•A great gift idea for that special fancier is a Siegel's Gift Certificate, available in any amount, for a holiday gift, a birthday, Father's Day, or any other occasion. Just phone us at 800-437-4436 and we'll make up a nice certificate and mail it to your recipient. He or she will be able to apply it to a new book, a great new training basket, medications or supplements, or any other purchase from Siegel's.

•Congratulations go out to Art Hees of Spring Hill, Florida, for the honors that his flying of "Miss Artesian" garnered from the Racing Pigeon Digest. "Miss Artesian" won 1st Overall Ace Pigeon of America as well as 1st Overall Ace Sprint Pigeon of America.
"Miss Artesian" (AU 05 A 25102) was bred in our lofts out of "Witslager I" (99-3236902) and "Het As Duifke" (00-3091215) from our Musketier Family. Her mother, "Het As Duifke," was 2nd National Ace Sprint Pigeon "Ave Regina" Belgium in 2000. Her sire, "Witslager I," flew 15 races as a young bird, scoring 13 prizes, 7 x top ten, including 2nd, 3rd, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th. He is also the sire of five 1sts in Belgium.

The timer revolution
When split seconds count, make sure you're counting split seconds accurately! Benzing electronic timers have quickly become the new standard in our sport and are more popular than ever! The best has gotten better! Benzing's new M-1 clock and "Lazer" antennas are now in the States, and full distribution is now available. They are the most accurate, sensitive antenna in the world today--with the most antenna coils per square inch of any pigeon scanning antenna available!

It was a kick to sit at our computer monitor and "watch" the birds clock in the World Ace Challenge races!

The biggest races rely on the Benzing tradition of accuracy and speed, and the Benzing M-1 system is revealing itself to be heads above the competition.

A Benzing M-1 "Lazer" system recently clocked the Lou McElroy Race. Among the other major one-loft races using Benzing Lazers are the Colorado Goldrush Race, a 300-mile race flown from Elm Creek, NE, released on October 14, 2006.
the East Coast Classic, the Gulf Coast Classic, the San Diego Classic, the San Jacinto Classic, America's King Cup, the Snowbird Classic, and the Caribbean Classic.

Other members of the Benzing "family" of futurity races and racing combines include the Texas Shoot-Out, American Showdown, Desert Classic, East Coast Challenge, Flamingo Race, Caribbean Classic, Queen City Memorial, Boundbrook Futurity, and Paterson Air Derby, among many others....
Tell me more...

In News & Views:
Stefan Mertens takes us this month into the lofts of Theo Janssens and Gerarda Boen of Mol, Belgium, who recently won the National Championship K.B.D.B at the Great Middle Distance.... Mertens filed his report last month on the championship Belgian team of Frans and Louis Nijns, winners of the 1st National Ace Pigeon Middle Distance K.B.D.B. 2007.... Mertens himself is the 2006 1st National Champion KBDB Middle Distance Youngbirds.
For these reports, and many other archived features, click here...
Read on for all the news!

Where's Ed?

Siegel's Ed Minvielle on the road...again!
Siegel Pigeons prospective travel schedule for 2008:


Texas Center Convention- July 10-13, Phoenix, AZ


American Racing Pigeon Union Convention - Oct. 14-18, St. Paul, MN


California State Racing Pigeon Organization - Nov. 6-8, Bakersfield, CA


National Show, November 15, Stamford, CT


Dixie Southern Convention,
Nov. 20-22, Jacksonville, FL



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Tips for the fancier:
August
in the Loft

In August, most racing fanciers around the country are concentrating on their young birds. This is certainly necessary, and to some, it's a great deal of fun. But I think that the old bird racers and the breeders should get their share of time and attention as well. Most fanciers allow their old bird racers to lay and to raise at least one round of young after the racing season. This is a good idea because raising the young gets the hormones on a more natural track and plays a large part in getting a pigeon's body chemistry set for the moult. Novices may wonder why, in August, their breeders are so much farther along in the moult than their racers, and the answer is that the act of racing temporarily disrupts the natural hormone cycle, causing a slowing of the moult.


Primarily, breeders are on a cycle that mirrors what would be seen in nature. This means that they progress with their moult with each round of young that they raise. The body chemistry in our pigeons is geared to start the body moult at about the time of the shedding of the fifth primary flight, and the breeders shed one primary flight with each round that they raise. It just makes sense that if a pair has raised four clutches by the end of June, by the time August rolls around, they should be well advanced in all stages of the moult.


One reason why we separate the breeders and old bird racers now insure that the moult goes well. Relieving the birds of most of the stress of rearing young allows their bodies to rest and use all of their resources to build new feathers. Many old timers know that a good moult is fundamentally linked to good health. There are several products available to help the pigeons shed old down feathers and supplement the body with the most necessary vitamins for a really fine molt. Products such as Biochol from Oropharma, Murium from Comed, and Naturaline from the Natural company are especially beneficial to the birds at this time. Another super product is Colombine Moulting Seeds. This mix contains specially formulated herbs with the proper ingredients to help our birds shed old down feathers and encourage a better moult.


