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Important Information for Breeders

There was a recent conversation on an email list that I subscribe to, about medicating your breeders in preparation of the beginning of the breeding season. I wrote a rather lengthy reply outlining my beliefs on the subject.

When the hen is creating the egg sac, egg white and yolk, she is also infusing the egg with immune protections for the future embryo. It is important that the hen's immune response be at its highest level of performance. The viability of the embryo during its 18 - 20 day stay in the egg shell is dependent upon the T-cells, B-cells, macrophages, neutrophils, interleukins, etc, that are normally present in a fully functional immune response. If the quality of the immune response passed to the egg is deficient, then the embryo may suffer setbacks in health, physiology, or if overcome by contaminating bacteria or viruses, death may result.

We must give the same consideration to the days leading up to and including the days when pigeon milk is supplied by the parents to the babies in the nest. If the immune response is compromised leading up the the creation of the milk or during the creation of the milk, then the milk will be deficient in its ability to pass immune factors to the babies.

Therefore, if you must use antibiotics and medications leading up to the breeding season, be sure to end your treatments at least three weeks prior to mating your birds. The use of antibiotics and medications truncates the natural immune response as it turns off the need for the natural immune response to deal with pathogenic problems. It basically puts the immune response to sleep as the drugs are replacing the immune response. The end result is that the "sleepy" immune response is not at its highest efficiency and is lacking important immune response factors which might otherwise naturally protect the babies and pass a properly developed immune history to the babies.

On the other hand, those fanciers who use Max Immune Plus and Show Stopper, our all natural health products, will find that their bird's immune response is at a heightened state of preparedness as we never use antibiotics and medications, but instead assist the natural immune response in dealing with pathogenic problems. This means the eggs and babies in the nest are getting the best possible immunity transfer from the parents. Remember, there is only two windows of opportunity to pass these immune factors to the next generation from the parent's immune memory to the new generation: in the egg and in the pigeon milk. After the milk ends, so does the parent's ability to affect the immune response of the babies in the nest. From then on, the babies are on their own and their own immune systems must learn for itself whatever the parents were unable to successfully pass on.

Your future results in racing and breeding will depend upon these crucial few weeks from egg production to several days after hatching. This is the most important time and the results cannot be undone easily. You would be wise to forego antibiotics and medications this year and begin a course of Max Immune Plus and Show Stopper for your breeders and babies.

New product released today, Super Contentrated B12

Each gram contains 100mcg of B12 + 100mg of B Complex
Each teaspoon contains about 2.5 grams

Maintenance: 1/4 tsp per gallon of water twice a week.
Breeding: 1/2 tsp per gallon of water twice a week
Racing: One tsp per gallon of water on return
1/2 tsp per gallon of water on the day prior to shipping

100 grams for 15.99

Just happened to look at the ARPU OB Champion Loft Awards for 2011 and found that each of the three categories: All Distance, Long Distance and Middle Distance, one of my customers (no repeats) placed in the Top 10. That's three categories with three different customers. One of my customers also placed in the top ten Middle Distance National Ace Pigeon category. Considering that I currently have about 170 customers based in the USA, I think this again demonstrates the competitiveness of the RacingPigeonMall "Natural" Health & Performance products.

Over the past several years, many additional awards have been won by customers including 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 8th AU Hall of Fame: 1st National Ace Pigeon Long Distance & 2nd National Ace Pigeon Middle Distance, etc. and 1st & 2nd Midwest Open ~ 6000+ birds.

Received news a few weeks ago that one of our Irish customers placed 17th in the Irish National Yearling race ~ 216 miles ~ 853 Lofts ~ 4883 birds entered. This is not the first time as he did the same thing in 2009 (the first year he started with our products) when he placed 7th in the National Yearling Race.

They release the birds from Sennen Cove, in England, and the birds must cross anywhere from 60 miles to 120 miles of open waters depending on where they decide to cross, with the 120 mile option being the most direct line of flight.

I always get a call from him after the Yearling race, as he is flush with his pooling winnings and ready to place another order of products from me.

I also want to update you on the fancier I mentioned in my June 2nd post, he called to tell me that things are going so well in the loft, that he put the breeders back together to raise a late hatch round to replace all the birds that he had lost before contacting me. He said that the breeders were in good health and that he was now raising health youngsters.

This report is just one more confirmation that fanciers can deal with even the most extreme health issues by using my "all natural" products. I should remind you that this fancier contacted me in late May only after all the "shotgun" antibiotic and medication treatments suggested by the pigeon supply houses had failed to clear up his problem and he had lost many breeders, most of his Young birds and some of his old bird race team.

I am not saying that there were not other methods by which this fancier might have cleared up his health situation, I am only saying that I have a simple health program using several excellent products that gets at the root of your health problems and fixes them, even when other programs have failed.

Yesterday was a good day as we had two good reports from clients about our products. The first report was from a customer who used our Muscle Max Product for the first time on the day of shipping. In fact, he got the product at 1:00 PM on the day of shipping. He took the first eight positions on the race sheet (1380 ypm). I normally do not recommend giving my performance products that late in the day, but he already had the Super Creatine Plus on hand so the birds were already accustomed to the super hydrating effect and Push effect that increases muscle uptake of the active ingredients into the muscle cells.

The second good report I got yesterday was from a fancier that received my Max Immune Plus, Show Stopper and Five Star products on May 31st, used the products on June 1st before work and called me June 1st after work to tell me that for the first time in weeks he was hopeful of saving his birds.

When he had initially called, he had young birds that were not eating and dying, youngsters dying in the nest at about 12 days of age and breeders wilting away and dying. One day of the Max Immune Plus (in the water) and Show Stopper + Five Star on the feed (one meal a day) and the condition in the loft had drastically changed for the better. He said the young birds were now eating and the young in the nest and parents showed significant improvement also.

What the recommended "Shotgun" approach (from the supply companies) could not accomplish for him, these three all natural health products turned around, with significant improvement starting on the first day.

There was also another good report this week from a fancier in Pennsylvania, who called to say "You need to know what a great product your Muscle Max is...". He went on the tell me how well his birds were doing in the races when other's birds were wilting and how his birds were recuperated in only a few hours from a very hard race. Used as directed, when the birds arrive from a race and again before shipping, Muscle Max (and Super Creatine Plus) are game changing products!

We have gained our first customer in Argentina. His nephew makes the order for him in the USA and then forwards the products on to him. We have sent two orders this way in the past few months. This means that we now have customers in: Canada, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, and Portugal. We also sell our products to Argentina and the Phillipines, through family members of these customers, who place the orders in the USA and then forward the products to their family members in these countries.

