South America are GMO seeds. These are genetically modified seeds that are usually grown in such a way that they can tolerate larger amounts of pesticides. As a result, since this GMO seed has been used, the grains have been sprayed with many more pesticides than was previously the case. Glyphosate is a commonly used drug. This medicine consists of a phosphate group and the amino acid glycine. One of the problems that arises is that when the body needs an amino acid like glycine, it takes the first thing that's available. Glutation is a very important detoxification enzyme for the liver and the entire body. So now this amino acid is randomly incorporated into this enzyme, resulting in an enzyme that doesn't work or barely works. This affects the detoxification of the body. Now you can say that the pigeons don't notice anything. However, that is the crux of the matter.

Pigeon sport is top sport and everything negative that can be prevented should be prevented better.

I don't think everything is that simple. So I had some breeding mixes tested for the presence of glyphosate. In our small study, there was a factor of 65 between the diets with the highest and lowest levels of this active ingredient. In any case, a reason for me to use the breeding feed that contains the least glyphosate.

But glyphosate does more. Glyphosate kills many soil organisms. This allows the grain to contain a lower level of nutritional components and still look perfect. But it really depends on the content of the food. I have had several conversations with feed manufacturers and they all do their best to produce good feed. And it is certainly the case that you can also breed pigeons with breeding feed alone. So everyone has to do what they think is best for themselves and their pigeons.

However, when I started breeding youngsters myself, I have that for my pigeons Bony Breeding Support developed and add it to the feed Breeding oil and/or Bony Omega-Nucleovit at. How come? Simply because I don't want to leave anything to chance. We have conducted tests where some breeders' pigeons were given this supplement every day and breeders who only gave these supplements 2 to 3 times a week. It should therefore be noted that we use a very good quality breeding mix as the standard feed. In general, we systematically see that young pigeons that are supplied with an optimizing supplement every day grow significantly better, are healthier and can be ringed a day or two earlier. This year, for health reasons, I was a bit careless with the last breed of youngsters. I noticed this week that a few pigeons have significantly less quality than I'm used to. Consistent action is also a duty here.

Back to the pesticides. Unfortunately, lobbying in the European Union is currently very strong. The chance is more than real that we in Europe will also have to deal with GMO foods in the foreseeable future. The big and powerful corporations impose their will on us and present us as consumers with a fait accompli. So our food will then become GMO without us possibly knowing (it won't be on the packaging). Many consumers do not want genetically modified food. If this were stated on the packaging, consumers could choose. But that's bad for sales. As far as that…

Our pigeons receive the breeding oil in order to get as many omega-3 fatty acids as possible into the eggs. From the time they hatch, the youngsters receive daily omega-3 breeding oil via their feed. It has long been known that omega fatty acids, EPA and DHA, can increase the connections between brain cells by a thousandfold. As a result, the offspring has a better one “processor” between the ears.

A young animal must not only be able to fly well, but also “intelligent” be. Glyphosate, on the other hand, inhibits the formation of these cross-links in the brain. Another reason, during breeding (at least until the young have grown a bit) Omega 3 and breeding support admit.

That breeding support is a product that we hardly have to advertise. The breeders convince themselves as soon as they use it. When asked why these products are all expensive, I would say that it is better to breed fewer pigeons but let them grow to be optimally healthy and well developed than to breed more pigeons that are not optimally grown. Everyone should just do what they want. With this newsletter I only want to point out the possibilities that are available to ensure an optimal breeding period. I like to give the pigeons something when they switch from slime to grain feed Bolectrol plus into the drinking water so that no wet droppings are deposited.

Form the basic products during emergence Bio B.M.T and basic corethat along with that breeding support to be tied to the feed.

Much luck.

Good luck!