I urge every fancier to allow the race team to raise at least one round after the racing season. The reason is that this will help to jump start the molt and, along with the slight decrease in daily minutes of sunlight, start the process for the loosening of the feathers for moulting. It really isn't unusual to see birds that have been raced very hard lose two flights at a time. This is Nature's way of letting the birds "catch up" in the moulting cycle, so it is especially important that proper nutrition and supplements be used at this time.


Youngsters raised from the race team can be held as late hatches and donated to the club to help new flyers, or to Help-A-Beginner programs, or even donated to the many fall auctions that are held every year to help raise money for clubs. It's always best to buy these late-hatch babies from a really successful fancier. Usually a fancier in this league has all the birds he needs by this time of year, and he or she may be willing to sell some late hatches at very reasonable prices just to make space. If the successful fancier would allow it, taking a set of young from his top two or three racers would be a really smart move. Why? Because in a year or two those super successful racers will probably be in his breeding loft, and the prices of their babies will be much higher, if they are for sale at all.


In last month's update, I shared my ideas and experience about the training of the young birds. By now everyone should already be set up with a program, so I'd like to discuss a serious issue that has been plaguing us here in the States for several years. It is a young bird disease that has killed numerous babies. It seems to have most affected the youngest babies, and it definitely has all of the symptoms of a virus, meaning it is unreceptive to just about any treatment.

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For the last several years I have spoken about the young bird losses in Europe being very high, and how babies are being lost on training tosses and dying in their lofts at alarming rates. This same phenomenon has been occurring in the States for a few years, and we can track at least five or six calls every week from concerned fanciers fighting this problem in their lofts. Since the Europeans spend a great deal more time and money researching pigeon diseases than we do in America, it is only natural that they are more advanced in their knowledge of the cause and effect of this mysterious disease. I have commented in this forum before that the consensus from the European veterinary community is that the disease is most probably Cercle Virus, or a metamorphosis of Paramyxovirus, with slightly different symptoms, or possibly Adeno Virus with a secondary infection of E.coli, so that the disease is called Adeno-Coli.

When we travel to Europe, we make it a point to spend time interviewing Belgium's leading pigeon veterinarians, Wim Boddaert with Oropharma and Versele-Laga, and Raf Herbots, of the famous Herbots family, along with Jean-Louis Jorissen, a industrual chemist and owner of the world-reknown Comed company. One of our goals when traveling is to search out the latest developments in the world of pigeon diseases, along with the medications and treatment plans used to attack them. These three individuals, along with Dr. Colin Walker in Australia, with whom we have regular contact, give us a solid base of knowledge from which to work, and we use that information to assist our customers when they are having problems with their birds.

There have been several interesting conclusions that we have taken out of our meetings, and we'd like to pass that information on to you here. The most important bit of information is that the viruses are here to stay, and we will have to deal with them from now on. Viruses are more difficult to deal with than bacteria because they can undergo such a rapid metamorphosis and therefore change their genetic make-up so much more quickly than bacteria can. Because of this, viruses are virtually impossible to treat, long term, with medications. Vaccinations are the most likely treatment plan with viruses, but developing reliable vaccines is very time-consuming and expensive, and often the end result is not successful. Nonetheless, there are some new developments on the way which will assist us in the very near future.


One is an oral vaccine to be administered five days every month on the feed. This oral vaccine, called "ADCO" (for Adeno-Coli), is made from the antigens of E.coli. It is not a drug, and it is not a bacterial agent, but what it will do is act like a sieve in our birds' blood stream, eliminating the E.coli bacteria and identifying the carriers of Adeno Virus. From what we are being told, an average of one out of every forty pigeons may die from the treatment, but those that die are the carriers, so that the loft will be undergoing a constant culling, so to speak, of those birds that could re-infect the entire flock. Since a pigeon's body does a complete blood replacement within its system every four to six weeks, it is advised that this oral vaccine be given in six-week intervals. Of course, such a treatment plan may not be for everyone, but the really serious fanciers would do well to consider such a plan, as the disease carriers will be constantly eliminated.


There is also a similar development regarding an oral vaccine for respiratory infections in pigeons. I think that this product will be a great boon to us racing fanciers. This vaccine is taking considerable time and money to develop, and we will keep you posted regarding the latest developments here.

It is also being reported that there have been signs of strong antibiotic resistance to staph infections in Australia. This is not good news, because some of the antibiotics that the staph infections are showing resistance to are the latest and greatest that we have available. What this will eventually mean is that medications and their use will change dramatically in the coming years.

