rotti
23 posts
Oct 26, 2004
12:24 PM
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I know most people feed a wheat milo mix. Is there anything wrong with using rice in the feed? I've never heard it discussed but I'm sure in parts of the world they must use it for the main part of their feed. So could rice replace the milo or the wheat? Or could it be used to mix with pellets? Don
Last Edited by rotti on Oct 26, 2004 12:26 PM
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highroller
46 posts
Oct 26, 2004
3:27 PM
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Don,
I'm not 100% sure but I think feeding rice will dehydrate your birds. It soaks up all the water in their system. Many places prohibit throwing rice at weddings now cuz the birds eat it up and die. Maybe it's just an old wives tale too. Anyone else ever hear that??
Dan
Last Edited by highroller on Oct 26, 2004 3:49 PM
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redneckhippie15
48 posts
Oct 26, 2004
4:35 PM
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I fed my birds rice in the summer for a couple of weeks.
They flew fine and I didn`t notice any problems.I didn`t use a lot prolly 3/4 cup to a big coffee can full of seed.
I saw a post a long time ago in this board about rice. That was why I tried it.
Now that I am through the moult I can finally start playing with their feed a bit. They were trapping slow, that took 1 day to cure. I started feeding scratch mix 4days ago.Iam feeding 2-1 wheat/ milo Started that today 3/4 Tpb.
Now I need to slow them down a bit so they can show me what they have. All of them are tween 6-8 mos. All roll in some shape form or fashion.Most are 3-4 flips and 6 -8 feet. I have a couple of good ones, kinda slow on the freq but nice when they do. Every now and then the kit does hve a great fly. Black hen is so frequent she can`t kit properly or she rolls before she gets back.When she is on, she is on tight 20 footers abot every 45 secs for 10-15 mins. Then she lands. Killin Me!!
What do I do with this hen?
I want to breed her but I won`t if I don`t see her calm down a bit.
Can Ya help me?
Thanks guys
Never watch you birds with you mouth open!
redneckhippie*blue dot lofts*
Last Edited by redneckhippie15 on Oct 26, 2004 4:54 PM
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J_Star
52 posts
Oct 26, 2004
5:01 PM
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Rotti,
Rice is full of carbohidrate. It is OK to feed the pigeon with small amount of rice in their ration. Some breeders use it to harden the babies dropings in the nest. I used feed my birds rice and they do fine on it. If you think your birds need extra carbohidrates, then by no means use some rice. Everybody uses wheat/milo with their rollers because Wheat is a high-octain while milo is a low-octain so to speek. Milo will slow the birds down to fly like butterfly while wheat provides them with protein (energy).
Hope this answers your question.
Jay
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rotti
24 posts
Oct 27, 2004
3:36 AM
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Thanks for the posts. I'm still not sure how the rice will effect my birds but at least I know I can use it. We'll see what happens. Don
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MCCORMICKLOFTS
306 posts
Oct 27, 2004
2:02 PM
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Hey Jay, did you ever feed them just straight rice? I'm curious as to how they did on it. A friend told me once he ran out of feed and so he fed his birds some rice he had in the house and after they drank their crops swelled up so bad that many of them died. Maybe the high level of starch or dehydration, or maybe they just ate too much of it. Did you notice anything similar or were they just fine afterwards?
Brian.
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J_Star
55 posts
Oct 27, 2004
7:34 PM
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Brain,
I fed them rice in small amounts, but when I was razing common pigeon I fed them rice all the time with no problem. Some time I gave them the leftover cooked rice after dinner. I was at another website a few weeks ago and a guy in Arizona only feed his rollers rice in the summer months with no problem. People in Asia feed their pigeons rice all the time because that is the type of grain is plentaful in their part of the woods.
Jay
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Mother lode lofts
263 posts
Oct 27, 2004
8:39 PM
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Jay they feed em rice because it retaines water and takes longer to digest. learned that from a tippler guy.
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J_Star
56 posts
Oct 28, 2004
8:36 AM
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Kenny,
I had similer problem early on with some of my birds like your hen. It turned out that they had worms, which caused them soar wing joints. I used to force them to fly, but some comes back in 10 to 15 min while others refuse to fly. Try to deworm them if you haven't done by now. this could be the problem. It is hard to diagnose because you can not see the worms in their dropings. Worming medication is not very expensive, therefore, give it a try.
