Just thought I would bring this topic up to foster a bit of discussion.What kind of feed and water supplements do you folks use for your pigeons or other birds?  I mix diatomaceous earth into the feed and apple cider vinegar into the water.  (Actually, I feed the diatomaceous earth to Cherokee and Scotchie, our Poodle.  It helps keep any parasites in check.)

Hi Larry,

Great subject to talk about. For myself, I use ACV, probiotics and liquid calcium with Vitamin D3 added to the birds' water. ACV 3 times/week, probiotics 2 times/week and calcium 2 times/week.

I use AVC twice awk. and mix vit./yeast into the feed twice awk.

Mine get ACV once a week, twice if I see many droppings that I don't like and Red Cell once a week. Other than that, they get plain ole water. About twice a month, I'll give them probiotics just for good measure. That's all I do.

Lovebirds wrote:Mine get ACV once a week, twice if I see many droppings that I don't like and Red Cell once a week. Other than that, they get plain ole water. About twice a month, I'll give them probiotics just for good measure. That's all I do.

What is Red Cell, Renee?

DynaBMan wrote:

Lovebirds wrote:Mine get ACV once a week, twice if I see many droppings that I don't like and Red Cell once a week. Other than that, they get plain ole water. About twice a month, I'll give them probiotics just for good measure. That's all I do.

What is Red Cell, Renee?

It's a horse vitamin. All the pigeons supply companies sell it, but you can get it at your local feed store I'm sure. If they sell "horse" stuff, they'll have it. You can buy quarts or gallons..........a quart will last forever and a day. Put 1 teaspoon per gallon of water.

Hi Renee,

Do you see any results from this or have you noticed that it seems to provide good health for your birds? Never used this before, not sure I could find it locally or not. Just curious about your results with it.

Brad wrote:Hi Renee,

Do you see any results from this or have you noticed that it seems to provide good health for your birds? Never used this before, not sure I could find it locally or not. Just curious about your results with it.

With all the problems that pigeons have to deal with today, it probably isn't a bad idea. I used to just feed good quality pigeon feed, grit and water, worm once a year and treat individually for any sicknesses. This doesn't seem to be enough any more. I don't know if it's the feed, a change in weather, new insects, new diseases or what but they do seem more prone to getting sick than they used to.

Just be careful with water soluble vitamins that the waterer is very well cleaned daily as vitamins tend to grow bacteria faster than plain water. I have used pigeon builder from Foys and only use it once in awhile.

It's hot here now (80's) and humid. We've had a terribly wet year with much flooding in the Midwest. I've been adding tamed iodine to the water to keep bacteria from growing. This is better than using bleach or clorox as a guard against bacteria as bleach is really not good for the birds. Supposed to be good enough for us though if we have city water which I'll never have, I have my own well. If anyone wants to put tamed iodine in their bird's water, it is perfectly safe and will control bacteria. I use 3 drops to a gallon.

Bill

jbangelfish wrote:

With all the problems that pigeons have to deal with today, it probably isn't a bad idea. I used to just feed good quality pigeon feed, grit and water, worm once a year and treat individually for any sicknesses. This doesn't seem to be enough any more. I don't know if it's the feed, a change in weather, new insects, new diseases or what but they do seem more prone to getting sick than they used to.

Just be careful with water soluble vitamins that the waterer is very well cleaned daily as vitamins tend to grow bacteria faster than plain water. I have used pigeon builder from Foys and only use it once in awhile.

It's hot here now (80's) and humid. We've had a terribly wet year with much flooding in the Midwest. I've been adding tamed iodine to the water to keep bacteria from growing. This is better than using bleach or clorox as a guard against bacteria as bleach is really not good for the birds. Supposed to be good enough for us though if we have city water which I'll never have, I have my own well. If anyone wants to put tamed iodine in their bird's water, it is perfectly safe and will control bacteria. I use 3 drops to a gallon.