I recently started a new batch of our Super B product as the old batch was getting old. This often happens with my ingredients, as I am a small supplier and I am required to purchase in quantities much larger than I can use in a timely manner, This means, that often I throw out perfectly good product and start a new batch in order to maintain maximum freshness for my customers.

Received an email today from our customer in Portugal. He and his brother are one of the top lofts in Portugal and they have been using our products for about 18 months. I like hearing from them because they have regular exams of their birds by a vet and I get scientific metrics about the success of our products.

The brothers, do treat their birds once a year in Mid December - Early January for all the normal problems, but after that, they maintain their birds on our all natural products throughout the year, unless the vet recommends otherwise. Their race season starts in February so they have been racing for several weeks already and their birds have been exposed to their competition's birds in the race crates. In this email, I received the latest report from the vet as follows (all ratings are from 1 - 5):

Coccidiosis = 1 (lowest reading)
Trichomoniasis (Canker). = 1 (lowest reading)
Worms = none present

The vet recommended no action for the Coccidiosis and Trichomoniasis, as the counts were at the lowest levels and seemed to be under control by the natural immune response.

The vet did note that their birds do have some respiratory problems, which my Portuguese customers associates with drafts in the loft when the wet south winds blow. He said they will fix this situation when the race season is over, and they can redesign the loft ventilation, to keep out more of the wet damp air at this time of the year. Otherwise, there were no problems with the race birds or the breeders in their lofts.

As you may know, my products are successful, because they suppress pathogens without the need for medications or antibiotics. That is why you will often see a pathogen count of 1 ( in a scale of 1 - 5 ). This does not mean the products are not working but rather that they are working effectively and as designed, I believe that the birds are suppose to have these bacterial and protozoan populations (that we often call pathogens), only that these populations should be controlled so as to remain in balance with the hundreds of other bacteria and other microbes which inhabit our bird's bodies and contribute to their overall health and well being.

As Ad Schaerlaeckens pointed out years ago in one of his articles, he does not treat for cocci unless those populations are expanding and presenting a problem. As long as the populations are under control (by the natural immune response), he does not resort to antibiotics or medications. He believes that the use of medications and antibiotics would knock the birds off of their form and possible make them less competitive on race day.

What Ad realizes is that the presence of cocci and or canker, does not in and of itself, result in poor performance by the race birds. Rather his observations are that the birds can function at the highest level of competition (Ad only competes at the highest competitive level) even in the presence of these so called pathogens. And, so long as those populations are controlled by the natural immune response, he will not resort to the use of medications or antibiotics.

We see in this loft in Portugal, a similar situation. Even though my Portuguese customers are in the midst of the race season, and are competing against large competition, this loft is performing at the top of the race sheets (they are winning 1st places), without dependence on medications or antibiotics. Rather than resorting to the traditional use of medications or antibiotics, they make use of our natural health products to keep their birds healthy, and so far they have successfully avoided the need for those medications or antibiotics which many other fanciers often rely upon, often to the detriment of their race results.

It is my hope that as my customers get more acquainted with the health program, that they will have confidence to no longer treat with medications and antibiotics at the beginning of the year, but will trust in our health program all year long. This is a situation that requires time and experience to accept. Our products will have to prove themselves to my Portuguese customers, but I have faith that soon they will adapt the program exclusively.

My friend in Portugal ends his email with: "So I am very happy in having your products and having your attention and complete explanations. Thank you very much."

One of my customers was having health problems and sought the help of the state vet. This vet asked me to send him an analysis of the supplements I put in my Show Stopper product to see if they might be contributing to what appears to be an over supplementation problem with this customers' birds.

I spent the next few hours pouring over the formula for Show Stopper and breaking out the supplements I use in the product. When I talked to the vet and gave him the list, he said that my product could not be the source of the problem (which appeared to be extremely high Vitamin A storage in the fats, and high body fat). I knew before we started this exercise, that my product was not a problem, as I had calculated the safe dosage years ago for racing pigeons and have kept that formula ever since.

Unfortunately, many pigeon fanciers think that "more the better" and as such, use way to many products on their birds, without realizing the detrimental effect that accumulates in the birds from over supplementation. I have saved several customers' race seasons by having them throw out half of their products and make liberal use of clean fresh water.

Whether this fancier's problem was over supplementation, or his birds got into some "vitamin A" left out, I do not know, but the vet discussed how putting fat on the breeders over the winter time and over supplementation can greatly effect the health of your birds, especially when the over supplemented ingredient is fat soluble (vitamin A, D, E and K are fat soluble).

In any case, after having done the work of calculating the amount of each vitamin and mineral supplement that I used, per teaspoon, I thought that I would post the results here for you to view. I do not think that anyone else in the sport has ever broken out the amounts per serving. However, realize that these listed vitamins and minerals are only a small portion of the many ingredients I use in the Show Stopper product, as they account for only 12.70% of the ingredients used by weight. As you can observe, most of the weight in the vitamins and minerals mixture listed, comes from the high concentrations of Calcium, Phosphorus, Zinc and Vitamin C.

Most of you are probably familiar with the importance of Calcium, Zinc and Vitamin C, however many are not familiar with the beneficial effect of Phosphorus. In fact, many vitamin - mineral compexes completely ingore the positive "health and performance" benefits that Phosphorus can give to our birds.

All energy production and energy storage are dependent on phosphorylated compounds, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and creatine phosphate. Additionally, the phosphorus-containing molecule 2,3-diphosphoglycerate binds to hemoglobin in red blood cells and affects oxygen delivery to the muscles. Phosphorus also works to raise pH levels which improves vitamins and mineral digestive assimilation. Along with its many other positive attributes, the Phosphorus balances out the acidic effect (lower assimulation) of the high Vitamin C content.

Per tsp of Show Stopper	
		
Calcium	                               21.1477	MG
Phosphorus	                       17.4018	MG
Zinc	                               29.7284	MG
Magnesium	                        0.4494	MG
Iron	                                3.9018	MG
Copper	                                0.3900	MG
Manganese	                        1.5723	MG
Iodine	                                0.0197	MG
Cobalt	                                0.0043	MG
Silicon	                                1.5500	MG
Selenium	                        35.300	IU
Vitamin A	                     2101.8462	IU
Vitamin D3	                      174.8800	IU
Vitamin E	                       17.3880	IU
Vitamin C	                       21.6689	MG
Vitamin B1 (thiamine)	                0.8809	MG
Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)	                0.5656	MG
Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride)	0.5656	MG
Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid)	        0.8545	MG
Vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin)	        0.0031	MG  equal to 3.1 mcg (micrograms)
Vitamin B7 (biotin)	                0.0071	MG
Vitamin B9 (folic acid)	                0.0230	MG
Vitamin B3 (niacinamide)	        2.0621	MG

Should any of you be concerned about whether 2101.8462 IU of Vitamin A is appropriate for racing pigeons, lets do the math. The U.S. Institute of Medicine has established Daily Tolerable Upper Levels (UL) of intake for vitamin A for children 0 - 3 years at 2000 IU. Taking this amount daily puts the total weekly vitamin A consumption at 14,000 IU. If we estimate the average weight of a new born girl is 7.16 lbs (See Chart) and the average weight of a three year old girl is 30.8 lbs., then the average weight of the group is 19 lbs. Therefore, 14,000 IU divided by 19 lbs. = 736.84 IU / lbs.

