February 19, 2024

One-loft races are becoming increasingly popular despite being a high-stakes game.

The challenges for any pigeon taking part are at odds with its natural development.

All pigeons build up their own biological ecosystem of micro-organisms in a closed environment which is in balance with the specific (feeding) ground and living environment, and is aligned with the ecosystems of all the other pigeons in the loft colony of which the pigeon is a part.

This is quite complex. It is quite easy to see that the additional contact with other ecosystems of pigeons from other lofts (from several regions and countries) resulting from the races (basket pressure) will be associated with problems.

The various (sickness) germs compete with each other to find a new equilibrium, with adverse consequences for their host.

However, the young pigeon intended for the one-loft race is on a tight schedule.The body weight of 15 grams at birth will increase 22 times over a period of 3 weeks. 

After the crucial weaning period, with vaccinations taking place around the 6th week, there is a delicate time window in which the young pigeon must ideally be sent, and that creates a dilemma.

At this time, they are in the middle of activating their own immunity.

Indeed, the antibodies the pigeon got from its mother are already running low, and the pigeon’s own immune system is running at full speed due to natural contact with all possible pathogens in the environment, including vaccinations which must take place without delay.

Stumbling Blocks: 

• if you vaccinate too early, the immune system is insufficiently developed, which means the vaccine cannot work.

• vaccinating too late can cause an infection in the unprotected young pigeon, followed by a recovery period 

• there is often a vaccination reaction after the administration of a vaccination, and this often requires a recovery period 

• to be on the safe side, anyone wanting to vaccinate immediately after weaning must allow for a few stress-free days, which means it is better to postpone the shipment.

• One never knows how (well) the thousands of pigeons will be cared for by the organisation. Indeed, once they have arrived in the large one-loft colony, they are usually vaccinated (again) as standard (and that can be too much of a good thing).

• On the other hand, the later the pigeon arrives, the more delicate it is to overcome it.

The loss of one-loft pigeons is also linked to the circovirus, which attacks the immune system directly, and in combination with Adeno, Herpes, Rota (possibly complicated by E Coli) can play a role up to the sixth month of life. 

During this delicate period, (selective) practice programmes can cause problems and lead to many losses.

The fact is that the thousands of individual ecosystems will be mixed together upon arrival, which in combination with the movement, quarantine, vaccinations, etc. will cause enormous stress and immunity pressure.

These one-loft racing challenges can best be prepared for with the COMED breeding programme:

Lisocur+, Miobol, Roni and Stopmite 

(about the food with additional Curol to create it) 

This combination is aimed at the rapid development of muscles and bones, but also of the immune system. 

An important asset is MIOBOL, which can make a difference as an artificial crop milk.

Blind curing is the worst thing you can do because the disadvantages far outweigh the advantages 

Delaying the development of the pigeon’s own immune system and the disruption of the intestinal flora causing the metabolism – which is required for the production of strong muscles – to lag behind.

Using Stopmite to tackle parasites in a balanced and clean environment in which a good ecosystem can thrive is of the utmost importance 

Many organisers looking at the pigeons that have been supplied have already noticed the difference between those that were prepared with the Comed breeding programme during their first month of life and those that had not.