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.

March is the month of the dove fair in Houten. We will also have a stand there. But March is also the month of the preparation for the competitions.

It is the month to make sure that the heads of the pigeons are healthy and that the respiratory infections are dealt with properly.

We receive a lot of e-mails with questions about which medical exams we can do in pigeons. This points out that many pigeon fanciers are clearly not fully informed about that subject.

I want to explain in this letter which exams that are important for the pigeon fancier that takes himself seriously. Besides that, I will tell you which exams are also necessary in some cases.