Now if we assume that a young well fed racing pigeon weighs approximately 250 grams, then the weekly Upper level of Vitamin A would be around 385.7 IU a week. Show Stopper, if used twice a week, would deliver 84.07 IU per bird per week. You can see that this amount is 21.8% of the established weekly Tolerable Upper Levels (UL) of intake for vitamin A.

By the way, the U.S. Institute of Medicine says that the Lowest Observed Adverse Effect Level (LOAEL) for vitamin A, when taken over an extended period of time, is 10 times the amount I am supplying in my Show Stopper product.

Welcome to the new year, it has been a good one for racingpigeonmall. Our Power Drops product continues to receive great reviews with our customers as does Muscle Powder.

We introduced Power Drops in 2009 and it is quickly becoming our most popular product for the individual treatment of sick birds. Everyone who tries it gives rave reviews when re-ordering. Some are even putting Power Drops on the feed before basketing the birds for a race and are getting good results. Others are giving it to the birds over the off season and say their birds have never "over wintered" in such good condition and health.

Muscle Powder was introduced in 2010 and I had reservations about bringing this product online as my customers are wildly enthusiatic about the Super Creatine Plus and Muscle Max products as a one - two punch on race day. However, I saw a need for a product that was somewhere in the middle between Super Creatine Plus and Muscle Max, combining some of the benefits of each in the new product. As always, I need to point out that you have better control over preparing the birds with Super Creatine Plus and Muscle Max, but the Muscle Powder product also seems to be building up a following with those seeking to brings their birds to the top of the race sheet.

To those of you who recieve the free Emergency Repair kit, take notice that I have raised the minimum order size to $75.00 for the free kit. You may still pruchase these items if needed at one for $3.50 or two for $5.00. The reason I give them away is as a humane gesture, so that fanciers will have them on hand when and if a bird comes home with an injury. Every fancier should have one or more of these Emergency Repair Kits on hand so that they are able to stitch up an injured bird. If over the past several years of ordering our products, you have accumulated extras repair kits above your needs, please give them to your club members or friends so that they also can be prepared, it is the humane thing to do. Please do not hoard them, these kits should be put in the hands of as many fanciers as possible and not just sit on your shelf for years unused. Thank you for your help in this matter.

Finally, I want to relate to you a story from one of my customer (he has given me permission as he thinks my products are the best). Despite flying a tough mountain course this fancier was able to send his birds to races on consecutive days with only a few hours of rest before being basketed again and shipped to the next race. Other fanciers in his area and many areas give their birds a minimum of 7 days rest between races. Here is what he wrote:

We flew a 192 Mile race on Saturday that was 1200 YPM. All of my birds were on the wing for at least 4 hours and 20 minutes. The day before basketing the birds had Muscle Max and Super Creatine in their water. When the birds returned from the race they had Glucose, 1/2 Strength Vitamins, Muscle Max, and Super Creatine. We had another race (different club) the next day from 167 Miles. I baskted all of the birds up at 4:00 pm on Saturday for the Sunday race.

I decided to send 4 of the birds that had flown that same day again to the race the next day (they had only been home 3 or 4 hours). The only thing I did special for them was give each bird 1 CC of Muscle Max when I basketed them.

The next day (Sunday) on the 167 Mile race 3 of those 4 birds were Equal 1st on winning drop on races in the 1300 ypm range. So once again the birds with no rest (in this case only a few hours of rest before being shipped again) did great. The 4th bird (who did not do well) actually came home that afternoon and had half of his tail and secondaries yanked out by a hawk. So who knows maybe he would have done well too.

This customer, who has won many 1st, 2nd and 3rd AU National Ace Pigeon Awards, has been one of my best supporters and is always referring new customers to our website.

I want to wish you all a successful year in 2011.

Had a couple of interesting phone calls over the past few days from customers reordering product. The first customer related how Youngbird sickness had broken out in his area and how he had used Max Immune Plus every day while his birds showed symptoms. He said that his birds recovered in just four days, while his competitors were suffering the effects of this sickness for a much longer period of time. In light of this result, he was ordering more Max Immune Plus.

About a day later, another fancier called and related to me his success in treating Youngbird Sickness. However, in his case, he had sent birds to be posted by the state vet service and was able to confirm Circo Virus present. He treated with a combination of Show Stopper and Five Star and found the birds recovered, but since he was using the state vet service he continued to test the birds and found that this treatment did not completely clear the presence of canker.

NOTE: The confirmed presence of circo virus make this version of YB sickness more severe than other versions as circo virus turns off the lyphatic system and shuts down the natural defense machaisms allowing secondary infections (like canker) to flourish unobstructed by the natural immune response.

In response to his observation, I referred him to an earlier post on this page dated January 22, 2010, where this same topic was covered but specifically concerning coccidiosis (cocci, canker and Guardia are related pathogens). You should go ahead and read that post, but the summary is my products never work as fast as targeted specific medications, nor do they kill off as great a population at one time, However they do a superior job in maintaining the health and performance of the birds by supporting the natural immune repsonse and by promoting the "friendly Bacteria" and otehr "beneficial" organisms while suppressing the "pathogenic" organisms.

No matter how targeted a manufacturer says their medication is, there is not doubt that other "beneficial" organisms are killed off with the target organism, weakening the bird's natural immune defenses and increasing the risk that other pathogenic organisms will exploit the suppression of these "beneficial" organisms to expand their own populations, possibly leading to additional health problems. Not only do medications adversely effect the populations of "Beneficial" organisms but at the same time, the toxic nature of these medications adversely effects the proper functioning of the liver and kidneys.

My health program is different than those proposed by the manufacturers of medications and antibiotics for the racing pigeon. My goal is "NOT" to wipe out the pathogen but to naturally suppress these pathogenic populations so that the natural immune response of the pigeon is always producing antibodies and other defense mechanisms to keep these pathogens at controlled levels, while at the same time allowing the friendly bacteria and other friendly microbes to flourish in the pigeon and contribute to the natural health of the bird.

