Vaccination against the paramyxo virus
Last month there have been a lot of questions about the best age to vaccinate young pigeons against the paramyxo virus. We should realize that the parents will give their young antibodies through the egg. So, for the first period of their young lives they will have some protection against several diseases. This gives the young pigeons some time to build up their own immune-system. The young will only get antibodies against diseases the parents have gone through. This means if you put eggs from another pigeon with pigeons from another cage, the young pigeons could die right after hatching. If there is a hidden infection in this cage that the parents in the other cage didn't have, the young won't have antibodies against this disease. It could be useful to vaccinate three weeks before the coupling. This way, the young ones get the maximum protection from their parents. When you do this you shouldn't vaccinate the young too early, on the contrary it could be counterproductive. The right time to vaccinate is at the age of 5 to 6 weeks. In case the parents weren't vaccinated, it is a possibility to vaccinate earlier.
What's the point I hear some of you think. Well, lately the advice goes round that you should vaccinate them early in life. Most important reason is that if the young catch the circovirus their immune-system will be damaged to the point that it won't respond to the paramyxo vaccination in a way that it will work sufficiently. Last year we had several young pigeons that got paramyxo despite of their vaccination. After further investigation we found out that these pigeons had contracted the circovirus. The vaccination simply hadn't worked. For this reason early vaccination is the way to go. If you vaccinate before they contract the circovirus (which we see on a regular basis) the young pigeons get the chance to let the vaccination do its work. Vaccination at a too young age isn't the way to go either because of the parental immunity so our advice is a vaccination at an age of 5 to 6 weeks.
Trichomoniasis-canker?still a problem,?..or isn't it?
In the last couple of weeks I saw several severe canker infections despite of treatment. In most cases the owners put medication in the drinking-water. People keep thinking it will work sufficiently. Let me tell you again, IT DOESN'T! As long as the 'R' is in the month it won't work. Simply because the pigeons won't take in enough water. Because they don't take in enough of the medication, drug resistance is a problem waiting to happen. If giving a capsule to every pigeon is too much work, please give the medication in the food. At least, that way, the chance of a proper effect increases.
I will answer a few questions pigeon lovers asked me a lot last month:
1."Isn't the constant medicating working counterproductive? Doesn't it add to the drug resistance?"
If you do it properly, the constant supplying of medicine isn't necessary. People keep thinking it's better to give lots of short treatments in the drinking-water. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! It just won't work!!!!. People who keep doing this aren't doing this sport a lot of good. It just makes sure the strongest parasites survive and reproduce. This will lead to parasites that can't be killed by the normal canker treatments.
2."should we switch between the different types of medication for a better effect?"
We should realize that most medications against trichomoniasis are related. They all work somewhat the same way. If a parasite is drug resistant against one of them, it's more or less resistant against them all. It isn't true that we can lower the dosage if we switch regularly. Again, it only builds drug resistance. Good Medicine means two days in a row one capsule or 6 to 8 days medication in the food at the right dosage; 4-5 grams per kg food with Ronidazole 10%.
3."you said we should give a high enough dosage, but if I use Ronidazole 20% I should be careful not to give too much. And I think it's perfectly ok to add Ronidazole to the water??"
Whether you use Ronidazole 10 or 20%, it really doesn't matter. It's the same medication only the concentration is different. You have to dose the working ingredient so when you use Ronidazole 20 % you give only half the dosage you would have given if you had used Ronidazole 10%. When you give it in the food, the Ronidazole 10 % is a better choice because it's better distributed. So you see, in the end it doesn't matter which one you use if you keep in mind the dosage of the working ingredient and if you use it long enough.
4."you write that the best way to go next season is to give a Canker Capsule two days in a row. I think it's too strong for the pigeons. I'd rather give them a few days apart?.."
Canker capsules are made to keep on top of the severe Canker infections who don't respond to the normal medications. They have worked perfectly for quite some time now. If people choose to ignore the instructions it won't be long till this medication won't work either. It's the fastest route to a drug resistance that was avoidable. In case of a severe infection it is really important to kill all the parasites. In case of a + or ++ infection one capsule will be sufficient. In case of a +++ or a ++++ infection one capsule two days in a row is an absolute must. If we give them a few days apart, we give the strongest parasites the chance to reproduce. A super-infection won't be far off. One capsule 4 days in a row will be the only way to eliminate these severe infections.
5."Is al this medicating really necessary? Couldn't we just let the pigeons fight of the infection for themselves. This way they can build their own immune-system?"
The idea looks good. If we all would kill the infected pigeons then we could by selection breed pigeons that are really resistent to canker. In theory this looks good, and I have seen people in my practice who consequently removed the frequently infected pigeons. After some years they had lost a group of pigeons, and there still were Canker infections. But it still isn't farfetched that pigeons with a better immune system will fight off infections in a much more efficient way. The moral here is that resistence is everything.
Shortly said: our advice is to medicate long enough, in a high enough dosage and with the right medication.
Bony-omega-3-flightoil
In the last few months there were quite a few pigeon lovers, who were very fond of our breeding oil, and who asked if we couldn't develop oil they could use during the flight season. And of course we did. We added a vegetable oil (wheat) to the omega-3 oil. We also added lecithin, vitamins and dietary minerals. The flight oil is a suspension so it is important to shake it before you use it. The oil works great to make the food sticky in case you want to add medication to the feed. The price is the same as the breeding oil.
Flightpackage 2008
Our flight packages are known by many of you for years. Next to the well
known packages there's now a new one. This year we introduce the 'Flight package-widowers.
The emphasis lies on our natural food supplements:
Bony- SGR 300 ml
Bony-flight support 250 ml
Bony omega 3 flight oil
Bony-Super ornithosemix 100 gram
Bonisol 500 ml
Bony-topcondition 500 gram
Price 69,50 euro
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Good luck!