The previous months (May and June), we have done some research on the doves
of the pigeon fanciers in our region: Limburg in the Netherlands.
For this purpose, we sent an invitation to all the pigeon fanciers in Limburg
through their pigeon organizations.
The reason we did this investigation, is to find out which infectious diseases
play an important role throughout the flight season. Of course, we already had
a rough idea of which diseases we see the most, but we wanted to see if we could
come to some other, more widely spread conclusions after this.
We of all people realize that this is a ‘shot of the moment’. But there was a lot of variation in the kind of pigeons we had the chance to examine: widowers, reproduction doves, female widows, one-year old doves, early young, and some later young. The reproduction doves however, were limited in this investigation.
First we would like to say that we were pleased with the enormous amount of reactions we got on this call. Thanks to them, it was possible for us to create an image of the diseases we see the most in the previous season. But I would have to add that we noticed that the pigeon fanciers who never get their pigeons examined, didn’t do it now either.
When performing examinations of doves in a pigeon’s organization, I often
notice the presence of Coccidiosis and Worms after the high season.
These examinations in this season are since a long time a tradition for us.
It is done in this manner: One pigeon fancier takes the responsibility of sending
the faeces of the members who would like to take part in this examination to
us.
We first do a microscopical exam, and we also examine the faeces that have been
collected for 5 days on the presence of Paratyphus (Salmonella) for a reduced
price. We see that it are usually one or more serious pigeon fanciers who start
this movement. They do this in the hope of getting rid of pigeon fanciers who
do not care to put their doves infected with worms or other infections in the
hives.
In this investigation, we hardly found severe infections with worms. There were some collected faeces with Ascaridia and Capillaria worms. But this was only a few percent. We saw them mainly in the reproduction doves and in the widowers. Not in the young pigeons.
We didn’t see that much Coccidiosis either. The presence of this infection was equally divided over the different groups of doves. Occasionally, we saw a severe infection. But these doves also showed a poor condition. When there was a mild infection, however, we didn’t notice a changing in their condition.
If we see that, when performing examinations in the pigeon organizations, we
find a lot of Coccidiosis and worms (in another season than the flight season,
but still), I would have to conclude that the pigeon fanciers taking part in
this last investigation where of the more serious kind.
This tells us that our investigation is not fully representative for all pigeons
in our region.
Does this make this investigation worthless? I don’t think that way. It tells us that the serious pigeon fanciers should even more be careful that their pigeons are not put in hives with infected pigeons of less serious pigeon fanciers.
We also saw Trichomoniasis in this investigation, but again, not in extreme
amounts, exceptions left aside. We mainly saw them early in the season, in doves
for long distances. It is preferable to clear these long distance doves of Trichomoniasis
infections before putting them in hives with the short distance doves in preparation
for the long distances. For it is not pleasant for the pigeon fanciers of the
short distance doves to see their pigeons return with all kinds of diseases,
when it is possible to avoid it.
It was also interesting to see that the doves who had a cure of Ronidazole in
the drinking water still had a little bit of this parasite inside of them.
The previous two months, the most causes of bad performances of pigeons were
by far the respiratory problems.
Stomach and intestinal problems also occurred. But mainly in young doves.
We saw pigeon fanciers who had good results, but knew declining results after
that. Most of these pigeon fanciers did not take measures against respiratory
problems, in order to prevent them. They used to give a cure for the intestines
after the flights, which contained also a substance active against Trichomoniasis.
There also were pigeon fanciers who gave something to prevent problems in the
upper respiratory system, but only gave it 1 day once a week or fourteen days
and without the purifying cure before the flight season. These people were often
surprised that their pigeons got respiratory problems anyway.
This confirms something I wrote earlier: it is of no use to give preventive
doses during the competitions without clearing them from infections before that
season. If one wants to disinfect the pigeons after each flight, one has to
let the doves make a clean start in the competitions (this means free of infection).
