Testament of a pigeon fancier.

Meerhout
 X is not only a pigeon fancier but above all, a great personality, a man with good ideas and an eye for detail. He told me the following story. I would say ‘Read and Learn’:
X said:
At a certain age, it is somewhat normal that one starts thinking about drawing up a "testament". Call it a procedure that permits, on a legal basis, certain properties, possessions or knowledge to be passed on to one or more "beneficiaries".

Even the most grabbing and egoistic people ensure that, in the absence of direct heirs, “someone” will be provided for. Well in actual fact it is no different for a pigeon fancier, who during his active career has tried all sorts of techniques,  remedies and tricks, some with, and some without success, and in the autumn of his life decides to transfer this knowledge to his colleagues. This is in fact a heritage that has been given as a tip by friends or tried out by one’s self. There are, believe me, a mass of remedies that have been tested over the years. Many of these are often too absurd to believe, or conflict against all logic. Therefore we limit ourselves to common sense and scientifically acceptable compositions. Most people prefer to use natural and harmless products made and accepted as such by law. Most of these preparations are also easy and inexpensive to put together, which is welcome in these times of rising costs. It goes without saying that in the first place, GOED pigeons are a necessity. Furthermore, none of these preparations are intended to cure certain diseases, they are not drugs. That is what the vet is for. Some of these preparations are certainly already well known to certain fanciers, perhaps with a small change in the composition here and there. All five are harmless, animal friendly and certainly not in conflict with the list of banned products. In the past they have not only proved that they work by me, but also by many others and will continue to do so in the future.

Recipe 1 – Health tonic.
Ingredients: 1 Kg thick white onions, 250 Gr garlic, 250 Gr Alum powder, 1 Kg dark Candy sugar, 2 L water and 1 ladle Lugol’s solution.
Preparation: Because of the intensity of the garlic, please prepare outside.
Finely chop the onions and garlic and let them cook together with the alum powder and the Candy sugar in the 2 litres of water for 1 hour, allow to cool and sieve through a cloth, add the ladle of lugol and preserve in a dark bottle in a cool place.
Usage: 1 soup spoonful per litre drink water for the first 5 days and then twice per week; after a few weeks you will see an increase in the vitality of the pigeons, the old  down disappears and the pigeons become pure and have pink flesh.
If you can’t get hold of any Lugol’s solution then 1 soup spoonful of gin can be added, or ask the chemist to make up some Lugol’s solution. Dissolve 5 gr Iodine ( I2) and 10 gr Potassium iodide (KI) in 100 ml water.

Recipe 2 – The four salts
There are, as far as I know, 2 variants. I give them both without preference. Both, preferably made up by the chemist, ensure a nice and healthy throat and give your pigeons a white nose after a few weeks of administering. The application is very simple: open the beak and put a pinch in the mouth. Give this every day for a week at the beginning of the season, followed by twice a week. Both variants consist of 4 equal parts of the salts used, so 25% of each.
Variant A:
Sodium bicarbonate NaHCO3
Magnesium sulphate MgSO4
Sodium citrate C6H5Na3O7. 2 H2O
Sodium benzoate C6H5CO2 Na
Variant B: Sodium bicarbonate NaHCO3
Sodium sulphate Na2SO4
Sodium citrate C6H5Na3O7. 2 H2O
Sodium benzoate C6H5CO2 Na

Recept 3- Tea based on medicinal herbs:

Mixture A:
100 Gr Lamium  Deadnettle
100 Gr Filipendula  Meadowsweet
100 Gr Achillea  Yarrow
50 Gr Salvia   Sage
50 50 Gr Pimpinella  Anise
150 Gr Mentha  Mint
50 Gr Artemisia  Artemisia
50 Gr Rheum   Rhubarb roots
50 Gr Taraxalum  Dandelion roots
50 Gr Tanacetum Vulgare Tansy
100 Gr Borago  Borage
50 Gr Fraxinus  Ash
50 Gr Calendula  Marigold
50 Gr Lamium flora  Flower dead nettle
50 Gr Malva flora  Flower Mallow
50 Gr Thymus  Thyme

Mixture B:
100 Gr Arvense  Thistle
50 Gr Calendula  Marigold
100 Gr Sambucus  Elderberries
100 Gr Mentha  Mint
150 Gr moulting seed Commodity

Preparation:
Racing season – 1 soup spoonful Mixture A + 1 coffee spoon Energy seed per litre water
Bring to the boil, add 1 soup spoon honey per litre water. After boiling for 30 minutes, let stew, cool and strain. Every day for 1 week, then once a week by homecoming.
Moulting season per litre water 1 soup spoon mixture A + 1 soup spoon mixture B.
Prepare as in racing season and give for 14 days.