Bill

Hi Bill,

I totally agree that there does seem to be more problems with pigeons now than in the past. Even though my pigeon keeping experience has been spread out over my life, I've really only kept them when I was very young and now within the last 7 years or so. From what I remember as a kid, my pigeons never seemed to get sick and all I gave them was water and seed. They seemed to do just fine with that...I was also too young to know about extra things and they probably weren't even used back in the early 80's anyway.

However, in general and from what you read and hear...there seems to be a lot more problems today with keeping pigeons healthy. I think it's from over use of medications as well as what you've suggested. As the pigeon hobby has grown and expanded, too many people have been pumping their birds full of antibiotics and other "medicines" without cause. I think in turn this has caused the birds to get weaker immune systems where they aren't able to fight off diseases on their own like they used to be able to do. Medicines are fine, but they should be used only when absolutely necessary, preferably when you know what you're treating for and especially where antibiotics are concerned.

As for the iodine in the water, that does sound like a good idea. I think the ACV does a similar job of keeping bacteria in the water down as well however.

Hello everyone,

This discussion and the latter topic has since been move to here: http://pigeonchat.forumakers.com/general-pigeon-discussions-f15/hi-brad-i-agree-t262.htm

Brad wrote:Hi Renee,

Do you see any results from this or have you noticed that it seems to provide good health for your birds? Never used this before, not sure I could find it locally or not. Just curious about your results with it.

Honestly, I couldn't really say. I've used it ever since we started with pigeons in 2002. I will tell you this...........I've never seen canker in my loft......I've never seen PMV in my loft. I did have what I believe was Adeno Virus a few years ago. It came close to killing a bunch of my birds, but I caught it in time and didn't loose a single bird. I had just purchased 6 new birds at an auction and brought them home and put them directly in my loft with my YB's. Two weeks or so later, I had a big problem. I learned my lesson well, you can believe that. I'm not saying that Red Cell has anything to do with me not seeing much sickness in my loft. I believe it's a combination of things, one of which is not dumping meds down their throat every time they look a little off. We have bad days. So do our pigeons, our dogs, our cats, etc............no living creature is 100%, 100% of the time.

Hi Renee,

The red cell could very well be a contributing factor in the good health you've seen and maintained in your loft. Is that the only vitamin you use? I think I will check into it and see if I can find it here locally.

Brad wrote:Hi Renee,

The red cell could very well be a contributing factor in the good health you've seen and maintained in your loft. Is that the only vitamin you use? I think I will check into it and see if I can find it here locally.

Yes, that's the only vitamin I've ever used. Simply because a local racer here gave us some when we first moved here with our birds and I've just never used anything else.

Lovebirds wrote:

Brad wrote:Hi Renee,

The red cell could very well be a contributing factor in the good health you've seen and maintained in your loft. Is that the only vitamin you use? I think I will check into it and see if I can find it here locally.

Yes, that's the only vitamin I've ever used. Simply because a local racer here gave us some when we first moved here with our birds and I've just never used anything else.

I think I am going to check our local feed stores for Red Cell. If it works for you, it should work for me.

I use ACV water about once a week. And pro biotics a couple of times a month to keep everyone's innards tuned up. Hot weather is really the pits for bacteria and mould growth, especially if it is humid along with it. Lately I've been giving some B vitamins in the form of brewer's yeast mixed with the seed. I have some PVC birds that are over the virus, but still have the twistys. I'm going to see if the extra B vitamins helps with the neurological problems. When I mix up a batch of seed for them, I give the extra to the rest of the birds. If I feel I need a vitamin, I use JEDDS More Wins. But that is because when I first started with pigeons I lived close to JEDDS. The Red Cell sounds good. I'll have to check it out when I'm out of More Wins. Speaking of PVC, I have to vaccinate tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to it, but it's gotta be done if I plan to show any birds this fall. I want them to have time to develop immunity before the first show in Sept.

Peaches