The pigeon fanciers, who got declining results after a few weeks of competition, should start a cure. There is a risk of disturbing the development of the condition throughout this season. On one hand this is due to the use of stronger medicines, on the other hand it is because of the need for them to stay at home and rest.
It was striking how much mucus we found in the upper respiratory system.
This was always accompanied by bad of mediocre performances.
That’s why I think that a good cure against respiratory problems, should
also involve a softening product for the mucous membranes to soothe these as
well as to decrease the production of mucus. Giving a cure of antibiotics without
trying to control the presence of mucus is of no use.
The production of slime in doves this year was longer detected than the previous years. I partly blame the humid springtime. Or at least the constant changing in the weather in that season.
If we turn it around, we saw that the pigeons that had good performances, also
were free of mucus most of the time. Thus, mucus is an important parameter in
doves. If there is too much, good performances are impossible. The longer the
distances get, the more inconvenient the mucus gets for the doves.
There are two more important facts that were brought up during these investigations.
There were a number of pigeon fanciers who had good performances and suddenly
disappeared from the list. We do not mean the gradual decline as described above,
due to treatable respiratory infections, no it was from one moment to the other.
When examining the doves we couldn’t find anything striking. We only saw
a decline in condition and sometimes the throats wee too red. It was interesting
to see that these pigeons had nearly no mucus in the throats. When we consider
the fact that the presence of the Herpes virus in Young doves is increasing
these last weeks, that is noted by the yellow mucus in the beaks -often confused
with the yellow mucus caused by Trichomoniasis- it is obvious that these doves
are affected by the same virus. These widowers are 2-3 weeks out of condition.
They get less trained, but over all, they do not do too badly. But when they
have to deliver high performances, they fail. These doves can be lost, or they
come home exhausted. This in contrast to the doves that have a mild respiratory
infection and production of mucus. These doves do not come home exhausted, but
frequently in groups, a quarter to a half an hour too late and show hardly any
signs of fatigue.
The ‘Herpes’ doves on the contrary, are very tired an it takes a
long time for them to recover. If this is diagnosed, the pigeon fanciers should
let the affected doves get some rest. Because there are no medicines against
this virus.
We have to support them with vitamins and make their resistance rise. It is
possible to give them a cure in order to limit secondary infections.
Last but not least, I would like to point the attention on what I call the ‘Young
doves syndrome’. These young have a poor condition. They can show diarrhoea,
which makes one think of the Adenocoli syndrome. Sometimes they do not have
diarrhoea, but they don’t train either. In the beginning, the throats
are only a bit red. And then, after 2 weeks, a few young can suddenly develop
white to yellow mucus. The doves can have dyspnoea and can die in the next 24-48
hours. People often think this was Trichomoniasis. But these are symptoms of
infections with the Herpes virus.
In this ‘Young doves syndrome’ there is probably a latent infection
with the Circo virus, which makes it easier for other infections (Adeno-, Herpes-
and /or Paramyxovirus). Sometimes it is a mix of several infections, which makes
it hard to see which one is the most important.
The administration of medicines to prevent this, is not of a lot of use. But
stimulating the immunity at all times is the answer. I stick with the idea that
young who have been administer the Bony-SGR drink for a longer time, have less
difficulties with such diseases.
If there is an infection with the Herpes virus in the early young, we have to
let them rest, and only participate in the ‘late games’, or there
is the risk of losing a lot of them. We have to conclude that there are a lot
of infections that can affect the young. Namely the young can suffer from this
when the flights start. As soon as they get stressed when putting them in the
hives and at the same time they get exposed to a lot of infections, they often
start to show symptoms. So it is very important to maintain the immunity of
these young as high as possible at all times.
When combining Bony-SGR and Bony-Sambucca in the drinking water with Bony-Jodi
on the food when experiencing outbreaks, it seems we can limit the loss of young.
I wish You a lot of luck,