Feeding pigeons is an art in itself, it cannot be learnt quickly.

To the non-fancier this may sound a load of rubbish but it is nevertheless a fact. If pigeons are over-fed they become lethargic, they do not want to exercise, they sit about the loft all day with nothing to interest them. Fat. pigeons will contract more diseases than pigeons that are fit. They will also be unable to breed as easily because the hens will become egg-bound. Egg-bound hens are those that accumulate layers of fat around their ovaries making the laying of the egg a difficult business. Fat pigeon hens are anyway less fertile than their slimmer sisters.

Pigeons that are underfed cannot build up a resistance to disease; they fall prey to the slightest malady. Because of their poor condition these diseases can easily turn into more serious problems such as Paratyphoid. Hungry pigeons are also lethargic and will not exercise properly as they should, They will forever be hanging about the loft looking for food, and if they have the opportunity they will go fielding where they can either be shot or pick up poison in the.form of modern fertilizers,

From this it will be seen that a balance is required between the two extremes. To do this requires a little commonsense and an eye for detail. After feeding there should never be any food left in the hopper for more than an hour after feeding  time. If there is food still present then it is clear that the birds are being overfed because they are eating their fill and leaving anything that is left. Tliere are two points to watch here. Firstly, the pigeons will only be eating the grains that  they prefer and this is not always what is good for them. Secondly, any food that is left in the hopper will soon become soiled and therefore become a health risk. Any food that is left over should never be left lying around.

The obvious answer here is to cut the food down, but the question is by how much? Well now, suppose we are faced with the problem of pigeons that always leave food at the end of feeding time. If the birds do not appear keen at meal tim they are grossly overfed and their rations should be cut by least one third for a couple of days. The effects of this will be startling; the birds will become as keen as a knife at  mealtimes. From here we must now build them up until they are feeding at an acceptable level without being either too hungry or too full. The difference can be as slight as on handful of corn!

At feeding times watch the birds as they feed and when the second bird has finished feeding and gone to the fountain for a drink it is a signal to the fancier to stop  feeding. If this practice is carried on for a week it will be evident that the birds will become much more easy to manage. Feeding by hand in this way will also contribute to the pigeons  tameness whilst in the loft.

Another method of feeding pigeons is to hopper-feed them which entails the use of an automatic hopper which dispenses food at the rate at which it is being eaten. In other words the hopper should be able to maintain a level of food sufficient to the birds needs at all times. The only part the fancier plays in feeding is to ensure that the hoppers are always full. One would think that this method of feeding would overfeed the birds but surprisingly this is not true.

The hopper-fed pigeon will only take as much as it ne and will not'fill its crop to bursting just for the sake of it.

There is another version of hopper-feeding w1fich does not require the use of an automatic hopper. The hopper, must however be covered to prevent the contents becoming soiled., The hopper is filled and then left in front of the birds for a given period, say between the hours of four and six in the evening,

All feeding and watering utensils must be kept as clean as possible. Cleanliness is very important when feeding pigeons, and this is never more true than when feeding the. birds straight onto the loft floor as is often the practice Where this is done the floor must be scrubbed clean with. a scraper and brush first. Failure to do this may result in the birds' picking up an infection that will soon spread right through the flock.

Stray birds must never, ever be fed with your own birds Although they may look perfectly all right they may be carriers of such diseases as Coccidiosis which will prove fatal if not recognised in time.

Food hoppers should never be left lying around the loft floor whether they are empty or not. They should be scraped and brushed down after use and either hung or placed somewhere out of the way.

All feeding and watering appliances should be scrubbed every week in hot soapy water to which a disinfectant has been added.

It is possible to buy special detergents with disinfectant properties that are formulated especially for pigeon fanciers' use.

Whenever-the drinking water is changed the bowl or trough should be rubbed round and rinsed to remove anything that may have accidentally fallen in. Healthy pigeons are always shedding bloom which is in fact a very fine dust. This bloom soon settles upon.water and can-often be seen as a f ine film over the drinking water. The removal of this film is of course commonsense and it should be done as often as possible.

Water should be in front of the pigeons for twenty-four hours a day, but feeding times are different.

There are fanciers who give a light  feed early in the morning and a heavier feed at night. The more usual practice is to feed once per day at night. Restricting feeding to one meal per day simplifies feeding and also helps preven overfeeding.

The use of small seeds in the morning is quite permissible (provided it is not overdone) as these mixtures contain seeds that are heating to the body. Small seeds are often used in trapping mixtures which are used to lure the birds into the loft after exercise.