Vitamine B1
In proportion to her body weight, our race pigeon needs 150 times more vitamin B1 as a human being
The COMED PREMIUM products Appetose, Levicom, Stopmite, Cometose, Tempo 60, Winmix and Roni take account of that fact.
Thiamin or vitamin B1 plays an extremely important role in the release of energy from sugars and fats and is therefore crucial for flight performance.
It is the most underrated vitamin in the racing pigeon.
A shortage of vitamin B1 results in a lack of appetite(*), causing muscle weakness and a loss of condition.
Our pigeons are among the most sensitive species in regard to shortages of vitamin B1.
In severe cases, they also get muscular pain, which can lead to crooked flying.
Our pigeons need a relatively large amount of vitamin B1:
5 mg per kilo feed for a young pigeon, but the need goes up to the fivefold (25 mg per kilo feed) for a racing pigeon!
Thus a pigeon needs +/-1 mg per day.
That is as much as a man while her body weight is 150 times lower!
For this reason, our pigeon has developed two ways to get access to this much-needed vitamin.
Besides the supply through cereals, it is also able to create vitamin B1 in its intestine with the help of bacteria.
Of course, by this way, many things can go wrong, especially since the pigeon has a relatively short intestine.
Below we mention the main causes of a shortage of vitamin B 1 in our pigeons and thus the biggest causes of the decline of its condition during the flying season:
- Due to the increased production of inferior intestinal mucus (which is
often the result of concentrated feed * *) the absorption of vitamin
B1 may be insufficient.
- Also, intestinal parasites can prevent this absorption process.
- Cures with antibiotics kill the bacteria that are responsible for the own
production of vitamin B1.
(*)To resolve the lack of appetite due to a shortage of vitamin B1, COMED put Appetose on the market, an appetite promoter.
Brewer’s yeast is one of the richest natural sources of this important vitamin.
Levicom, processed brewer’s yeast from COMED, is therefore indispensable in every loft.
(**) Other good additional sources include, among others, Winmix and Tempo 60. Furthermore, Stopmite, Cometose and Roni ensure a good quality of the intestinal mucus.