THE RACING PIGEON.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 256, 29 October 1929, Page 19

THE RACING PIGEON.

LONG-DISTANCE CONDITION.

TOPICAL JOTTINGS.

A correspondent raises an interesting point in the feeding and conditioning oi a racing pigeon by asking why it is

that racing pigeons will keep good condition, in addition to racing and breeding, on the sole diet of partridge peas ? In our last article we mentioned the

advisability of including a one-tliird ration of kibbled maize, in order to supply a greater proportion of fat and fuel producing food. The subject of feed values is one which is occupying the minds of our leading scientists and dietitians, and probably at no period in the history of mankind has there been so close a scrutiny into the various constituents of food.

So far as the racing pigeon is concerned, it is a fact that it is able to maintain health and condition on a sole diet of partridge peas, and though the analysis of this legume shows a high protein content and a fairly low carbohydrate or energy-producing constituent, the racing pigeon is able to transform a portion of the protein into the elements necessary for its various bodily requirements. The partridge pea contains only a fraction over two per cent fibre, and as an all-round feed for racing pigeons cannot be improved upon, but in order to balance the ration the addition of maize, wheat, or a very good quality oat enables the bird in hard racing to obtain all the essentials to its health and wellbeing. To be perfectly healthy, a racing pigeon must be able to obtain certain essential salts and minerals from its food, such as lime, iron, iodine, manganese, zinc, etc., and this it is able to obtain from a mixed ration, especially if it is supplemented with plenty of green feed.

The latter is greatly appreciated by young and old birds, and should be given cut up very small when given in the form of clover, lucerne, or tender grass. The racing pigeon is unable to break or swallow long pieces of any green feed of a tough nature, so that chopping up allows it to obtain the benefit to be derived from the abovementioned greens.

When feeding lettuce, silver beet, or milk thistle, it should be tied into a close bundle and fastened by a nail to the side of the wall or wire door, sufficiently high for them to just reach with a little effort. This enables them to detach small pieces.

Where young are in the nest care should be taken in commencing to give racing pigeons greens owing to the parent birds taking large quantities. They should be slowly initiated into their daily feed of greens by putting in a small amount only, and gradually increasing the quantity until they are able to choose just that amount required. Exhaustion. During the past week the writer has received several letters giving particular? of birds picked up in an exhausted condition, due, no doubt, to the bad weather experienced during the trip from the southern parts of the North Island. The owner of A.R.P.C. 27/190 and race ring E370 will note that this bird was found dead in a Manurewa paddock. The rings were forwarded to the writer, and the only information available is that this was a blue chequer, and no apparent cause could be- found . for its decease other than exhaustion.

A red pied, E.H.P.C. 27-248, was also picked up on a city building and the writer notified. This bird was fed and watered, and liberated at 6 p.m. on October 26. The owner will kindly report its arrival to the editor of this column.

This racer was evidently caught in a storm, and reached the city in an exhausted state, but a few days' care enabled it to pick up condition.

From the above notes it must not be presumed that the sport of racing pigeons tends towards cruelty. It is a fact ClTat the racing pigeon has been bred for generations, and so has acquired an intense love of its own home, but, in order to successfully race pigeons, they must be given the greatest care and affection. They are brought up from their very earliest days to become used to the racing basket, and when placed therein quietly await the time for their liberation.

It has been suggested that they are not fed en route, but this is only in the shorter races, and, as they have a large crop storage capacity, the food given them before basketing is sufficient to last them for at least two full davs.

The chief feature in racing pigeons which refutes any suggestion of cruelty isthat the birds may of their own free will stop flying whenever the weather is stormy. It is only the champion birds which prefer to fight the elements, and these birds are always given the greatest care and attention, so maintain perfect health.