Other possibility is you need to feed her up good and fly them after 22 to 23 hours from previous feeding (once a day). Add some peas or other hi protine grain to their feed for the extra energy since your birds are still young. They need to build wing muscles at an early age. I noticed that with my birds when I either feed them too little or gave them their food after 24 to 25 hrs. They fly sluggish and land too soon. Best of luck..
By the way, I lost one of mine to the hawlk yesterday. It is the first. What an experience to watch the hawlk catch it and start plucking its feathers. He is going to be relocated soon.
Scott, That's good to know. I did not know the reason behind feeding rice in the summer time. Do you think that it will work for you guys in CA b4 fly day when the weather is really hot? Or you don't want the birds to retain water b4 the fly? let me know. Thanks.
Jay
Last Edited by J_Star on Oct 28, 2004 8:49 AM
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bluebar
4 posts
Oct 28, 2004
12:40 PM
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Lots of the racer guys here use rice during the hottest season. An old guy showed me the trick he uses years ago. You soak the rice (white) then let it sit spread out in the sun to redry. The rice is still a bit swollen after it redries because it retains a bit of the water. He used to use that rice fed to the birds, in moderation, as a water source for long flights. Don't know if I buy into it, but it's what he did and he flew and won.
Biggest problem with rice usage (and yes that idea of birds getting rice and dying by drove in front of churches is an urban myth - personally i think it was started by churches so they wouldn't have to clean up after weddings), is that most people only feed white or polished rice. That has had its husked removed and it's totally deficient in just about every nutrient known to mankind (yeah some has it readded but it's still very low in B vitamins). Asian fanciers and those here who use rice as a basic part of the feed use paddy rice (rice as it's grown naturally).
Paddy rice is no better nor worse than other grains. You can see a lot about it if you have Levi's The Pigeon. Just check in the feed section and you get lots of info about using rice.
I, personally, used to use it with my race birds and Oriental Rollers at about 5% of the feed when i could get it cheap enough or I'd use the grocery store white version of it if a bird needed some help to firm up droppings when it was ill. - in addition to the meds, but the rice seemed to help in addition
Frank
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redneckhippie15
51 posts
Oct 28, 2004
2:58 PM
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Thanks Jay
This all started after a ten day shutdown. Got em fat and sassy. She was fine for a couple of days then bam! there she went. I wormed during the shutdown. I am trying to get them slowed down on milo and wheat 2/1. This is day 2 and it was too windy to fly so I don`t know yet. They have been eating pigeon mix so they have had plenty of protein. Now they are thru the molt, I`m gonna see what they have. It is time to start picking breeders. I have several birds that are frequent and shallow,but have nice form. Feeding up does`nt work so I`m goin` the other way this time.
thanks man
Gimme your email and I`ll send you a pic of her.I caught her all balled up. Great form.
You`ll see why I wanna breed her.
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Never watch you birds fly with you mouth open!
redneckhippie*blue dot lofts*
Last Edited by redneckhippie15 on Oct 28, 2004 3:02 PM
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redneckhippie15
54 posts
Oct 30, 2004
4:21 PM
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How long can I keep em on straight milo.This is day four, they are flying a bit slower and the performance has improved.
The good ones are rolling better and a bit more frequently. The freq`s are a bit deeper. I had a couple of good turns.
I checked a couple of them this morning and they don`t seem to be losing much weight. When should I give them some wheat?
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Never watch you birds with you mouth open!
redneckhippie*blue dot lofts*
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J_Star
59 posts
Oct 30, 2004
5:09 PM
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Kenny,
Make it one day a week that you give them Wheat. Call Monday to be the Wheat day and follow this plan until you think that they need to get more of protine. Or now and then mix small amount of peas with the milo.
Jay
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redneckhippie15
55 posts
Oct 31, 2004
5:01 AM
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I usually fly 5-6 times on the weekend then give monday off. This would allow them to digest the higher protein and recover from the soreness. Cool.
thanks Jay
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Never watch you birds with you mouth open!
redneckhippie*blue dot lofts*
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