Recipe 4– Extract of oats and rice
If the droppings are no longer solid, and this is not due to an infection of the intestines, an extract of 200 Gr oats + 100 Gr rice in 2 litres of water can do wonders when added to the drinking water. Simple and efficient.

Recipe 5– A little faster without doping
A packet of celery seed (2 Gr), a packet of rape seed (2 gr), 10 Gr cannabis seeds, 10 Gr cola powder, 10 Gr glucose, 10 Gr ground coffee, 10 Gr vitamin C are all finely grounded in a coffee grinder. The finely ground powder is wetted to a plastic pasta with wheat germ oil. This is rolled into balls the size of a pea and is dried and hardened. The hard balls are kept in a closed jar in the refrigerator. They are given to the pigeons in their mouths on the day of basketting. Every second counts and can make all the difference.
Success.

Conclusion: I repeat, all these remedies, which have the great advantage of being harmless and cheap, only give good results with good and healthy pigeons. That is essential along with the work of a good vet in combination with an attentive fancier.

Finally:
X , thanks for this information. I hope to be able to visit you again soon and wish you every success for 2004.

Reactions.
The number of reactions and questions to the editor has been remarkable. It proves once again that there is a need by the average pigeon fancier for the so often quoted “ secrets “. The fact that they are very cheap and easy to prepare has encouraged many fanciers to start cooking.
We asked them to send us their findings.
We have combined the most frequently asked questions below, coming out of all Dutch speaking Belgium and the Netherlands, and very briefly the answers.

Recipe 1
This health tonic was the most popular recipe, the following questions were raised:
-Doesn’t too much water evaporate if boiled for 1 hour?
Answer: Although there is some evaporated liquid, there is enough left over to keep the ingredients in a solution
- We were informed of the following variants:
Added to the specified ingredients some people even added green pine cones and elderberries when cooking. Answer is not known, but at first glance, it can add value. Can it be administered over the food? Certainly, wetting the grain with the tonic and sprinkled with brewer’s yeast or vitamins, preferably prepared the evening before, gives good results and has the advantage that “everything” is used.
Can a greater quantity be prepared in advance, seeing that there is an unpleasant smell when preparing? The Lugol does conserve the end product, but it is best to make a new batch every three months.

Recipe 2
The four salts: the question was asked if in variant B the sodium sulphate could be replaced by sodium chloride (plain kitchen salt)? Probably, but the main property of both magnesium sulphate (English salt) and sodium sulphate is that they have an purgerende force not in NaCl.

Recipe 3
The Tea: several variants with other herbs so as Chamomile, Linden flower, Elderberries and Hogweed were quoted as additional ingredients. Why not, but it would be wise to ask the drug store if these herbs can be used for pigeon tea. What is energy seed and where can you get. I've always just asked for and received energy seeds by the herbalist; The shopkeeper once told me it was also called Fenergan or Fenergon

Recipe 4 – No questions

Recipe 5

Celery seeds have often been confused with celery salt, It is, however, the seed. Although celery salt may also may have an inflammatory effect, who knows? What is cola powder and where can it be found? Cola powder is the powder of  ground cola nuts and is available at every chemist. Instead of wheat germ oil, wouldn’t egg yolk  be easier for making the balls? Could be, try it, but don’t forget that wheat germ oil is an ingredient of the best sold  precious oils.
Finally, can the powder be put into capsules? Probably, it is perhaps an alternative for 2 nights basketting. We have dealt with the most interesting questions.

We are pleased that there was such a great reaction, it can only benefit the pigeon sport. Thanks again Mr X