Condition

Onorio Catenacci wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Those of you that keep show birds (or those of you that care to show the
> birds you keep) I want to ask about something that's been a bit of a
> problem for me for a while. That is, conditioning of the animal for
> showing.

Feed is important for show birds, last year I fed my birds on a high
protein race mix and the birds showed poorly. This season I have been
using my own mix and the difference is like chalk and cheese.

The mix I use now is 1 part whole maize, wheat, barley, peas, sorghum
(red milo), turkey grower pellet (20% protein) and 1/2 part safflower.
(by volume)

You can also replace the turkey pellet with pig pellets if you really
want to put condition on the birds.


> Yesterday we had a show out here in Michigan. My one buddy was pointing
> out several things that make my birds look poorly conditioned: frayed
> feathers, loose feathering (on a breed that should be pretty tightly
> feathered) and so on.

Too much safflower, canola, linseed or sunflower (oils seeds) is
generally the cause of soft feathering. I give birds a little extra
canola only during the moult.

> Honestly, I don't know what else I could do to get my birds in better
> shape. I put out a bath pan for them every day (well, until the weather
> got a bit colder), I feed them the best quality food I can find, I take
> pains to insure that my loft isn't crowded.

Only bath the birds once a week, daily baths remove too much oil from
the feathers. Bath the birds 4 days before a show, bathed too soon
before a show and the birds will lack depth of colour on show day.
 >> Stay informed about: Condition 

RCosta1 wrote:
> What type birds do you keep?

Baldhead Show Rollers, mainly. I have a few other breeds but the
Baldhead Show Rollers are the ones I'm concerned about the conditioning on.

What type flooring? What type litter?.

Wooden floors covered with dried, broken up corn cob.

What type
> perches" ?

Inverted V-Perches

Vitamins? etc.

I give a vitamin supplement once a week, but I've been considering going
to twice a week.

--
Onorio
 >> Stay informed about: Condition 

David wrote:
> Onorio Catenacci wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Those of you that keep show birds (or those of you that care to show
>> the birds you keep) I want to ask about something that's been a bit of
>> a problem for me for a while. That is, conditioning of the animal for
>> showing.
>
>
> Feed is important for show birds, last year I fed my birds on a high
> protein race mix and the birds showed poorly. This season I have been
> using my own mix and the difference is like chalk and cheese.
>
> The mix I use now is 1 part whole maize, wheat, barley, peas, sorghum
> (red milo), turkey grower pellet (20% protein) and 1/2 part safflower.
> (by volume)
>
> You can also replace the turkey pellet with pig pellets if you really
> want to put condition on the birds.
>

Funny thing is I feed the same thing as one of my buddies and the
difference in condition between his birds and mine is noticeable. He
also lives here in Michigan (around 20 miles away).

>
>> Yesterday we had a show out here in Michigan. My one buddy was
>> pointing out several things that make my birds look poorly
>> conditioned: frayed feathers, loose feathering (on a breed that should
>> be pretty tightly feathered) and so on.
>
>
> Too much safflower, canola, linseed or sunflower (oils seeds) is
> generally the cause of soft feathering. I give birds a little extra
> canola only during the moult.

I supplemented the feed with safflower around September and October when
the birds were moulting. But we had some funny moulting this year due
to the weather.

>
>> Honestly, I don't know what else I could do to get my birds in better
>> shape. I put out a bath pan for them every day (well, until the
>> weather got a bit colder), I feed them the best quality food I can
>> find, I take pains to insure that my loft isn't crowded.
>
>
> Only bath the birds once a week, daily baths remove too much oil from
> the feathers. Bath the birds 4 days before a show, bathed too soon
> before a show and the birds will lack depth of colour on show day.

I've heard this from another fancier as well--only bathe once a week, I
mean. Again, my buddy (as far as I know) leaves a bath pan out every
day and he has no problems with conditioning.

Maybe I need to talk to him a bit more to see if maybe I'm
misunderstanding his husbandry practices. :-)

--
Onorio
 >> Stay informed about: Condition 

David wrote:
> Only bath the birds once a week, daily baths remove too much oil from
> the feathers. Bath the birds 4 days before a show, bathed too soon
> before a show and the birds will lack depth of colour on show day.

Hi David,

One thing I hadn't caught last night; I don't know if only bathing once
a week is better for keeping the birds in good condition or not but if
it is, it's not because "daily baths remove too much oil from the
feathers". Oil and water don't mix. Plain old water won't remove oil
from anything--it'll just roll right over it.

--
Onorio
 >> Stay informed about: Condition 

Onorio Catenacci wrote:
> David wrote:
>
>> Only bath the birds once a week, daily baths remove too much oil from
>> the feathers. Bath the birds 4 days before a show, bathed too soon
>> before a show and the birds will lack depth of colour on show day.
>
>
> Hi David,
>
> One thing I hadn't caught last night; I don't know if only bathing once
> a week is better for keeping the birds in good condition or not but if
> it is, it's not because "daily baths remove too much oil from the
> feathers". Oil and water don't mix. Plain old water won't remove oil
> from anything--it'll just roll right over it.
>
> --
> Onorio

They dont mix very well but oil does come off the feathers and floats on
the surface of the water. While pigeons enjoy a bath they can go for
months without one with no harm done, some of my birds have gone 7
months now without a bath. I have about 24 pair in individual breeding
cages, they are a little small to put a bath in but have wire floors to
keep the birds clean.

I used to my birds to bath everyday and fed them extra safflower, I
started to have problems with the birds feather being too soft and
lacked colour depth and sheen. Acting on the advice of some of the most
experienced judges/breeders in Australia I changed the feed and
frequency of allowing bath water. Aftewr the next moult I noticed a huge
difference in the birds.

David
 >> Stay informed about: Condition 

Onorio,
Some breeders are going to "flight" cages, almost all wire long and tall with
lots of perches on either end so that the birds have to fly. Barring the
ability to do this, and with good recommendations you already have, I would
think about putting the birds that you are going to show, in a separate
compartment with a thick layer of shavings on the floor. And add a little flax
seed to your mix during the moult. Great for feather condition. You might
also consider cod liver and wheat germ oil or a multi oil, but be careful in
feeding it, as it stains readily...Also, separate hens from cocks if you are
not already doing that. Ron
 >> Stay informed about: Condition