SPEED SHOP LOFT

NUTRITIONAL PROGRAM FOR RACING PIGEONS

 

Many flyers have asked me over the years how do I get my birds to accomplish the feats that they do durning the racing season.  I by no means claim to be an expert on the subject but have managed to pick up some great advice on setting Racing Pigeons up, Nutritionally, to assist them in their Racing Performance.  There are is a lot of scientific data to back up what I’m going to share but in an effort to keep this short and to the point, I’m going to go through my day to day regime and let you decide if it will work for you.  So here goes the diet and nutritional program for my Racing Pigeons.

 

RACING SEASON NUTRITION:

 

For simplicity I will define my various mixtures of grains so when I say light mix verses regular mix you’ll know what I’m talking about.

 

LIGHT MIX                              REGULAR MIX                       SHIPPING DAY MIX

PEARLED BARLEY  40%                     PEARLED BARLEY 10%                 PEARLED BARLEY     15%

WHEAT                       25%                     WHEAT                      20%                 WHEAT                           10%

RED MILO                  20%                     RED MILO                 10%                 RED MILO                      20%

BROWN RICE           10%                     BROWN RICE          10%                 BROWN RICE               20%

SAFFLOWER               5%                    SAFFLOWER           10%                  HEMP                               5%

                                                                     PIGEON CORN        10%                 WHITE MILLET             30%

                                                                     MAPLE PEAS           20%

                                                                     PEANUTS                  10%-20%     [ I prefer Raw Spanish Peanuts ]

 

We race on Saturdays so I will use that as my start day, but if you race on Sundays you can make the one day adjustment for the Racing Pigeon Nutritional Program.

 

Saturday – Race Day

The birds return home to the following.

1. Lite feed mixture
2. Grit in the morning [I use KT Grit]
3. The birds return to water from the race.
4. Then they have Global’s Bounty and minerals

for the afternoon and evening.

5. Lite mixture for the evening feed.

 

Sunday-Day after the Race

1. Racers rest all day particularly when they are

flying 400 to 600 mile races.

2. No grit at all.
3. Lite feed mixture morning and evening.
4. Water has either Global’s Multi Mix or

Global’s Lugolis alternate every other week.

 

 

 

 

Monday – Day Three

1.  No grit for the day

2.  Lite mix day: morning and evening
3. Water has Global’s Mineral Mix “Bounty” in it.
4. Afternoon is bath day and open loft for the crew.

 

Tuesday – Day Four

1. Give Grit to the birds [I like KT as it has all of the

Additives i.e. charcoal, calcium, oyster shells that the birds need.

2. Water has Global’s “Garlic Juice” with all of the

Vitamins and electrolytes specifically designed for Racing Pigeons.

3.  Feed Mixture: Morning: they get the Regular Mix

                               Evening: they get One coffee cup Flax per 20 birds

                                                                 Then their regular feed.

For the Long Distance races of over 400 miles that are shipped Thursday nights the birds get the following feed program:

1. One coffee cup of Flax per 20 birds when that’s totally gone then
2. One coffee cup each of Hemp & Rape Seed per 20 birds when totally gone
3. Regular Mix is then given making sure that they get the Peanuts.
4. Birds are locked out of the loft for a One Hour Flight both in the Morning and Evening.

 

Wednesday – Day Five

1. Birds are given Grit in the Morning take away in the Afternoon.
2. Water has Global’s Mineral mix “Bounty” in it.
3. Birds are given the Regular Mix feed.
4. Birds are locked out of the loft for One Hour in the Morning and Evening each time they return to their feed.

For the Long Distance races of over 400 miles repeat the same feed program as was done on Tuesday i.e. using Flax, Hemp and Rape Seed.

 

Thursday – Shipping Day for the Long Distance Races

1. No Grit at all.
2. Water has Global’s “Garlic Juice” for the short races and plain water for the birds that will be shipped to the Long Distance Race that Evening.  Occasionally  I will use a Respiratory Med. To clean them up for the Race.
3. Feed:  The birds shipped to the Short Races are fed all of the Regular Mix that they want to eat in the Morning.
4. They are locked out of the loft for a One Hour Flight in the Morning.
5. In the Evening they are flown for 30 minutes – Let in and fed ½ to 2/3 of their normal amount of feed.  They are let out again to play for an additional 30 to 40 minutes then fed the remainder of their regular feed.

For the birds being shipped to the Long Distance Race this Evening they are fed the same as they were on Tuesday and Wednesday with the Flax, Hemp and Rape Seed.  In addition to this I let them eat as much of the Raw Spanish Peanuts as they want.  I also push about a ½ clove of Raw Garlic down their throat when I basket them to take to the Club.

 

 

 

Friday – Shipping Day for the Short to Middle Distance Races

1. No Grit at all for the Racing Pigeons.
2. Water in the Morning: has some form of Sugar in it; Honey, Grape juice etc.

Water in the Evening: Before Basketing FRESH – CLEAN – WATER with a touch of Lemon in it.

3. Feed in the Morning is My Lite Race Mixture.

No feed in the Evenings prior to basketing for the Short Races [ under 200 miles] 200 to 300 miles Feed Lite Race Mix in the Evening too.

 

There, that about sums it up.  It seems like a lot to do but I have found that once you get into the routine of doing this program it becomes habit.  I have found that I do need a check off list to keep me on task as I have gotten older.  But this nutritional program does work.