Thought for the Novice

 

by Terry Hughes (Bentley West)

 

Food is required by pigeons in two main forms. The first is carbohydrates containing carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The second is in a form of proteins where the same three elements are combined in a different way but with nitrogen. The carbohydrates are the energy giving foods and the proteins are the body building foods. A typical carbohydrate in the human diet is bread and a typical protein is meat.

 

CARBOHYDRATES

These, as they are digested, are turned from their starches into forms of sugar which can be absorbed into the bloodstream. In the bloodstream they pass all around the body to give energy to the muscles and organs of the birds. The digestive process in which these starches are broken down is comparatively simple. If the bird is overfed on carbohydrates like humans who eat too many starchy foods, the bird will put on weight and after a time get fat. Up to a point this will not hurt too much since a small amount of fat provides a reserve supply of energy. Roughly speaking, a bird obtains energy by first drawing on the sugars in the bloodstream of the muscles and the liver. It then draws on the sugars in the bloodstream of other parts of the body, including freshly digested food just consuined. After the bird has exhausted the sugar in the bloodstream it will start to draw on its reserves of fat. Even if a bird feels quite hard to the touch, the reserves can be considerable and the loss of weight of a bird during hard training or an endurance fly is due partly to this reabsorption offat into the bloodstream. Birds are known to lose at least over 5 per cent of their weight. It is obvious that a little bit of extra flesh won't hurt (so long as it is not too fat) and would be useful in a hard or long hours fly.

 

PROTEINS

Proteins when they are digested, instead of forming sugars, form amino acids and these amino acids are transported like the sugars through the body by the blood. Amino acids form the basis of bone, featherand muscle of the birds body. No less than 25 per cent of the protein that a bird eats is used in the making of its coat for all weathers (feathers). It is therefore obvious that during the growth of a Squeaker and during the moult any shortage of protein will show itself in poorly developed birds. Protein is also the food that replaces worn out tissues in the birds body. The strain of a long hard lly not only uses up energy supplies, but at the same time causes a certain amount of muscle tissue to be worn out. This must be replaced with muscle building protein, (most essential). I hope from this you can see that although carbohydrates are of greatest importance before a competition, (incidentally I feed a lot of plain canary seed before a competition) after the fly proteins are essential for rebuilding.

 

VITAMINS

The main fat soluble vitamins are A, D and E, but vitamin A is the most important, because if there is a shortage the bird wil) be more liable to disease and growth will be restricted. It is normally found in only just suf6cient quantities in maple peas, tic beans and yellow maize. It is present in considerable amounts in the green leaves of cabbage and lettuce. I make sure my birds get enough by giving them approximately 1 teaspoonful of commercial Cod Liver Oil to 14 pounds of seed or corn.

 

VITAMIN D

VITAMIN D will also be found in Cod Liver Oil, but is obtained naturally by the direct action of sunlight on the birds body. Vitamins A and D act together rather curiously, if extra large amounts of Vitamin D are given then it will counteract the Vitamin A. Pause for thought. Vitamin D is also necessary for the formation of strong bones, also the shells of the eggs, have you ever had saft shelled eggs?

 

VITAMIN E

I have found this vitamin good for fertilization in the birds if given to them at the time of mating and 3 weeks before. It is also found in abundance in maize, but not in peas or beans. This is another vitamin I make sure my birds don't go short of because it can be given in a concentrated form of Wheat Germ Oil.

 

WATER SOLUBLE VITAMINS

The B complex is the name of a whole group of vitamins that are split up into B1, B2 and B12 which I give to my birds in the form of Cythcon obtained from the Chemist. Vitamin B I is for a healthy nervous system, good appetite and digestive function. A diet lacking in B2 will lead to eggs not hatching out (once again, has this happened to you?) Animal protein factor (B12) helps change protein foods into amino acids that can be absorbed into the bloodstream. Certain forms of protein will not be digested unless minute amounts of B 12 are available. It is interesting to know that some of the recipes for Tonic Kakes contain small amounts of meat extract, such as Bovril or products derived from fish, both sources of animal protein factor B l2.

 

DIGESTION

In the crop the process of digestion begins. The food they have eaten is softened and then passed into the glandular stomach. In the stomach the liquids from the glands are emptied over the food and the process of breaking it down into its basic elements is continued. From the glandular stomach the food will move into the gizzard. It is here it is broken down small enough to be digested completely. The grinding process is accompanied by grit. It is in the small intestine that the blood begins to play its vital part. It is here that the digestion is complete and the proteins, carbohydrates, fats, sugars and starches of the food have been converted into a form of sugar which has been absorbed into the bloodstream through the walls of the small intestine. Once it is in the bloodstream, it is pumped round together with the oxygen from the lungs to feed all parts of the body.

 

BLOOD

The job of the blood is not finished even at this late stage. For in addition to the waste matter of indigestible food which is temporarily stored in the large intestine and then excreted, there are waste products formed in the internal organs of the bird itself. The white corpuscles which destroy disease are themselves destroyed by their own healing action, these and other waste matters must be filtered from the bloodstream. Alas, this is the job of the kidneys. The liver is also a blood fiiter, but the main job of the liver is to make bile. This bile is poured into the small intestine to help in the digestion of proteins and fats. Needless to say, both of these organs must function perfectly if the bird is to be in good health. The efficient functioning of the kidneys can be seen in the white tippings to the dark mass of a birds droppings.

I hope this wiil be of help in giving you the basic fundamentals of how the birds body works. With the help of the food percentage chart you will be able to work some feeds for yourself. I won't bother writing a feed out for competition as there are so many about and you will only be distracted from your own efhorts. With training in mind, I always start my birds off on a measure of plain barley for a couple of hours fly. When they have started going into the dark I up the training time to 5 or 6 hours with 1½ hours or 2 hours of that in the dark, by now though, I am giving them a mixture of barley, wheat and white darry made into one measure. I have tried a few times to keep the birds trained on pure barley but find the birds don't seem to have it when long hours are on their backs. Some fliers will prove me wrong I suppose, but that's my way of training and my times back me up. When I say a measure Lmean one ounce, no more, no less. Start your feed up on Wednesday night, bearing in mind one measure per bird. Also a good tonic to give them is 1 teaspoonful of Parrishs' food along ana with l teaspoon of Glucose Powder mixed intoa pint of warmwater given with the Wednesday, Thursday and Fryday nights feeds. There are other tonics on the market with a lot more kick to them, but the one above is nice and simple and well proven. About the fifth or sixth day after competention l give the birds a good drink of  Epsom Salts.

One teaspoon to a pint of warm water. This will give the birds a good clean out which will be better for it as it will get rid of any toxics ieft in the digestive system. Then again, a lot of fliers disagree over this (so try and teach yourselves). I have found the best way to learn is by your own mistakes and let yourself be the judge. After all is said and done, even if you hear of a tonic that will make them lIy round the clock or a feed that so and so uses, it will make no difference at all if the birds have not got it in them to start off with.

The two main things to look for are proven birds, not something bought from the pet shop up the road, or one from here, there and everywhere. The second is good rigorous training, which is a must. There are three main thoughts to bear in mind, patience, persistance and perseverance. Whether you fly for pleasure, at will or are reaching for that first place in competition, don't let bad luck get you down - we all suffer from it. One of the main things that got me down in the beginning was why it seemed everybody elses birds flew together in three's and my birds all the corners of the compass. Anyway, keep on looking, listening and learning.

Yours in sport,

 

TERRY HUGHES   Yearbook 1986 

           

Zeljko Fajdetic  - Croatia