DeepSpinLofts
64 posts
Apr 27, 2007
7:29 PM
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Has any one around here ever tried feeding Lentils to their breeders?
I was thinking about adding Lentils to a special feed mixture I make for my breeders. I mix Peas, Milo, Canary Seed, Wheat, Rice and Safflower with a little Health Grit. Thinking about cutting back a little on the Peas and substituting in the Lentils to see how the birds will like it.
Any feedback on this issue would be highly appreciated.
Marcus
Deep Spin Lofts
Last Edited by on Apr 27, 2007 7:30 PM
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Santandercol
1027 posts
Apr 27, 2007
10:15 PM
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Marcus,
Just started giving my breeders and 07 kitbirds some lentils.Some of the breeders are picky with it at first but my homers gobble it and the YBs too.
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Kelly
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DeepSpinLofts
65 posts
Apr 28, 2007
12:56 AM
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Good morning Kelly....
When you say: "my homers gobble it and the YBs too."
Are you referring to young rollers as YB's or young birds?
Marcus
Deep Spin Lofts
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Santandercol
1031 posts
Apr 28, 2007
6:40 AM
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Marcus,
I'm feeding those lentils to all my breeders at the moment as well as my 07 rollers,not my 06 kitbirds except if I need to jack them up a bit.
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Kelly
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DeepSpinLofts
66 posts
Apr 29, 2007
3:20 AM
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Good morning Kelly....
Just trying to keep my birds nutritionally balanced and physically healthy. I truly appreciate the correspondonce on this issue. Thanks a lot.
Marcus
Deep Spin Lofts
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wishiwon2
9 posts
May 01, 2007
5:42 PM
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Ive fed lentils, and the birds did well on them. It took a few days for them to learn to accept 'em, but once they got onto eating them they selected for them. I substituted them in the place of peas, at rate of about 10%. Also I only fed them to breeders. I didnt try thme on flying kits ...
Last Edited by on May 01, 2007 5:44 PM
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Santandercol
1040 posts
May 01, 2007
10:03 PM
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Marcus,
Yeah,,we cook 'em up with tomatoe sauce & onions and lots a garlic.Comfort food.Easy to grow in the right climate.We consume so damn much producing beef and chicken pork when legumes are so easy to grow.Trouble is meat tastes good or so our taste buds are conditioned to respond.Yum sprinkle some salt!
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Kelly
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DeepSpinLofts
68 posts
May 02, 2007
9:22 AM
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Kelly... you crack me up.
===> "Yum sprinkle some salt!"
Marcus
Deep Spin Lofts
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J_Star
858 posts
May 02, 2007
1:05 PM
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While we are on this subject, a while back someone posted that he bakes the soybeans in the oven cooked half way and then feed them to his rollers. Soybean are high in protein content and that way he manages to keep his B rollers and his American high flyers from skying out and stay within a reasonable range while flying.
Jay
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J_Star
859 posts
May 03, 2007
4:38 AM
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He bakes them half way in the oven to soften them up. If swallowed by the pigeons without been halfway cooked, it will take a long time to digest them. But once they soften up, it will be digested within the 24 hrs intervals for the next feeding. The amount of protein or mineral lost once cooked is minuscule to be an issue.
I personally believe that if you give your rollers allot of protein, they will not sky out on you. Carbohydrate on the other hand is a different story.
Jay
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DeepSpinLofts
72 posts
May 03, 2007
5:26 PM
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This skying out business can be troublesome. My problem is that every now and then my birds just disappear. I'm not referring to flying too high in the air (dot-high), I mean they literally take off to some far-away place and it pisses me off. They come back peckin at the granules of roofing material on my house as if it were grit or something.
I let about 12 birds out and they go up to a decent height and then they just take off in an easterly direction. I live near Travis AFB and there's a lot of open field out there where wild feral pigeons can be seen foraging for seeds & stuff. I'm not for sure, but I think my birds are moonlighting on me with street pigeons... or maybe they just to like to fly several miles away and fly back?
Hmm.....
Thinking about buying some binoculars (or maybe use my telescope) to see where they are flying off to. As much as I hate to climb on top of my roof and sit there for an half-hour, I'm afraid I might have to in order to learn more about this disappearing kit syndrome.
{P.S.} Thinking about substituting Soybeans too... and not just Lentils for the Peas.
Marcus
Deep Spin Lofts
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J_Star
860 posts
May 04, 2007
8:39 AM
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From reading your second paragraph, I draw the conclusion that your birds are, with all due respect, mismanged when it comes to feed. I used to have the same issue with mine when the birds were very fit. They became like homers, fly fast and all over the sky darting far away from home. To correct this bad habit is simple. Cut down their feeding drastically to the point where they will fly clearing the tree tops and fly for 10 min and come down. When you rattle the feed can they will hover above you and falow you in the yard. Once you do this for a few days consecatively, then adjust their feed slowly to allow them to fly for 15 min, then 20 min to 30 min max. By then you would have reached the optimal feeding portions that your birds need to fly above your house, no matter how high, and doing figure 8 pattern.
As you continue whith optimal feeding measure, from time to time you still need to adjust it by giving them a little more or a little less.
Remember that this might sound crule, but pigeons can go for long period of time without feeding. This method will bring your birds back to earth and performance.
It also sounds like you are flying your birds every day and possible multiple times a day. For mature birds, this process will make stiffs out of them. If that is the case, consider flying them once every three days following the YoYo method of feeding which will always keep your birds in tip top shape for optimal performance and flying time.
Rule of thomb to me is that if you cannot correct their flying habits with regular feed, then I must be doing something wrong that is effecting the birds negatively.
Jay
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