As I have said time and again to potential new customers who call me with a problem, If you know you have a problem and have the cure go ahead an use it, but then start your birds on my products so that hopefully you will not need to use antibiotics and medications again on your birds. And, like the first caller demonstrated, when something like YB sickness does overcome your birds, you will only need the daily use of Max Immune Plus or Show Stopper (and possibly Five Star) to treat the outbreak without doing damage to all the beneficial organisms that contribute to health and digestion. You will also gain the advantage of maintaining performance in your birds while the treatment is in progress, as was demonstrated in the January 22nd post.

A few weeks ago, when I received my new batch of "Bio-Fresh" probiotics, grown and blended specifically for me by a bio-nutrition lab, I did not change the mixture of the 10 friendly bacteria strains that I use. This would have been a perfect time to improve my product, but I did not change the blend as I did not think any additional strains would improve the blend, it would just change it, but not necessarily improve it.

I had spent many hours reading research papers and identifying which strains I thought would be best for the racing pigeon. I found no new studies whose conclusions would lead me to remove a strain I have already incorporated nor did I find any studies to suggest that an additional or different strain would improve the results. So, I contracted to have the original blend duplicated and will continue to do so until I find a reason to change.

I could have added four more "Friendly Bacteria" strains and then advertised that my probiotic blend now contains "14 stains" instead of the "original 10", and that would have been an advertising ploy to attract new customers to my probiotic blend. It would have been dishonest to do that as I did not know whether adding the four new strains would make any improvement in the product.

I do not add ingredients to sell products, I add ingredients to improve products. If I do not know what the additional beneficial effect of adding something will be, I do not include it in my products. Each new ingredient must earn its place.

Received a phone call from a non-racing pigeon fancier over the weekend, who flies performance rollers, tumblers and high flyers. He had recently purchased some new birds and the birds came to him in "not the best of health". Nothing he used (medications and antibiotics) seemed to work. He tried individual targeted treatments, four in ones, five in ones, every type of solution available but to no success.

Fortunately,he did have a container of Bio-Fresh and he mixed some up in a syringe, administering this liquid down the throat of the bird in the worse condition. This bird would not eat and had green runny droppings. He administered Bio-Fresh via syringe over a four day period, and the bird recovered, started eating again and regain its muscle and strength. He called me to tell me his story, that as a last resort, direct administration of Bio-Fresh saved the bird.

Recently, I have been using a special blend of Bio-Fresh, which contains the addition of my Super B blend, plus additional B12, and more of my prebiotic base. What I have found is that I can pre-mix the product with water the evening before, leave at room temperature overnight and give it to the birds as drinking water the next day. When you come back to change the water out, the next day, you will see that the water is cloudy as the populations of good bacteria in my Bio-Fresh blend have been busy multiplying in the prebiotic blend with the additional B complex mix. Leave it for two days, and you will actually see a probiotic scum floating on the water and that the good bacteria blend has started growing on the inside walls of the waterer.

When I rinse the waterer out, I do not clean it vigorously, but only casually. I like the idea that the 10 unique strains of friendly backteria used in my Bio-Fresh blend are now established on the inside surface area of the waterer. I do not recommend do this with other probiotic products, because I do not know what other ingredients are in their products, nor how these other products brew. A lot ot the other probiotics out there have a high acidity which could assist fungi and yeast growth along with the probiotic brew.

One of our customers, flys two races a week (Saturday and Monday). A couple of weeks ago, the birds that he had shipped to the 99 mile Saturday release, hit strong head winds in the range of 20 - 30 MPH. The birds started arriving after about 3.5 hours and straggled in the rest of the day. My customer gave the birds Muscle Max and Super Creatine Plus in the water upon return from the race. The next day, he continued the Muscle Max and Super Creatine Plus in the water until about noon, when he changed out the water and replaced with clean fresh water.

In another section of the loft, was a fresh team which had not been to the Saturday race. This was the team he was holding back to ship to the Monday 120 mile race. When Sunday afternoon came around as he was basketing up these birds, he decided to ship 14 of the birds that had been to the Saturday headwind race. These birds had been anywhere from 4 hours to 7 hours on the wing during the Saturday headwind race.

They had two releases from the 120 mile station and between these two releases, 13 of the 14 headwind birds placed in the top 20% and 7 of the 14 were equal first. My customer had to call me and let me know what had happened, as he is a firm believer in the performance edge the birds get from Muscle Max and Super Creatine Plus. And, this race exemplified the great recouperative value obtainable when using these products.

I should point out that one of my customers will not even give the Muscle Max until the birds are training at least 150 miles a week as he thinks it makes them to "hot" and he wants to save the performance boost until later in the season.

We are getting continuing reports on the success of treating for YB sickness with our Show Stopper Five Star product mix. Seems to take care of the situation where the birds are throwing up their feed.

Over the past week, I have had two interesting reports on the use of my products that I feel warrant listing in the announcements section:

One of my customers started using show stopper on the feed for his Rhode Island Red chickens and said that daily egg production went from seven eggs a day to about thirty eggs a day. He wasn't sure if it was the Show Stopper or something else causing this increase in egg production, so he stopped using the Show Stopper and the egg production went back to around seven eggs a day. Then he restarted the birds on Show Stopper and the egg production increased to about 30 eggs a day again!

In the other report, one of my clients who hosts a one loft race in the Midwest, told me that he had a bird showing all the signs that he had learned usually leads to death within in 24 hours. He said these were signs usually (in his opinion) related to a severe eColi infection. Realizing that desperate measures were needed to save this bird, he took a pinch of Five Star and sprinkled it directly down the throat of this near death bird. By the next morning, the bird was firmly on the road to recovery. In all his years of hosting one loft races, he had never found any medication or antibiotic that could save a bird in the condition of the bird mentioned above.

I do not recommend the use of Five Star in its pure form, as it is usually used with Show Stopper on a "as needed" basis. However, I thought that you might want to put this info to use should you find yourself in a similar situation.

Recently, one of my customers called and was concerned that I might have changed the formula for my Show Stopper product, because the color had changed from walnut brown to khaki brown. He was afraid I had changed the ingredients and was concerned that the new product would not work as well for him as the original product. He was very happy with the original product and did not want any changes to it!

I want to let everyone know that YES, the product has changed in coloring, but that is the only change. The change in color came about because I have upgraded the quality of the ingredients that I use. The vitamin-mineral source I used in the past was dark brown and it is now off white in color. The amino-chelate that I used was black and it is now also off white.

We now use a new process to refine our special blend of polysacharides, beta-glucans, glycoproteins and immuno-activators. The old process gave us a dark brown product, but the new process gives us a khaki colored product. The end result of the new ingredients is that the color of the product has changed from brown with dark flecks in it, to a light khaki colored product.

Don't be concerned, the color change is the result of upgrading the ingredients in order to give you a superior product.

