Basic Pigeon Care

[SM]

You have covered some wonderful topics under your Basic Pigeon Care section regarding feed, water, housing, bonding, etc. The resounding and recurring message from Fred is for new pigeon people to arm themselves with a selection of medications in the event of an illness outbreak--as said repeatedly, they can come on fast and furious sometimes. It's obvious that he frustrates over this time element, as he certainly is experienced and knowledgable about how time can be of the essence once problems arise. Perhaps you could add a small section to your Basic Care segment of the site that uses some of the info Fred has shared with us about common meds that can be used most effectively by being on hand--and maybe provide a couple of links to sites where the meds can be purchased. At least maybe we'd get appropriate meds into the circle of consideration at the onset--I as a new person to the craft did not realize the importance of building a good medicine reserve at the onset--fortunately I had no problems before learning from you guys that you must be prepared to be pigeon owner, cleaner, feeder AND doctor! Just a thought...

And a quick question...do you know if Sulmet needs to be refrigerated? Some of the meds are received with very plain labels, without reference made to whether or not they need to be refrigerated (except for the vaccination meds, which come in ice packs). Thanks.

[raynjudy]

Ahhh, great minds...

This is a partial cross-post from another thread, containing Fred's recommendations for must have on hand medications:

*****
...I'm recommending 5 products:1) Foys-Extoban D: an excellent non toxic dusting powder that should be used on every pigeon before it is brought into a home.

2)Foys-Carnidazole: A generic Spartrix for canker. One pill should go down every bird you pick up.

3)Global: Appertex: a small pill to eliminate Coccidiosis. Same for each bird you bring in.

4)Global: Baytril. They come in 20mg tablets and should be given in 5mg pieces so cut them into quarters.

5)Either store-Ivermec, 1% solution-Never worm a bird under two months of age. Their livers cannot tolerate Ivermec. All other birds you bring in should be given 7 drops from a hyperdermic needle syringe or 3 drops from an eyedropper. More than that is dangerous to the systems.

I have recently been told that Global sells a three-in-one medicine that covers canker, coccidiosis and worming. I don't recommend it because I would be afraid of the wormer in young birds. If you go down this path, don't forget to ask for catalogs.
*****

Also, a partial cross-post:

"Please remember that there are probably equivalent drugs available for the same purpose--i.e., Cipro in place of Baytril--as well as alternative cures out there."

"Pigeons.com is a work in progress. The rumors of big bucks and executive perquisites are hugely exaggerated--it's all volunteer effort. For now, why not copy and paste this post into your pigeon data bases?"

SM, I totally agree with your suggestion--we should have our own "Formulary" with hot-links to it, in an amplified care section. (Of course you do realize that may give Fred less reason to scold people!)

Sorry, don't know Sulmet!

PIGEONS FOREVER!!!

--Ray

[raynjudy]

Oh yeah--thanks! Judy & I wrote the "Basic Care" section.

--Ray

[SM]

I have an idea even Fred would welcome a reason NOT to have to scold us rookies (better for his blood pressure)! I know Ray and Judy will do a great job on this as well. A stocked medicine cabinet before we holler "help"!!! Win-win.

[fred2344]

What about a thread to which we all contribute, listing the medications we use, where we buy them and seeing if anyone has suggestions about others that may be better?
Then we put the whole thing into a new category.
Incidentally, Carnidazole is no longer offered by Foys and I have no idea if anyone else carries it. The next best thing in my opinion is Spartrix.
Global no longer sells 20 mg. pills of Baytril. They seem to be getting 50 mg. pills from Mexico.

[fred2344]

SM,
I'm so excited about this new potential project, my blood pressure is going up.

[SM]

Easy, Fred. We need you for the duration! My medicine cabinet is based on an earlier post from you where you identified the disease/problem and then made recommendations on meds. Sulmet is the only thing I have outside of your recommendations, and I used it to successfully treat a cold in a roller hen. Also, don't forget to list vaccinations--maybe some instructions on how to administer (obviously a deterrent to needing medicines at all). A local loft owner had an interesting way to administer pox vaccinations--with a large-eyed sewing needle in the upper leg. But--that's another set of issues--let's tackle meds first!

[fred2344]

SM,
I don't know if anyone does this anymore but the old way of vaccinating a pigeon against pox was to use a needle with the virus from an infected bird and make a small scratch on the leg of an uninfected one. Supposedly, the infection that developed would remain local and immunize the bird.

[raynjudy]

Lets structure the formulary to be ultra easy for the newbies, as they're the ones who need quick and lucid answers. We should include URL links for ordering the drugs right within the text.

I have material submitted to Carl for consideration at this time. He will let me know when he's about to make more changes; then, perhaps we can prioritize this.

Fred, I'll e-mail you under separate cover.

Good thinking, SM!

--Ray

[Whitefeather]

Being a 'newbie' myself, I think that is a great idea Ray. Cindy

[bigbird]

I like the idea of having a "pigeon health , medications, emergency care, etc."
set up on the bulletin board as a "discussion topic". What do you say to this?
In addition, we could also have on the bulletin board a fixed reader board topic called "FAQ-Pigeon health and care". This would serve to give some standard information for thoes in need of quick answers.

Ray, you and Fred could work on the
"FAQ-Pigeon Care" section, I would then have it posted on the board.

Let me know what you all think.

Regards,
Carl

[raynjudy]

Hi, Carl:

This needs to be coordinated with the basic template of the web site.

Please review e-mail with attachment, dated 09/17/02. I never heard from you on that.

We have the dormant Emergency Care section and the GmbH thingy links on the home page to consider. This all has to come together.

If you and Fred would e-mail me, we can knock this around as time permits.

We'll get there!

--Ray