Four golden tips for a smooth moult and high-quality feathers

After the racing season, it is important to have your pigeons checked for pathogens and, if necessary, treated before the real moulting starts. During moulting, the pigeons' general immunity drops and they are much more susceptible to diseases. Put simply, "moulting pigeons" are actually somewhat "sick pigeons".

After a gruelling and stressful racing season, we should then think especially of salmonella or a paratyphoid infection. Every year, there are numerous lofts that experience an outbreak of paratyphoid when the moulting season is in full swing. The pigeons usually contract this infection when they stay in the travel baskets during the racing season, among many other pigeons. The disease first remains dormant for a while until the pigeons' resistance drops in the moulting season, and then the infection breaks through completely. We therefore recommend giving a ten-day course with a suitable antibiotic before the start of the moulting period. Always plan this treatment in consultation with the attending veterinarian.

In the moulting season, the pigeons replace their entire plumage. To do this, they should be offered the necessary nutrients. Feathers are largely made up of protein (86% keratin protein), so after some logical thinking we know that we have to provide the pigeons with the necessary building blocks of protein, which are amino acids.

There are two types of amino acids: essential and non-essential. The non-essential amino acids are produced by the pigeon body itself, but the essential amino acids (such as methionine, lysine, cysteine, etc.) cannot be produced by the pigeon and must be administered through the diet.

A traditional grain mixture contains very few essential amino acids. It is therefore best to supplement it with supplements. This automatically leads you to the Plus mixtures: grain mixtures supplemented with an extruded pellet.

What makes this pellet particularly suitable for the moulting period?

• High levels of essential amino acids => better quality and formation of feathers
• A unique combination of essential fatty acids => better immunity during moulting
• High levels of sulphurous amino acids => better and soft feathers
• A combination of stabilised vitamins and minerals => better condition and health

It is therefore really important to provide pigeons with a high-quality mixture such as Plus Mutine or Plus Black Label Mutine during the moulting period.

Return to nature during the moulting period and allow the pigeons to de-stress after the racing season. Let them brood together with their hens once or twice before the big moult begins.

Do not give them any medication during the moulting period (unless it is really necessary), but support them with natural products:

• Start with an eight-day treatment of Colombine Tea + Muta Seeds in the drinking water and afterwards, continue giving two or three days a week. The pigeons will be in good general condition and the down moult will be stimulated.
• For two days a week, give Intestinal Top in the drinking water, a combination of esterified fatty acids. With Intestinal Top, you will be amazed at their fitness levels.
• For respiratory support, give Respi-Top in the drinking water for two days.
  Respi-Top is a combination of essential oils that support the airways and keep them clean.
• Also make sure the pigeons can benefit from a bath with Ideal Bath Salt at least once a week, so that all dandruff disappears from the skin and the new feathers come out supple and soft.

At the end of the moulting period it is important that the pigeons do not put on weight too quickly. Therefore, make sure you already add one third of Plus Gerry or Plus Depure to the moulting mixture Plus Mutine, so that the pigeons do not get a chance to become too heavy. If they come out of winter overweight, you will find it difficult to get them to train, and the risk of tendon and muscle strain grows, resulting in bad racers.

Good luck and remember: you reap what you sow!