Yesterday evening, a customer called and said, "I have good news and bad news..." As I listened to what he had to say, I had heard it before, from another customer a year earlier, but at that time, I had not taken it seriously. Now, a year later and having received another report, I find it necessary to at least pass on to you, my customers, what I have now heard twice.

Yesterday's customer, started our conversation by told me how he had been using my Super Creatine Plus on the breeders, while they were raising youngsters. This is something that I suggested my customers try, as it seems to produce exceptional youngsters. The customer went on, explaining how well the young birds had developed while in the breeding loft and how, with great expectation, he had moved them over to their own section in the flying loft. He related the usual trepidation fanciers have about letting the birds out for the first time but said all went well as he suffered no losses and within three days the birds were actually flying as a group. By day five, the birds were exercising for about an hour and by day seven they were gone for three hours. On the eighth day, the birds took off towards the east and never returned. He did say that the young birds were about 45 days old when he removed the settling cage and let them free flight.

THe good news was how advanced the birds were in their physical development. The bad news was that their physical development far exceeded their mental development and (most likely) they simply took off and flew so far away that they did not know how to return. Since this is the second time I have heard this story, I thought I should tell my customers about it so they can avoid a similar outcome.

Both customers had been following my instructions and were giving the recommended dosage for the breeders raising youngsters: 1/4 tsp of Super Creatine Plus per 35 birds, twice a week. However, they continued to give the youngsters the same dosage after moving them over to the YB loft. They then did not let the youngsters out immediately, but held them back for a couple of weeks before beginning exercise. In both incidents, these fanciers witnessed phenomenal capacity for exercise and physical ability in their birds and they both continued to give Super Creatine Plus to their young birds, right up until they had the flyaway experience.

Let me tell you what I told them; most likely, their bird's physical development was far in excess of their mental development. We sometimes say they were "to strong on the wing". They were feeling great, had no fear, and simply flew off in one direction for a couple of hours, and before they knew it, they did not know where they were and did not know how to return home.

I know, some of you are thinking that people have flyaways who never used Super Creatine Plus, and chances are my product was not responsible for the flyaway. You are certainly correct about flyaways not being unique to using Super Creatine Plus. The reason I am posting this announcement is because both customers had yb teams that were developing (in my opinion) to quickly. I think flying for an hour, in a group, on their fifth day out, is a fairly aggressive sign of being strong on the wing and I want my customers to view that behavior with suspicion and when they see that behavior to lock their birds down for a while and to let their brains catch up with their bodies.

Here is my recommendation: When you are settling your first round of the year to the young bird loft, do not continue the use of Super Creatine Plus [after you move them over from the breeder's loft] until they have been exercising for several weeks. The normal dose for the breeding loft is 1/4 teaspoon of Super Creatine Plus per 35 birds, twice a week. After you have settled the first round of the young bird team, you may continue giving Super Creatine Plus to the YB team at 1/4 teaspoon of Super Creatine Plus per 35 birds, twice a week. About three weeks before the first race, you may increase the dosage to 1/2 teaspoon of Super Creatine Plus per 35 birds, twice a week.

When I was flying in Northwest Washington state, we started the youngbird races about three to four weeks after the old bird season ended. In some areas of the country, the young bird season does not start until September. For those fanciers with seasons starting later in the year, I would not start the youngbirds on Super Creatine Plus until about five weeks before the first race. Two weeks at 1/4 teaspoon and then 1/2 teaspoon for the rest of the race season.

Of course, you stop all performance products as soon as the race season is over.

Modifications to Super Creatine Plus:

Sometimes, I get calls from customers who ask why the Super Creatine Plus product no longer has the sweet taste and nice smell to it? The answer is, I can increase the active ingredients found in Super Creatine Plus by 35%, if I remove the ingredients that gave the sweetness and the nice color / fragrance to the product. This means, you are getting 35% more active ingredients in each container. If you want to sweeten up the taste for the birds add a little sugar to the water. In the meantime, realize that you are getting 35% more active ingredients in every serving at no additional cost to you.

Had an eye opening experience today. One of my customers in the Miami area called and ordered Muscle Max and then asked me if it was alright to use this product with his other products including Carbosol. Since I am not familiar with that particular product, I looked it up online as I was talking to the client and I saw the performance program recommended by the manufacturer. According the the performance program, he was to put one or two differnt products on the feed six days a week and 4 products in the water five days a week and two products in the water the other two days of the week. This program requires using four to six products every day. That is one complicated performance program.

Now look at the simplicity of my performance program. Muscle Max on the day of return from a race, Super Creatine Plus the first day following the race, Super Creatine Plus and Muscle Max on the day prior to shipping.

It is the same with my health program: Day after the race, use Max Immune Plus, Third day after the race use Show Stopper on the feed for one meal only, Fifth day after the race use Show Stopper on the feed for one meal only. Simplicity - that is why my customers like my "All Natural" products.

Of course, they also like all the cost saving from not having to cycle through multiple courses of medications and antibiotics along with having to keep on hand six performance products.

I should point out, that many of my customers do not even use the Muscle Max product, as the Super Creatine Plus product (with its proprietary performance formula and micro-encapsulation technology) works so well for them. The Muscle Max product is most useful if a fancier flys a race course and schedule that is particularly taxing on the birds.

I have a new customer in Portugal. He is one of the top flyers in his country having won in 2009 many top national awards and is easily in the top 5 lofts of Portugal for short, middle and long distance combined performances. I cannot tell you his exact performances, as that would identify him and he wishes to keep private from his competiton what new things he is planning for 2010.

Several weeks ago, he received his first shipment of my products and started to use them as directed. At the same time, he visited his vet and found that the birds (on a scale of 1 - 5) had a coccidiosis score of 4. He decided to treat the birds with Travipharma ACG 1, which is a cocci - canker cure. I suggested to him that he also use my Five Star Show Stopper product moistening the feed with Power Drops. He agreed, and divided his racing lofts into two groups. To one group was given the Travipharma ACG 1, and to the other group was given the Five Star Show Stopper and Power Drops. After seven days of treatment he went back to the vet and found out that the Travipharma ACG 1 treated group was now a 1.5 but the Five Star Show Stopper with Power Drops was a 3.

On first look, one might think that he would be disappointed by these results, but that is not the case. You see, he handled 10 birds from each group every day during the seven days of treatment and let the birds out to exercise every day. What the hand told him and what the exercise told him was that the birds on Five Star Show Stopper with Power Drops were responding better than the Travipharma ACG 1 treated group. His comments were that the Five Star Show Stopper with Power Drops group birds had firm muscles and pink skin, that they appeared "happier", their droppings were firmer, and they were more eager to exercise, flying at least an hour and some flying for two hours. In all, he believed the Five Star Show Stopper with Power Drops group birds were in better condition of health and attitude than the Travipharma ACG 1 group.

