The Flight

Reports

Food

 

On this theme you can write and dispute until you die. What´s the saying again: “Many roads lead to Rome”. This metaphor can be adequately used here. Consecutively I will present my feed; I´m especially seeing to it that the grain-mix is variegated. What do the pigeons eat? The answer to this question is always the same: grains of course. In the past years many pigeon breeders have changed their minds, because many articles that observe more closely the feeding of the pigeons have appeared in professional journals. That´s why many pigeon breeders (especially those with achievement-pigeons like the Tippler) have realized that the pigeon is actually an omnivore. Of course not entirely like pigs, because their primary food is grain, but greens and animal food also belong to a pigeon´s balanced alimentation. Several studies were made in which the crop compositions of fielding pigeons were examined. The resulting data in percents vary of course depending on site and time of year; but they nicely put before our eyes what pigeons harvest on their own in nature. In that respect it is noteworthy to say that pigeons are capable of recognizing a grain of maize at a 4m distance, smaller grains like peas and wheat at a 3m distance. Because pigeons are not even 20cm in size this is proof of their amazing vision. 93,5% are types of grains and seeds 4.7% are greens, sprouted seeds, leaf parts, bloom parts and berries 1.8% are meats like larvae, little worms, parts of worms, snails, little housesnails, cocoons of worms, pupae of winged insects, bugs, caterpillars and maggots An amazing diversity indeed!

Food-grid

 

YELLOW: 93,5% grains and seeds
GREEN: 4,7% greens
RED: 1.8% meats

I now want to specify the meats, for the pigeon breeders still pay too little attention to this food. I have two examples:

A pigeon breeder once told me that when he was a child (in 1950) he had pigeons, so-called field-fleers, that you only fed when the snow covered the fields. In the last days of October he always decimated the pigeons with his father and then cleaned the pigeonry. While he cleaned he always observed that there were many snail-houses around some of the nests. This shows that the young in these nests were fed with many snails.

The second example. There were several dead pigeons found In a Swiss city. They were examined by the institution for animal pathology and in the account was written: feeding well, body bad. All the animals had their crop and stomach stuffed with dead fly maggots. There was about one cup of yogurt of fly maggots per animal from their crop and stomach. The suggestion was that the maggots were poisoned and therefore the cause of death. Maybe some of you will now think that the pigeons ate the maggots because they found nothing else to eat. But the pigeons were found in a district in which several food silos were located and grains were loaded around every day. So the pigeons had had enough good food and would not have been dependent on the maggots.

Now the question is, how do our pigeons get the animal proteins? There are several possibilities, for example if you try to feed them insects. I didn´t succeed in this with my Tipplers. Another possibility is the feeding of animal products like cheese, yogurt and cat cubes (the latter have the most amount of proteins) and I made good experiences with cheese and cat cubes. The pigeons really love them. Then someone told me that the pigeons only like the cheese so much because of its high amount of salt and that the salt is not very healthy. Others said the cat cubes were heated with 100°C and therefore lost much of their content. After searching for a long time I found the product A.P.F.90 which contains the following:

80% crude proteins
0,2% crude fat
3,2% crude fibers
0,0% crude ashes

You can find it in the internet on www.probac.de
As far as I know it is the only supplement that contains such a high amount of animal proteins.

Grains for the pigeon feed

Because the pigeons do not have such a developed sense of smell they eat mostly according to the colour of the grains. Experiments have shown that the pigeons prefer light feed over dark feed. During the winter big grains of maize are also well eaten. Following, a list of the most favourite pigeon grains (the custom also plays a part in this list): peanuts, yellow pea, cannabis, sweat pea, peeled rice, wheat, millet (Darin), small maize, oat grains, green peas, millet (Milocorn), rape seed, millet, brown peas, small field beans, Paddy-rice and barley.

Many breeders are stuck in their opinion that what the pigeon mostly like to eat is best for them, but that´s not entirely true. ( humans like to eat chocolate but that doesn´t mean that it´s healthy for them to eat it all the time). The best feed for our pigeon is only that food which gives them the nutrients, minerals, micronutrients and vitamins they need in adequate amount.

The different grains

Following is the content of the most abundant grains in our pigeon feed in %:

Wheat: Water 13,0 raw proteins 7,5 raw fat 1,5 raw fiber 2,5 starch 52,7 sugar 2,2 Ca. 0,09 P. 0,35 Na. 0.02 methionine 0,18 lysine 0,30. Digestibility 85%. According to today´s knowledge there shouldn´t be more than 30% in the feed. In the past years wheat was propagated as sole feed which led to fat deposits.

Barley: water 13,0 raw proteins 10,5 raw fat 2,0 raw fiber 5,1 starch 52,7 sugar 2,2 Ca. 0,08 P. 0,38 Na. 0,02 methionine 0,16 lysine 0,37. Digestibility 72% (peeled). There should be a certain amount of barley in every food mix. Barley is to pigeons what bread is to us.

Raw rice (Paddy rice): water 11,7 raw proteins 7,5 raw fat 2,3 raw fiber 8,5 starch 56,5 sugar 5,3 Ca. 0,04 P. 0,12 Na. 0,01 methionine 0,10 lysine 0,31. Because the rice is easily digested it is good for ill pigeons.

Maize: water 15,5 raw proteins 9,2 raw fat 4,5 raw fiber 2,3 starch 63,3 sugar 1,4 Ca. 0,03 P. 0,36 Na. 0,01 methionine 0,17 lysine 0,24. Maize has the greatest nutritional value of all.

Millet (Darin): water 13,0 raw proteins 12,5 raw fat 3,8 raw fiber 2,2 starch 50,2 sugar 1,0 Ca. 0,10 P. 0,27 Na. 0,03 methionine 0,19 lysine 0,22. Digestibility is very good. Darin is good during breeding as transition food from craw milk to grain food.

