Loft Log 04/20/2008
It has been a busy few weeks since the last update. I have received birds from Bill Reusch, Dave Gerhke, Ed Cloud, Gene Yoes, George Scott, Greg Kozlowski, Jerred Jerdee/Don Lowe, John Suchmiel, Larry Jensen, Lee Schultz, Mary Lee, Mike Chlebek, Nick Kowalchuk, Ralph Coey, Steve Shoptz, Tony Sorintino, and Barry Yu. When all of the birds are in, I should have approximately 100 convention birds.
The weather here has finally broken for spring. I am now able to get my garden hose out and avoid carrying water the 250+ feet from the water spigot or house to the lofts. While there may be a bit of controversy surrounding water in garden hoses, it is the same water that I drink when I am outside. It saves MUCH time.
I was able to give the birds a bath today. I have three bath pans, so all of the birds get a chance to wash all of the dust off their feathers. I put a handful of borax in the water, to help eliminate lice and mites, etc. Periodically I will use Ivermectin, but not all the time.
I lost two birds at the beginning of April and they are in the process of getting replaced. While the birds arrived healthy, and went through quarantine OK, they eventually started looking frumpy and succumbed to whatever they picked up. Perhaps it was the cold damp weather. Maybe it was the mixing of all of the different birds together. I am not sure. Both birds were in different lofts, so it wasn’t a loft specific thing. I put the birds on some meds just in case and all appear to look very healthy. If I notice a bird that has a less than healthy look, I will call/email you to let you know. I will work with the bird for a while, but most likely it will have to be replaced.
None of the birds have been out yet. I have had them in the basket outside the loft a few times, but no free flights yet. With the weather being so bad, I did not want to take a chance of having a bird outside and snow coming the next day. We still have not had a 70 degree day yet, but may have one today or tomorrow.
After the birds get good at using the loading chute to get in the baskets, I let them out of the baskets after I call to the loft. I start with one at a time or maybe just a couple of birds together. It is generally a bee-line straight to the loft. I start close, maybe 5 feet away, then work my way out to 150 feet or so. After a few trips from the basket to the loft, they are ready to get out and fly a bit. When I let the birds out in-mass, I do not have any questions as to if they know how to get back in the loft. They know what the loft looks like from a distance, and they know where the trap is. They also know there is food waiting for them on their arrival.
I gave up on painting the inside of my new loft. Maybe next year it will get paint, maybe not. The birds were coming too fast, I needed the room, and the weather was not cooperating. My feeling is that we are about two and a half weeks behind what would be ‘normal. There is a lot more room for the birds, and they are getting used to the extra space. I always try to have at least 2-3 square feet of floor space per bird, and plenty of perches.
I ordered and picked up my feed order. It is 1,000 pounds of a custom mix. The mix has lots of fat, carbohydrates and 16% protein. I use two different programs to calculate the percentages. Generally they are both pretty close, but I like to make sure. There is quite a bit of corn, and roasted soybeans in the mix, along with several other standard pigeon grains. This should keep me going for a while. I have used Heritage feed in the past, but I believe there is a lot of transportation cost in the mix. Much of the grain is probably grown right here in Minnesota, trucked up north to be mixed, and then trucked back down in a bag that is almost impossible to open.