So you think you can boost?
Fanciers who try to make their birds better racers than they really are is of all time and as old as pigeon sport itself.
What they would like is race better a whole season but they found that that is an illusion.
Racing better a whole season was possible in the 90-ies when you gave your birds cortison.
That was a bad development though. Especially those fanciers who used Ledercort and made their birds disposable birds, were to blame.
They sold their winners to the Far East where many of them turned out to be inferttile or just no good.
Ledercort was poison and thanks God it became forbiddden.
In those days many fanciers also used Neo Corteff.
This was real good stuff and did not hurt the pigeons I found.
But it also became forbidden.
And I must admit, for the fanciers it is less complicated to know that all products that start with "cor" from Cortisone are forbidden.
MOTIVATE
Fanciers sometimes try to extra motivate the birds by natural means, mostly based on jealousy.
A mirror in the nest box, or another pigeon, an extra perch and so on.
Today some try out things with (legal) medicine,
Gust Christiaens was one of the first to say he injected his birds. He was not the only one but others kept their mouths shut.
"They only gave grains and water." At least that was what they said.
But their vets knew better and could not help smiling when they read reports about their clients who claimed they never visited a vet.
The needle of Christiaens contained CX 60 and Catosal.
CX is out dated, medicine of the so-called "new generation" are far more effective.
The so called Rocketeer from Embregts Theunis in the Netherlands. I miracle bird both as a racer and breeder. Such birds are so talented that they need no boost to win.
WHY AND HOW?
Of course you must not needle in the muscles, furthermore there is a risk of hypodermic reactions that you do not want with your best birds.
Since some medicine are badly absorbed by the intestinal tract fanciers think an injection is better since the medicine will be faster at the place where it should be, in the blood.
I prefer to medicate through the food which is much better than through the water in the drinker.
Food is absorbed fast and you are sure it is absorbed.
Most medicine expire real fast in the water and you are never sure pigeons drink the amount of water that they are supposed to drink.
I myself never injected my birds because I could win without.
But I do have some experience with La Sota. And about La Sota I can say for sure that you have a better result one week after your used it.
But it only worked for one or two weeks maximum. WorkED because it is not available any more.
CHRISTIAENS AGAIN.
That CX 60 from Gust was the talk of the day in the late 80-ies. It was not a kind of Volvo but an antibiotic that was available in Germany. In fact it was streptomycin, an out dated antibiotic.
The Catosal that he added were innocent vitamins.
Gust was a very good handler and in my opinion his birds in the first place were responsible for his successes and not the needle.
Others also tried CX60 when they heard about it but they did not find themselves better racers.
BOOST
Still it is true that you can boost pigeons but again only for one or two races maximum.
Thanks God some champions are open and say or write what they sometimes do to improve their chances to win.
Others may know what they do because they know too well that nothing works if you do not have the good birds.
Roodhooft, Vercammen, Embregts Theunis, Derwa and others are such fanciers who do not beat about the bush.
Roodhooft even published that he gave his birds once or twice a year a mix of two antibiotics and it worked! .
Also Theunis from Holland confirmed that he gave his birds a little cure just before the National race from Orleans that he destroyed. Like Verkerk did some years ago when he got that historic result from Chateauroux.
MIX
What many medicinal boosts have in common is that is a combination of 2 antibiotics.
And the less you practise it the better the result will be.
In pigeon magazine "Duifke Lacht" super champ Albert Derwa claims that he sometimes injected his birds and that he is 100% sure this is very effective provided you never did it before. He referred to Linco Spectin.
There is something else which works and is very simple:
A tablet against canker! It will also be followed by a good result, provided you did not cure before.
So it will not be effective for those who treat their birds for one day after every race.
IN CONCLUSION
- I do not believe there is something that will make your birds race better a whole season.
- But I know for sure you will have a better result (but one only!), by using antibiotics provided you did not cure before.
- Still I am against it. When it works and fanciers have a good result they will try again and the result will be that the birds will get a kind of unnatural health and the fancier will have two problems:
- Nobody will race well with his birds.
- He will lose lots of babies.
- If you do something you must know what you do. If not you will pay a price.
- The main point is still: Good pigeons. Why would H de Weerd ( a vet!) buy birds from Theunis and Verkerk if medicine were responsible for their great results?
On the other hand you must not close your eyes for the truth. And the truth is that many fanciers do something before National prestigious races such as Bourges.