So, how is this possible? How can the group with the higher cocci count be healthier and in better condition? The answer lies in the difference between the targeted outcomes for each treatment.

Travipharma ACG 1 contains: Amprolium, Secnidazole, and Vitamin B-Complex. It is specifically manufactured to treat cocci, canker and giardia. Even though it is targeted towards these protozoal infections the active ingredients are toxic and they also adversely effect other micro-organisms whose populations are beneficial to the birds. This product is excellent for a targeted cure, but pigeons are complex creatures and have many more pathogenic challenges than just cocci and canker. Also, any time you use a medication that is by nature toxic, it will tax the liver and kidneys to excrete the toxins. In all, I rate Travipharma ACG 1 very highly and recommend it for those who are in need of this type of treatment. However, there is another way to bring health to your race birds that, I believe, is more holistic and beneficial to the overall health of the birds.

Let me first make one thing very clear, I always recommend to new customers, that if they have an existing health problem in their loft, they should treat the existing health problem with the recommended medication immediately, while they are waiting for my products to arrive in the mail. That is the humane course of action to take. I then tell them to start their birds on my health program when it arrives and they will have little need for more medications or antibiotics in the future. Now lets take a look at why my customer in Portugal and I, believe that the birds treated with Five Star Show Stopper with Power Drops appeared to demonstrate superior health when compared to the Travipharma ACG 1 treated birds.

Five Star Show Stopper with Power Drops contain: vitamins, minerals, amino acids, specific antibodies (effective against many different pathogens), polysaccharides, oligosacharides, beta glucans, glycoproteins, glycolipids, pre-biotics, Probiotics (10 different friendly bacteria strains specifically cultured for the racing pigeon), buffered organic acids, and many more "specialty ingredients" whose blend is exclusive to our product mix. Our treatment, uses all natural ingredients to build up the good micro-organisms and to suppress the so called pathogen populations. This allows the good micro-organisms to replace the so called bad populations. We are creating a hostile environment for the bad organisms while encouraging the good micro-organisms to move into and occupy the areas from which the pathogenic populations have been displaced.

Treatments like Travipharma ACG, work quickly against the primary infection for which they were created to target, but they have little or no supressive affect against concurrent secondary infections (opportunistic pathogenic colonies which take advantage of the immune system's pre-occupation with the primary infection, and expliot the weakened immune response in order to expand their own populations). Five Star Show Stopper with Power Drops, works more slower against the primary infection, but it concurrently suppresses many other pathogenic populations so that the natural immune response can better function against any primary threat. Five Star Show Stopper with Power Drops, supplies all natural broad spectrum support for the immune system.

This is the basis for how Travipharma ACG 1 could kill off the cocci infection much faster, but the Five Star Show Stopper with Power Drops brought about better overall health in the birds. Travipharma ACG 1 has a very narrow approach and is targeted towards a specific cure. Five Star Show Stopper with Power Drops has a very broad approach to meeting the health needs of our race birds. It is obvious that Travipharma ACG 1 is a much faster cure for cocci. However, it does not re-balance the populations to ensure that the pro health populations fill the void left after the kill off of the pathogen populations. Nor does it reinforce the defense mechanisms of the immune system to the extent that the Five Star Show Stopper with Power Drops treatment accomplishes. Five Star Show Stopper with Power Drops will accomplish the same outcome as Travipharma ACG 1 concerning protozoal infections (but in a slower more gentile manner) and will at the same time supress most all other pathogenic infections, bringing overall better health results.

One thing you need to know is that fanciers often do well racing even when their birds have high cocci counts. Many vets will not recommend treating these birds with a cocci cure if the birds are doing well in the races. What is important, is the growth in cocci count. If the vet finds that the cocci count is going up then this is bad. If on the other hand, the cocci count is stable and not growing, then the vet often does not recommend treatment as the treatment would throw the birds off form more than the continued stasis condition of the birds that are performing well in the races even with high cocci counts.

This very fact was reiterated by my new customer in Portugal who stated that his best performances in 2009 were accomplished when his cocci count was 4 out of 5. To quote him. "The birds on your treatment are in good health, and I know from experience that even if the birds have coccidiosis and the average health of the birds is good, then they can compete and win! In 2009, when I went to the vet my pigeons had a count of 4 of 5 and this was during the same time that they were obtaining all our top performances and earning our National Awards."

He went on to write that he had put the birds on Max Immune Plus for two days after finishing the treatments for cocci and canker, and stated that both groups of birds were now flying even better than before. Maybe, I should have suggested alternating the Five Star Show Stopper with Power Drops every other day with Max Immune Plus for the seven days of treatment!

I am often asked by potential customers if I include electrolytes in my Max Immune Plus and Show Stopper products. The answer to that question is no. I have suspected for years, that electrolytes are not necessary and that they are possibly harmful to the birds. I came to this conclusion after studying how racing pigeons transfer heat and realized that they experience little or no electrolyte losses during a race. Today, I came across an article by Gordon A. Chalmers, DVM., that addresses this issue and I am posting the part concerning electrolytes below. It is good to see that others have come to the same conclusion as I have.

[Excerpt from the article "Probiotics, Prebiotics and Immunostimulants , etc.. by Gordon A Chalmers]

The use of electrolytes is a controversial subject in pigeon racing. In my opinion, if birds have daily access to a good wide-ranging mineral mix (that includes the trace mineral selenium) and an adequate diet, there should be no need for electrolytes in the days prior to a race. Such use of electrolytes could induce unwanted thirst.

A number of veterinarians including Drs David Marx, John Kazmierczak and Nik Weber (USA), Dr Frank Harper (UK), Dr Pascal Lennault (Belgium) and Dr Wim Peters of South Africa believe there is no need at all for electrolytes for healthy racing birds. As one example, this is Dr Peters[uF]FFDs reasoning, used with his permission, quote: [uF]FFDElectrolytes are often included in a vitamin preparation. I do not think that their use in pigeons is necessary as a matter of fact I believe that they could be harmful, particularly to the dehydrated pigeon returning home from a long race on a hot day. Imagine this scenario: it[uF]FFDs a hot day and the race is from 800 km (500 miles). A bird makes it back just before dark. What has happened to it during the day? Flying requires muscular activity which rapidly builds up heat, particularly with high (environmental) temperatures. The bird must dispose of this heat, otherwise it will be unable to continue. Too much heat will kill it! The only way to rid itself of enough heat is via respiration. (Some is lost through the legs and skin but the eventual effect is the same). Respiration causes water loss from the mouth and respiratory system. Note well: water only, no salts. Increased respiration causes increased water loss. The pigeon becomes dehydrated from all this loss but manages to reach home. We now have a flown out and dehydrated pigeon and wish to restore its physiological equilibrium as quickly as possible. Water was lost from the system (from blood and body tissues) but the salts (electrolytes) are more or less unchanged - in other words the concentration of electrolytes is higher than normal (because of the loss of water).