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Anyone reading this information should be thinking about the big picture, and what the signs are telling us is that we should be more and more conscious of culling our pigeons based on one very important piece of information--the resistance to disease. In our lofts, for years now, we have had a policy in which all babies that are not shipped to futurities, or that are not placed in the racing lofts, are put into large aviary lofts and are given vitamins and supplements, along with Health Gard, but absolutely no medication. They go four to five months before we even vaccinate them. The weak ones eliminate themselves. The strong ones tell us that their immune system is active and working well.


Jean-Louis Jorissen has told us that he would highly recommend NOT vaccinating young birds until they are at least three to four months old. The reason is to let the immune system develop without stressing it too early in life. So often within the last couple of years, I have gotten calls from fanciers who have just vaccinated their young birds, and all of a sudden their pigeons are all getting sick and dying. This is precisely what Jean-Louis is telling us. The immune system of those young birds was not developed enough to handle the vaccine and to be challenged by another viral infection, like Cercle or Adeno Virus.

Jorissen has also told us that it appears that fanciers who are waiting a little longer to vaccinate are having better results. We concur with that opinion, and that is the reason we have been letting our young birds stay as long as possible in a natural type of environment, with only a few supplements, but no medication. The weak ones eliminate themselves, and the strong ones, as nature would have it, survive, and when vaccinated, their immune systems are more highly developed and able to handle the pressure.


We feel the same way about medications. We only medicate for a specific problem, using a proper dosage for a long-enough duration to actually cure the pigeons, and then use only pro-biotics like Health Gard and Digestal or Pro-Digest to keep them at higher levels of health the rest of the year. Gone should be the days when fanciers use mild antibiotics like Terramycin or Sulmet two days every week of every month. That is disaster waiting to happen. Yet, we get many calls a year from fanciers telling us that this is precisely what they do.

We will have to become smarter, not only in how we race our birds, but in how we medicate them and select our future breeders for their ability to resist disease.

Good luck, and good racing!


Ed

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Featured
Products for
August:


Ed recommends these products based on conditions that tend to develop around the loft during late summer ...

Optimum nutrition for youngsters now will maximize their racing potential! Ed's suggestions follow...




Biochol – Contains methionine, choline, sorbitol, biotin, and vitamin B-12. Highly recommended as a liver and moult tonic with depurative action. Promotes excellent plumage. (Oropharma – Belgium)
250 ml.
$13.95
Item #0352
SW 1.95 lbs



500 ml.
$21.50
Item #5006
SW 2.95 lbs






Murium - Special ingredients provide for a smooth, slick molt and help to eliminate toxins which affect the generation of new plumage. Also acts as an elixir for the liver. A top moulting tonic. (Comed – Belgium)
300 grams
$19.95
Item #7022
SW 1.90 lbs.






Natural Naturaline – Concentrated greens and plant extracts. Concocted from fifteen specifically selected varieties of plants and herbs, this extract has been proven effective in aiding the respiratory, digestive and urinary tracts. Pigeons that receive regular doses of Naturaline in their drinking water display a rosier skin, more glossy and luxurious plumage, and the pigmentation and luster in the eye are heightened—all signs of optimum health. (Natural - Belgium)
1,000 ml.
$6.95
Item #0330
SW 3.55 lbs






Colombine Moulting Seeds – A special mixture of herbs and seeds which promotes a good moult. Always use during the moulting period. Promotes releasing of the down feathers. Good served with Colombine tea. (Colombine – Belgium)
300 grams
$10.95
Item #0390
SW 1.95 lbs




ADCO - For adeno-coli. Pour the contents of one capsule onto 2 1/2 lbs. of feed. Give for five consecutive days once a month for prevention.
12 capsules
$49.95
Item #7051
SW 1.20 lbs






Ecol-Tonic – An all-natural product fortified with ten special organic acids and proven in the loft to be effective in boosting immunity and promoting health and vigor, and bringing the droppings back to normal in racing and show pigeons. 16 oz. will dose 32 gallons of water. Always remember to follow the use of Ecol-Tonic with a good pro-biotic.
16 oz.   
$19.95
Item #5673
SW 2.70 lbs





Digestal – This product contains helpful lactobacillus bacteria, which are essential to maintaining good digestion. Digestal replenishes these bacteria which are destroyed during medication. (Colombine - Belgium)
250 grams
 $16.75
Item #0372
SW 1.95 lbs





Health Gard -- A pro-biotic water-additive formula made from specially cultured, naturally occurring microbes and a unique catalyst, which increases blood-stream absorption by ten times. Use one teaspoon per gallon of water. One quart covers 60 to 80 birds for six months.
1 quart
$29.95
Item #0097
SW 3.80 lbs



1 pint
$19.95
Item #0098
SW 2.80 lbs



1 gallon
$99.95
Item #0096
SW 9.30 lbs





Prodigest - Stimulates natural resistance, increases feather condition, improves muscle condition, helps with the moult, balances the intestine after stress, and helps digestion.
(Herbots - Belgium)
250 grams
$24.95
Item #0399
SW 2.00 lbs





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