Six key points for raising pigeons in autumn that pigeon keepers must master

Building autumn fat. In summer, the basal metabolism and energy consumption of the pigeon body are noticeably higher than in autumn. Combined with more sweating, this causes a relatively large loss of minerals and other nutrients from the pigeon body; moreover, as sweating increases, the digestive juices secreted by the pigeon body decrease, the pigeon's appetite declines, and the absorption of nutrients also decreases. As autumn deepens and temperatures fall, the pigeon's appetite, digestion and absorption gradually recover. As long as the pigeons have enough feed every day, they will build good autumn fat and overwinter safely. At this time, the feed ratio should be adjusted appropriately and some mineral feed added to supply enough nutrition and promote normal molting. Feed can be prepared according to the rearing standard based on the pigeon's age. The prepared feed should be rich in nutrition, good in palatability, easy to digest, and high in protein content.

Pay attention to molting. Autumn is the pigeon's annual molting period. Every early autumn, adult pigeons begin to molt, lasting 50-60 days, and this is also the most special life cycle of the pigeon in a year. Feathers are synthesized from protein, fat, various amino acids and minerals. At this time, if the conventionally prepared feed is not improved, the newly grown feathers will show symptoms such as insufficiently hard quills, insufficiently smooth feathers, and softness, which will seriously affect the pigeon's racing performance. Peas, flaxseed, rapeseed, sunflower seeds, peanuts, paddy rice and mung beans are rich in protein, fat, phospholipids, vitexin, calcium, iron and other substances. These are all nutrients necessary for feather growth and should be appropriately increased in proportion in the feed. It is best to add some maifan stone granules to the health soil, as it is greatly beneficial for improving the quality of pigeon feathers. Containing 20% peas, 10% oil-type foods, 5% mung beans, 35% paddy rice, and 30% other ingredients is a relatively reasonable nutritional ratio for the molting period. Feed with this ratio can ensure that the quills of newly molted feathers are firm and the feathers are glossy. Only when pigeons molt a full set of high-quality feathers can they meet the needs of winter. In autumn, pigeons should not be released too early. Although some pigeons appear to have finished molting in early September, careful inspection will reveal that the roots of many newly molted quills are still full of blood, and the physique weakened by molting has not yet fully recovered, so they are not yet capable of longer flights. Prevent epidemics. Autumn temperatures vary greatly, and various pathogens are prone to breed and reproduce, so autumn is a season with frequent racing pigeon epidemics. Moreover, pigeons have extremely poor disease resistance during the molting period. Even healthy pigeons are very likely to get sick during this period. At the same time, frequent races also provide favorable conditions for the occurrence and spread of epidemics. In autumn, pigeons are susceptible to pigeon colibacillosis, pigeon cholera, pigeon ascariasis, pigeon type I paramyxovirus disease (pigeon plague), pigeon pox and other epidemics. Therefore, strengthening the feeding and management of pigeons, enhancing their resistance, and doing good epidemic prevention are the keys to preventing and controlling the epidemics that racing pigeons are prone to in autumn. The feed should be fresh and free of musty smell. It is best to add some nutrients containing trace elements, vitamins, amino acids, etc., and add a little aminophenylarsonic acid, so as to shorten the molting period as much as possible and enhance resistance. Prevent draft. In late autumn the weather turns cooler, so cold-proof items should be prepared, and special attention should be paid to preventing drafts. Autumn weather is changeable, with large temperature differences between morning and evening and abnormal cold and heat, which often catches people off guard. At this time external pathogens easily invade while the body is weakened, causing pigeons to get sick. And the “external pathogens” here are what people call “drafts.” A draft blowing directly on pigeons will cause racing pigeons to suffer from respiratory diseases. Therefore, when the temperature suddenly drops, the doors and windows of the pigeon loft should be closed tightly to guard against respiratory diseases in pigeons; when there is no wind and the temperature gradually decreases, ventilation should be increased as much as possible to train the racing pigeons' ability to resist cold and let them gradually adapt to the cold. When racing pigeons have a certain ability to resist cold, their chances of suffering respiratory diseases in winter will be reduced, their physique will also get better and better, and this will be beneficial to breeding in the coming year. Emphasize deworming. Autumn is a good time for deworming racing pigeons. The main parasite in the body of racing pigeons is coccidia. In particular, racing pigeons around 1 month old are most susceptible to coccidia, and their morbidity and mortality rates are both very high. Deworming drugs include ivermectin, coccidiostat powder, chloroquanide, etc. Various deworming drugs all have certain toxic side effects on the pigeon body, so when using them, pay attention to the dosage, and feed only after stirring evenly, strictly preventing pigeon poisoning. When choosing deworming drugs, it is necessary to consider not only the deworming spectrum, drug efficacy and toxicity, but also cost. In addition, because parasitic diseases are mostly mixed infections, when choosing drugs, attention should also be paid to the combination of various drugs. When carrying out large-scale deworming or using various drugs to treat mixed infections, a small number of racing pigeons can first be used for experiments to observe the response of sick pigeons and the drug efficacy, and only after confirming safety and effectiveness should it be applied on a large scale. When medicating racing pigeons that are laying eggs and feeding squabs, try to avoid using drugs that affect egg laying and squab feeding. Within 3-5 days after deworming, pigeon droppings should be cleaned up in time. Fine management. Autumn temperatures vary greatly, various pathogens are prone to breed and reproduce, and pigeons are prone to colds and illness. Therefore, it is crucial to adopt some comprehensive measures to strengthen fine management of the pigeon loft: 1. Pay attention to cold protection. After the weather turns cooler in late autumn, the loft's warming equipment and the loft should be checked, and cold-proof items prepared; pay attention to preventing drafts and rain to avoid pigeons catching colds and suffering diseases such as acute enteritis. 2. Do a good job of environmental sanitation, clean up pigeon droppings in the loft in time, regularly disinfect the loft environment and utensils, and also pay attention to ventilation and air exchange in the loft. 3. Carry out epidemic prevention according to the immunization program and make immunization procedural. Strictly implement the policy of “prevention first,” do a good job of vaccination and deworming, and especially prevent respiratory diseases in pigeons. 4. If racing pigeons become ill, treat them in time. Dead pigeons from disease must be subjected to harmless disposal. 5. Increase humidity. In autumn the temperature is low and there is more dust, which easily causes respiratory diseases and eye inflammation in pigeons, so consider appropriately spraying water inside and outside the loft to increase humidity, keeping the indoor humidity (relative humidity) at about 65%. 6. Inspect the pigeon loft. If nails, iron spikes or other obstacles are found, remove them in time to avoid damaging the pigeons' new feathers.