Newbi

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone, im a imposter sorry
I dont keep chickens or ducks, i race pigeons.
My name is Amanda and i now live in Sunderland. I use to live down south in Worcester.
My poor little darlings water keeps freezing over and today they were solid.
Ive been told to take them out in the evening, but do any of you guys n gals have any tips or ideas on how to stop the water freezing.

Any help would be greatfully received

Amanda_1

 

[Anonymous]

People have been trying drops of glycerine. You can get it in the baking section of the supermarket...with the cake making stuff!

 

[Tim]

Hi Amanda,

I remove my water containers at night and put out fresh in the morning which lasts most of the day if it doesn't stay below freezing all day.

Glycerine in the water works but don't put it in water that can be used as bath water as it can (so the RSPB say) damage feathers.

A heat pad is another option - they plug into the mains and keep the water container above freezing.

One person here even said they use a (waterproof) plant propagator turned upside down. Not a bad idea for inside the loft. The pigeon water containers I used to use had a point on the top and 4 holes around the sides that they put their heads into - these would fit nicely on a small propagator. Just make sure the extension lead has an RCD on it if you're running mains outdoors and keep the plug well away from the water out of the wet etc.

Hmm now can pigeons be classed as poultry in any way? Before you know it I'll be creating a new section on the forum :lol:

 

[Blue]

Hmm now can pigeons be classed as poultry in any way? Before you know it I'll be creating a new section on the forum :lol:

technically not!
they are of a different order (if you know anything about such things!)

pigeons are "perching" birds - Passerines
poultry ( chickens, game birds, geese etc)are of the order Galliformes



*Science geek creeps back to microscope*

 

[Tim]

I know it was just a try.... I used to keep pigeons and doves when I was a teenager. Can't say I knew much about them though - it was my Grandfather that raced them and was the man with the knowledge.

 

[Anonymous]

I know it was just a try.... I used to keep pigeons and doves when I was a teenager. Can't say I knew much about them though - it was my Grandfather that raced them and was the man with the knowledge.

Thanks for all your replys, i will certainly be giving them a try.

Tim i have the very drinkers you are on about, dolly partons my brother calls them ( i wonder why ) .
I do hope you dont mind me being on here as i have questions about treatments for birds,
I do feel that some pigeon men/ woman jump to useing antibiotics as a treat all rather than find out what the real trouble is.
Do any of you use a microscope to look for problems with the birds ?
If yes which one would you recommend?

Amanda

 

[Tim]

Hi Amanda,

No problem, all are welcome and I'm sure it will be useful 'outcrossing' to bring in some new genes of knowledge!

I don't use a microscope I'm afraid. Worms can be treated easily so people tend to worm their birds, rather than look at samples through a microscope and I wouldn't know what other uses it would have.

Many bacteria that cause secondary infection when a bird has a disease , or bacteria from a wound are killed by the various antibiotics and often vets aren't able to offer much else. All of the antibiotics we have in the UK are prescription only.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Amanda,

No problem, all are welcome and I'm sure it will be useful 'outcrossing' to bring in some new genes of knowledge!

I don't use a microscope I'm afraid. Worms can be treated easily so people tend to worm their birds, rather than look at samples through a microscope and I wouldn't know what other uses it would have.

Many bacteria that cause secondary infection when a bird has a disease , or bacteria from a wound are killed by the various antibiotics and often vets aren't able to offer much else. All of the antibiotics we have in the UK are prescription only.

Hi Tim as we race our birds they have to be clear to race, some people treat them and still send them to a race, which is allowed as long as a vet has prescibed them. I personaly would'nt send any ill birds.
But we have to be careful of canker and the rise in coccidiosis. There are things we can use, that are allowed on the small animal excemption treatments. Some are 3 in 1 treatments.

Do you have to inject for Paramyxovirus? We have to inject our birds every year for this, as we cannot race unless you have handed in your vaccine list.

Amanda

 

[Tim]

No, generally speaking most backyard flocks are not vaccinated. Vaccines whist often quite cheap per bird, usually only come in vials of 500 or 1000 doses so unless you are hatching in reasonably large numbers, it costs too much. Most of us are hatching say 10 to 20 chicks at most at a time.

Hybrid hens that are produced on farms for distribution to re-sellers as day old chicks or older are often vaccinated.

Whilst of course we don't raise chickens some will show them. There are no vaccination requirements to enter shows.

Most people will quarantine their birds for a couple of weeks when they get back from a show to see if they have picked anything up.

Most big shows are good at checking birds are healthy at the shows but I have seen birds that don't appear to be well sat there from time to time and made my views known to the organisers.