Again food for thought
It was in March 2011 that I got a serious problem: Muscular rheumatism.
By now, thanks to lots of prednisone I am much better.
But with the prednisone I got other problems; side effects of the medicine.
Prednisone is both useful and harmful, since they eliminate both the bad bacteria and the good ones that humans absolutely need to stay alive.
BAYTRIL
2011 Was also the year that my birds had a problem: paratyphoid.
But it had a happy end as well; the birds performed fantastic this year (2012).
I got the paratyphoid under control by means of Baytril followed by an injection with
Colombovac PT.
I found Baytril and Prednisone had much in common.
Baytril is an excellent medicine but it also destroys a lot in the pigeon"s body.
This year I had to take less Prednisone and the last time I visited the doctor we talked more about pigeons than about my physical problem.
I asked her how long it would take before the flora in the body of pigeons would be restored after a cure with a broad spectre antibiotic like Baytril.
SIX WEEKS
That was a long time indeed: It would take no less than six weeks before the body would be back to normal.
"So be careful with that stuff (Baytril)" the doctor said.
Then I asked her about the resistance. She was the scientist and if anybody would know it was she.
Coincidentally a friend of her husband was also a pigeon fancier and they often talked about sicknesses and medication.
What fanciers do not realise, she said, was that pigeons do not build up resistance but the bacteria do.
If you medicate thoroughly the bad bacteria will be eliminated and bacteria that are dead cannot build up resistance.
Therefore it is important to treat them so long and kill them all.
After that it indeed takes 6 weeks before the body is back to normal and therefore it is not smart to race or mate birds directly after the cure.
As for the injection against paratyphoid it is the same story.
If you want to screw your breeding then you must mate up the birds shortly after an injection.
WARNING
"So I did the right thing giving the birds Baytril for no less than 10 days?" I asked.
"Absolutely" she said.
"Paratyphoid is something very serious and needs a serious approach. With half measures you ask for more problems. So it is absolutely wrong to give Baytril several times a year for 2 or 3 days as some fanciers do.
In this way not all bacteria will be eliminated and those that stay alive will build up resistance indeed. And when medicine such as Baytril and Prednisone are not effective any more, there is nothing else that can help you."
After these words I thought about Adeno/Coli or the so called young bird disease.
After a cure many fanciers basket their birds too soon. They look okay, seem to be recovered but that is not the case.
The result is that many of such birds get lost, since much in the pigeon body is still very wrong.
HOW STUPID
A local fancier with real super birds had to quit due to poor health. In my opinion he is one of the very best racers in Holland and Belgium. Why is not he famous then?
To become famous there are 2 conditions:
You need to race MANY birds AND race long distance.
And our man only races few birds and middle distance!
He even has no pedigrees but nevertheless he beats names that are famous worldwide week after week.
Now he asked me to find a client for his birds.
Though the price was real cheap the reactions I got I could have expected.
"What strain are they?" one after the other asked me.
Isnot it to lose all your hair in one day?
Will those foreigners never get wiser?
Do they really think that all good birds descend from a limited bunch of well known names?
PEDIGREES
On his website L Geerts says pedigrees are made up to cheat blind people.
It is not complete nonsense what he writes.
Only God knows how many brothers and sisters of super birds I handled that were worth nothing at all!
Those were birds with breath taking pedigrees.
Of course I also prefer a bird of good origin to just a normal bird but you are never sure. Once a champion said:
"If you get a buyer for your super bird, sell the parents as well. Chances are very little they will breed you another super."
It is also exaggerated, but again there is some truth in it.
Champions here just cannot understand why foreigners pay fortunes for birds that they never handled.
THE INTERNET
The same L Geerts also wrote that buying through the internet is a waste of money.
And indeed, I do not even know one champion who tries to improve his family by buying through the internet. They first want to see and handle what they want.
Therefore they became champions!
Sometimes you see them bid on the Internet but that is mostly on birds for friends.
It is no secret that games are played to higher the prices, especially for Chinese.
The champ without a name could finally sell his birds to a champion abroad.
This was a man who is not interested in names, he wants to win!
And a winner he is, since he is less naive than the majority.