Giving more electrolytes now would worsen the condition. What is needed is plain water [uF]FFD as soon as possible. Warm it up, by all means, but do not add electrolytes. The usual feed can be given. But I prefer pellets, as they are semi-cooked, turn into mash after intake which means that they do not first have to be ground to pulp, have a large surface area exposed to the digestive enzymes and are pretty much balanced in their proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals. All this means they provide a rapid supply of essential food stuffs with which to build up the pigeon as quickly as possible. The electrolytes that the pigeon did lose via its kidneys and bowels are easily replaced by the salts normally contained in a balanced diet. It does not need extra replenishment.

Dr. Chalmers' article goes on to explain the advantages of using Dimethylglycine (DMG), and L-carnitine. I agree with the usefulness of these two ingredients in the diet of our birds, but I do not supplement with these ingredients directly. Rather, my products include the natural precursors (or building blocks) upon which the racing pigeon's body naturally manufactures these helpful ingredients.

Wikipedia defines Precursor as follows "Precursor (chemistry), a compound that participates in the chemical reaction that produces another compound"

There is a reason I prefer to use the natural building blocks that synthesize into Dimethylglycine and L-carnitine, and that is: I prefer to keep the bird in the most natural state. Besides, in the case of L-carnitine, if you supplement regularly with that ingredient, the birds will stop producing it naturally. I am not saying that supplementing is not a good idea, only that I prefer to encourage the natural production of L-carnitine in our birds over the external supplementation of the chemical form.

Getting back to the electrolytes issue, I have for several years been including several ingredients that control osmo-regulators and thermo-regulators (regulates the water content of the cells and regulates body temperature within certain boundaries). Using these ingredients, I accomplish the very thing that many fanciers want when they supplement with electrolytes. I rarely discuss these things as I have spent much time in research and it is the full complement of the ingredients I use that brings the outstanding results many fanciers experience with my products. However, I think the electrolytes issue is important so I have disclosed to you that there are secret ingredients in my Max Immune Plus and Show Stopper products that encourage natural synthesis of Dimethylglycine and L-carnitine, and that assist the birds to remain hydrated and cooled during the stress of racing.

Now that you have read the information on electrolytes, you should read about Muscle Max our performance product, created specifically to recouperate race birds immediately after the race and to rebuild muscles and prepare the birds for their next race.

One of my customers in Ireland, placed a re-order and in his email, he mentioned success he has had using Super Creatine Plus on an old breeding cock. "...I wanted to give the creatine plus to a few of my older stock before pairing up ,it helped an old cock fill eggs earlier this year after he missed his first 2 rounds."

I have always suspected and have mentioned on the website, that older breeders may well respond to Super Creatine Plus and start producing youngsters again. One of my Irish customers seems to think so also.

Congratulations Edwards & McCann of Ireland, who started on our health and performance products in June, and since starting on the products have won: 4 of the 6 remaining OB club races, including 7th Yearling National from Sennen Cove, England, 786 lofts / 4,134 birds. They then went on to win the club's "Kings Cup", from Vannes, France, (the only day bird in the club). Then started the YB season by winning the first 5 YB races, also placing high in the Federation: 2nd Federation ~ 2,261 birds, and 5th and 6th Federation ~ 3,220 birds, etc. [reports as of their latest email of 08/13/09].

If you look at the map and locate Sennen Cove (near Land's End / Penzance) you will see that the birds have to fly over at least 50 miles (or as much as 100 miles) of open waters to cross the Irish Channel from England to Ireland, and when you see where Vannes, France is located you will see that a direct line of flight means the birds would cross over 100 miles of open water from France to England and 50 to 100 miles more from England to Ireland. Not the easiest race course and the birds faced crossing headwinds on both races.

While I am on the subject, belated congratulations to Dave Simington, winner of 1st, 2nd, 13th, 18th 2008 Midwest OB Classic ~ 6,010 birds / 448 lofts and congratulations to Ed Schmierer, winner of 8 OB races and the 2nd National Ace Pigeon Middle Distance ARPU 2009. Ed, also raced a bird out of one of my breeding pairs and qualified her as a AU Registered Champion in her second race season. Thanks Ed!

While a customer was placing an order this morning, he mentioned how effectively he thought the Five Star Show Stopper mix was working for him. He initially got the product mix for a specific health problem in his loft but has now incorporated this mix into his YB routine. He gives the Five Star Show Stopper mix, twice a week (with Power Drops) and says that the birds eat more and exercise more than in the past. Using Five Star Show Stopper, he is able to put the weight on the birds (build carbohydrates and fats) even though he is training them hard. He is really looking forward to the YB season.

This is one of the reasons why I like to take orders over the phone instead of online. While I am taking the order, I am asking how things are going and during the course of our conversation, my customers open up and share what is working good for them. I am always learning something new from my customers concerning the use of my products, and I often put those tips here on the Announcements page for everyone to read and learn from.

Our new customer, Andrew, in Ireleand, emailed me to say he and his uncle Brendan Mc Cann, won another race and will most likely be in the top 10 in the Federation, as well. To read of their other results since starting on our products read the June 16 and June 9 comments.

Received two comments about Power Drops over the past few days, one fancier reported when he re-ordered this week, that in Old birds this year, he found a bird in the loft that was (in his opinion) just hours away from dying. The bird was all feathers and bones. Thinking he had nothing to lose, he mixed some Five Star with some salad oil and forced it down the bird's throat. The bird sat there for a couple of minutes then started running around the loft, then started drinking lots of water and by the next day, the bird was much improved. This is a rather severe treatment, but when all else fails, you might consider it.

Yesterday, I get a call from a fancier that wants to tell me a "good ending" story. He received a call last week from an older fancier in the club that had been at the bottom of the race sheet all season. The fancier called to ask if my customer wanted "his breeders and YB team". My customer, encouraged the older fancier not to be so discouraged and asked if the older fancier would meet him just prior to basking for the 500 mile race. They met and the old guy's birds were ragged and tired looking as he had shipped them almost every week all season. My customer proceeded to give each of the older fancier's race birds, five drops of Power Drops. They then went to the club house and basketed their birds for the race. End of story, the old guy won the 500.

On Monday, June 15th, I received a phone call from our new customer Andrew, in Ireleand, (See his earlier post directly below). He called to inform us that he recieved confirmation that in a race held last week, he was; 1st club, 2nd section and 7th national against over 760 lofts. They released the birds in the UK and they must cross 50 miles of the Irish Channel before arriving in Ireland. He really had confidence in the birds and our products, as he was fully pooled at all levels of competiton and took home over 2500 pounds (about 4400 dollars) and a new Electronic timer.

