The Pigeon Moult: What the Quiet Months Are Actually For
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The season finishes, the baskets go away, and for a few weeks the loft feels like somewhere you visit rather than somewhere you work.
It is a trap. What happens between now and the turn of the year sets up next season more than almost anything you do once racing starts.
The moult is the biggest job of the year
A complete moult is a serious undertaking. The bird replaces essentially every feather it owns, and feathers are protein — building them costs more than most fanciers give credit for.
A bird that moults badly carries that into the following season. Feather quality is not cosmetic; it is the aerofoil. Flights that come through soft, fretted or poorly grown do not repair themselves, and you are stuck with them until the next moult a year later.
So the quiet months are not quiet. They are when next year's wing gets built.
Feed for the job in hand
Racing mixtures are built for racing — energy-dense, weighted towards performance. A bird growing feathers has different requirements, with more emphasis on protein and the amino acids that go into feather structure.
Most fanciers move onto a dedicated moulting or depurative mixture once racing finishes, then onto a resting or winter mixture as the moult completes. We keep the Versele Laga ranges — Traditional Premium, Plus, Show Standard and the Colombine line — along with Bucktons and Johnston & Jeff mixtures.
Whatever you feed, change it gradually. A sudden switch during the moult is poor timing when the bird is already under load.
Grit, minerals and the things that get forgotten
Grit and minerals matter more through the moult, not less, and it is the thing most likely to slip when the loft is off your mind.
Keep grit available rather than offered occasionally, and keep it fresh — birds are markedly less interested in grit that has been sitting damp and stale. We stock Colombine grit and mineral mixtures and the Oropharma range.
Brewers yeast, minerals and the usual conditioners have their place through the moult. So does simply being consistent — birds do better on a routine that does not change much than on a programme that swings about.
The loft, while you have time
The moult is the right time for the jobs you cannot do mid-season.
Ventilation. Damp is the enemy through winter and a loft that was fine in July can be poor in November when birds are in longer and the air is wetter. Airflow without draught is the target.
A proper clean. Strip it, scrape it, treat it and let it dry thoroughly while the weather still lets you. Parasites overwinter in the fabric of the loft, and doing this now is a great deal easier than doing it in January. We keep loft sprays and treatments in, including Harkers Ridmite.
Repairs. Perches, traps, felt, anywhere water is getting in. Small jobs now, not urgent jobs in February.
Do not over-handle them
A bird in heavy moult is uncomfortable. Pin feathers are tender, and the bird is putting everything into growing them.
Some fanciers keep handling through the moult out of habit. There is an argument for leaving them alone more than usual — feed, water, clean, observe, and let them get on with it. You will learn more watching them than picking them up.
Health, honestly
The moult puts birds under load, and load shows up whatever was already there. That is not a reason to treat routinely for things the birds may not have.
If you see birds going light, not clearing their crop, scouring, or showing respiratory signs, that is a conversation with an avian vet who knows racing pigeons. Treating blind, or treating because it is the time of year, is how resistance gets built and how underlying problems get masked rather than solved.
What we sell are feeds, grits, minerals and loft hygiene products. None of them is a treatment, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling you something.
The short version
- The moult builds next season's wing. Get it wrong and you carry it for a year
- Change from racing mixture to a moulting ration, gradually
- Grit and minerals available and fresh, not occasional
- Clean and treat the loft now while it can dry properly
- Sort ventilation before the birds are shut in for winter
- Handle them less — pin feathers are sore
- Signs of real illness go to a vet, not to a guess
Stocking up for the winter? Free UK delivery goes by weight — free over £50 up to 30kg, over £100 from 30 to 60kg, and over £200 from 60kg to 150kg. Above that it moves onto a pallet and we will quote it properly first. Email us with what you need.