(Internet Published) Apr 2001
Can you hear wheezing, piping, ruttling or audible breathing from your
pigeons? If you do, I can tell you that your lofting and general management
is at fault. You are probably overcrowding or perhaps your ventilation
system is wrong. Either the pigeon dust level is too high or the internal
air quality is so polluted that your pigeons are affected with stagnation of
the lungs.
The build up of phlegm causes the audible breathing and it is a very bad
sign. Therefore, see to the overcrowding, clean out the loft and improve the
loft air quality. Furthermore, make sure your pigeons have access to salt
and calcium. Pigeons love salt and it's an essential anyway because it is a
natural disinfectant. I have entered lofts and been choked by the presence
of pigeon dust and the stink of mice. Friends, you cannot keep pigeons in
that kind of environment. Work needs to be done.