Nov/December 2025

Breed of the Issue - CHINESE OWLS CHINESE OWLS – Page 29 – Purebred PIGEON add here that I fill milk jugs with water after watering each day prior to using the Pro Bios as chlorine in the water hinders the Pro Bios effectiveness. By leaving it sit overnight unsealed the chlorine evaporates. I have used the non-garlic mix but find that the added garlic helps with lice, mites and worms. I haven’t dipped, sprayed, or dusted my birds in 3 years since using the garlic mix. Have not had any issues with worms either. Birds are checked daily at random and I haven’t had any problems. Wednesday and Saturday is just plain water. Thursday and Sunday Braggs vin- egar 1 tablespoon to a gallon (make sure you use the “Mother of Vinegar” and not the white vinegar). I also use Ivermectin sheep drench 7cc per gallon 3 days prior to a show, the day of the show and 7 days after the show and have had good luck with it. I will use it for 3 days a couple times throughout the year just as a prevention. When I band a bird I will give a Medit- rich tab for canker and at weaning a I use a Coximed tab. V accinations - There have been many vaccines on the market over the last several years some are great and some not so good. I will not recommend any as I have issues with some and good and bad luck with the same ones. PMV is still out there! I will say this do your research, ask what others are using and how it worked for them but above all VACCINATE it is our duty to keep our birds safe as well as others at the show. Some vaccines costs about $1 or so per bird and if you feel your bird isn’t worth a $1 leave it at home. P est C ontrol - As I stated earlier I use Foy’s Pro Bios with garlic and really have not had any issues with lice, mites and worms since using it. I use it twice a week. I have used Taurus SC in the past with good results. I also use Bronco equine spray to help keep the flies down. I spray it in the dropping pans after scraping them. I don’t spray it on the birds. I also use the hanging fly tapes and have tried a couple different kinds of fly traps but find the traps are kind of a waste of money. I use Permectrin in spray form a couple times in the year, main- ly fall during the moult. I do not dip the birds – I just spray mainly to keep the bugs away that are not really harmful to pigeons like flies, crickets, spiders etc. I also spray around the foundation of the lofts and even my home. I know some will add different things to the bath water for pests but since the garlic is working for me I see no need. They get plain water a couple times a week for bathing. All of my fly pens have 1 inch square welded wire and it keeps out any wild birds and they are covered so wild birds cannot sit on top and have their droppings fall into the fly pens. I keep a couple of the repeating mouse traps in the loft and catch one or two a year usually in the fall. I also use bait sta- tions where the birds can’t get to them. I scrape the floors twice each week to keep things clean. F eed and G rit - I have used Des Moines Feed Breed- er mix for years but due to higher prices I tried different cheaper blends. They too have gotten out of hand so I had to go to using 16% protein chicken pellets. I’d rather use grains but I was forced into retirement for health reasons and don’t have the income I used to. The Breeder Mix hit $32 the last time I checked and at one time was $36 for a 50 pound bag. The chicken pellets I just bought were $12.99 for 50 pounds. I have gotten it on sale for $9.99. I have also cut back from my usual 25-30 pair to 16 last year and will drop to 14 next season. Basically my advice is to get a good balanced ration what ever it may be as long as you can af- ford it. There are many brands and mixes to choose from. The same with grit. I use the Des Moines feed gray grit and 50 pounds go a long way. It is currently 25lb $20.39 and 50lb $33.00. Buy what will work for you. Be careful not to over feed or under feed. Their needs will change with the time of year. Breeding season of course they will eat more and in cold weather they will as well. Just make sure they clean up what you give them and don’t act starved when next time they are fed. H ousing Y our B irds - This is another one off those areas that you would get several opinions on. The main thing I’d suggest is clean, dry, well ventilated and easy to work in. I use all individual pens as of late due to the lower numbers. I had also used open pens with nest boxes made to fit ready made nest fronts. I put them on hinges so they are easier to open and close. I have since put them in storage for possible future use or maybe to just sell as I haven’t really used them much the last couple years. My main loft is 12 x 26 feet and has three open pens: two are 6x8 and one is 4x8. I also have 14 individuals hanging on the walls along with a 5x2 cage for weaning young birds. Over the winter I only use the two 6x8 sections to keep birds I plan to breed from. The loft looks pretty empty once I mate up the