Peas: water 15,0 raw proteins 22,5 raw fat 1,5 raw fiber 7,5 starch 42,3 sugar 5,7 Ca. 0,08 P. 0,42 Na. 0,02 methionine 0,23 lysine 0,17. Digestibility lies with 88%. Peas should be in every food mix.

Vetch: water 12,0 raw proteins 28,5 raw fat 2,3 raw fiber 5,7 starch 28,5 sugar 3,7 Ca. 0,14 P. 0,45 Na. 0,02 methionine 0,40 lysine 0,20. Digestibility 90%. The application of vetch is limited because of its hydrocyanic acid content (hydrocyanic acid belongs to the toxins).

Beans: water 13,5 raw proteins 26,5 raw fat 1,5 raw fiber 7,5 starch 45,2 sugar 3,4 Ca. 0,14 P. 0,40 Na. 0,01 methionine 0,21 lysine 1,96. Digestibility up to 88%. The moult is influenced nicely by bean feeding , because of the sulfur containing amino acids.

Cardy seeds: water 10,0 raw proteins 22,0 raw fat 30,0 raw fiber 30,0 starch 1,5 sugar2,2 Ca. 0,09 P. 0,65 Na. 0,02 methionine 1,13 lysine 1,04.

Rapeseed: water 10,0 raw proteins 21,5 raw fat 43,5 raw fiber 8,5 starch 0,2 sugar 7,8 Ca. 0,40 P. 0,65 Na. 0,01 methionine 0,42 lysine 1,20. Because of digestive problems there should be no more than 10% in the food mix.

Sunflower seeds (unpeeled): water 12 raw proteins 18,5 raw fat 29,8 raw fiber 24,5 starch 0 sugar 0 Ca. 0,20 P. 0,40 Na. 0,02 methionine 0,35 lysine 0,57. Digestibility 70,5%. No other food (grains) has this high a digestibility for proteins and fat as sunflower seeds. The amount of essential fatty acids is high. For this reason there should be sunflower seeds in every food mix, up to 30%.

Sunflower seeds (peeled): water 12,0 raw proteins 24,5 raw fat 45,2 raw fiber 3,0 starch and sugar 0,0 Ca. 0,29 P. 0,47 Na. 0,01 methionine 0,35 lysine 0,56.

Flaxseed: water 12 raw proteins 22,5 raw fat 34,5 raw fiber 6,5 starch 0 sugar 3,2 Ca. 0,27 P. 0,52 Na. 0,08 methionine 0,44 lysine 0,79. Flaxseed is an appetizer and activates digestion. Therefore it is especially good for ill and young pigeons. Should also be fed during the moult. More than 10% should not be in the mix, because there could be diarrhea.

Millet: water 12,0 raw proteins 11,2 raw fat 4,5 raw fiber 4,3 starch 52,2 sugar 0,7 Ca. 0,03 P. 0,29 Na. 0,01 methionine 0,22 lysine 0,16. Millet is similar to Darin (look above, Darin)

Peanut grains: water 5,2 raw proteins 29,5 raw fat 48,1 raw fiber 12,3 starch 0,0 sugar 1,8 Ca. 0,07 P. 0,41 Na. 0,01 methionine 0,34 lysine0,98. Peanuts are an high-energy supplementary food. They are also widely used as bait food. There are also Tippler-breeders that feed them several days before competitions.

Cannabis: raw proteins 21 raw fat 32 raw fiber 18 Ca. 0,78 P. 0,74. Neither cereals nor legumes have this high an amount of Ca. and P. As soon as the pigeons have learned to eat Cannabis they go crazy for it. It is widely used as bait food, like the peanuts. You can also use it all year in the food mix but it should not make out more than 6% of the food. Cannabis has narcotic active components that have an exhilarating effect at low dosage.

Winter mix

My father always told me: During the winter we give the pigeons lots of barley so that they stay cold. At that time (I was six years old) I thought that the barley gives the pigeons cold and out of compassion secretly fed them some maize too, until my father caught me. Later I then understood that “staying cool” was referring to their sexual life.

50% Barley / 15% wheat / 6% Millet / 5% Maize / 5% Milo / 5% Peas / 5% Cardy
2% Darin / 2% Oat grains / 5% Vetch

Breeding mix

Wheat 26% Sunflower seeds 10% Milo 8,5% Darin 6%
Cubes 6% Flaxseeds 6% Millet 5% Maize 5% Barley 5%
Paddy rice 5% Oat grains 3,5% Siskin food 3% Green peas 2,5%
Yellow peas 2,5% Vetch 2,5 % Cannabis 2% Cardy 1,5%

What I have to add: When the Tipplers brood their first eggs they get one day only barley and the other day only wheat und this until the first young have hatched. The reason for this: With the first brood the male has lots of time with which he doesn´t know what to do. When there is good food the sexual drive is only reinforced and the males lure the females away from the nest. With barley and wheat my Tippler-males are a lot more quiet and let the females brood. With the next brood the males have to feed the young and are therefore occupied.

Moult food

20% Maize / 25% Wheat / 15% Barley / 10% Darin / 15% Peas / 5% Vetch 3%
Cardy / 4% Milo / 3% Sunflower seeds

Minerals- vitamins- food

Everything our pigeons need considering minerals and vitamins is being offered In the shops in large amounts. But vitamins in form of greens is essential. Several times a year I too go to a closed chalk-pit to get some chalk sand which the pigeons love to eat.

Cat cubes, they should at least contain 30% raw proteins and 10% raw fats .

Automatic feeder