Of course, he has good birds (Vandenabeeles from M & D Evans and Peter Fox's Syndicate Loft), Excellent loft management (his uncle and partner Brendan Mc Cann, races the birds from his house) and now the health and performance products from RacingPigeon Mall. This combination of skill, good breeding and health regime really seems to be producing the results,

Congratulations Andrew and Brendan, keep up the good work!

Just got another great report of the effect of Power drops on the birds. A fancier in Tennessee just won both the 500 mile races.

On Wednesday, June 6th, a new customer (Andrew) in Ireleand received our products, and here is the email I received from him today (Saturday, June 9th).

John, on Wednsday we used "Super Creatine Plus" and "Show Stopper", Thursday "Five Star" and Friday we used "Power Drops" on the feed. I know its not the way the products are to be used, but we did it this way to get the birds on the system quickly. It was a North East wind today and heavy rains, the birds should not have being released but they were. With the harsh weather, we expected the birds at 3 hours 45 minutes, instead, we got our first two birds together at 3 hours 1 minute, then a few here and there. We took 1,2,7,9,10 today! Just to let you know hope this keeps up.

Andrew, lives on the east coast of Ireland, about 20 miles south of Dublin.

Congratulations Andrew, keep up the good work!

Recently, I have been getting very encouraging feedback from customers about our new product "Power Drops". Earlier this week, I took a re-order from a customer who originally had bought four 8 ounce bottles of "Power Drops". He was seeing such great results on race day, that this week, he placed a 10 bottle order.

During our conversation, he told me that, on the day of basketing, he was giving "Power Drops" on the feed in the morning and his results has really improved on race day. He commented that the birds came home from the races in much better condition, than before he started using the "Power Drops". Even on the very long and hard races, the birds were coming in, not looking like they had flown the distance but rather like they had flown a shorter race and were not broken down from the effort.

One of the top breeding lofts in the USA started using my products (Max Immune Plus, Show Stopper and Power Drops) in October of 2008. They were immediately impressed with the positive effect my products had on their birds, and have been recommending my products to all their customers ever since.

Yesterday, they called to order more products and at that time, told me about a fourteen year old hen, which had only producted one youngster last year (and very few youngsters over the past several years). This year, this fourteen year old hen went right down on eggs after only eight days in the breeding section, not only that but both eggs hatched and both youngster are very healthy. This top breeding loft is very pleased with the result, as they have already doubled their annual production from this valued hen, from just her first set of eggs.

This encouraging report, is just one more example of the "Dividend" you recieve when you are able to maintain "superior health" in your lofts without the use of medications and antibiotics. We are very pleased to get this report, as it helps to validate our health program and the cumulative effect it has over time on your birds.

Received an interesting phone call today. One of my customers had his best YB season yet, and attributed much of that success on the new test product I sent to him (50% Show Stopper 50% Five Star). Seems there was a great deal of problems with YB's in his area (Connecticut). He was able to put in some top performances when others had to drop out of some of the races due to sickness in thier lofts.

I don't recommend using a mixture of 50% Show Stopper 50% Five Star on a regular basis, as the pure form of Show Stopper has proven to be a year around preventive and natural health supplement. Howver, having a container of Five Star on hand in case sickness breaks out in your club or combine might be a good hedge against the worse happening. In his case, I think the sickness going around the combine was some sort of super canker strain that caused the problem and it was not responsive to the regular cocci treatments.

Today, we added Super B (B Vitamin complex) to our price sheet. This is a highly concentrated and inexpensive source for additional B vitimins. The product includes Biotin (B7), Folic Acid (B9), Niacin (B3), Pantothenic Acid (B5), Pyridoxine (B6), Riboflavine (B2), Cyanocobalamin (B12), Thiamine (B1), Choline, Vitamin C and other good ingredients.

Some of you ask why I do not have a shopping cart so that customers could order products directly from the website. I could do that, but there is a great deal of information shared between myself and my customer when an order is taken. My products are being used successfully by many different fanciers and in many different ways. You would be surprised to hear of the new uses for my products that I have learned during these phone calls. I also discover that some customers are using my products incorrectly and not getting the full benefit of their useage. Additionally, these phone calls give me input on how successful my products have been (or not) in dealing with the various Adeno, Circo and YB Sickness outbreaks around the country.

There is a lot of info I can share over the phone that I just cannot do with a website, as the info I share is specific to certain health issues currently found in the loft. Sometimes, I do not sell a product to a customer because after talking with them I find that there is another product better suited to their needs. Questions about when and how to use Vira Max or Five Star, are very dependent upon what specific health issues are going on in a loft (at that time) and what products the customer has already used or is currently using which might contradict the benefits of Vira Max, Five Star or any of my other health or performance products.

Overall, I find these phone conversation to be highly beneficial both to myself and to my customers. Besides, there is something about a phone call that seems to discourage those who order products with fraudulent credit card accounts. I have never had a fraudulent credit card order, even with the orders I ship overseas.

So, to those of you who enjoy the convenience of a onsite shopping cart, please understand, I am first of all selling service, then products.

Thanks, John Vance

A customer called today to tell me that his club and the surronding clubs experienced an adeno virus outbreak this year, about 2 - 3 weeks into the YB season. He reported that though most all the lofts in the area came down with symptoms of adeno virus, he did not. He then went on to tell me that a friend called him and told him that he should get my Max Immune Plus and Show Stopper products because they were successful for this fancier in keeping adeno out of the loft. Of course, he was already using these products (along with Vira Max Five Star) and shared that with the friend. Prevention really is the best medicine!

One of our test lofts, was telling us a week ago how much they like our new anti-microbial product that goes on the feed. He said that he gives it to the birds for two days after every race in case the birds pick up anything in the race crate, and it really tightens up those droppings.

Last night he emails us that he clocked one of only 19 day birds in the World Trade Center Race ( /- 1540 birds ~ 350 to 400 miles). Congratulations Mr. X, you have a fantastic bird. Glad we could help with the health needs of your birds in preparation for the race. BTW, Mr. X, also uses our Muscle Max and Super Creatine Plus performance products.

Couple of weeks ago, got a call from a one loft race with the usual YB type sickness symptoms: holding water in the crop, watery droppings, not eating, etc. When a bird dies it usually does so within two days of showing signs. He had tried many medications and antibiotics but as soon as he stopped the meds, the birds reverted back to the sickness again.

Well, he started them on our Vira Max product and not one death since. THe one bird that he was sure would be died the next day (after strarting on Vira Max), perked up and is now recovered. The whole loft has returned to health. This is another positive results for Vira Max. I wish I could say this is always the result, but it is not. However, in many cases, Vira Max seems to bring about positive results even when the more traditional methods (antibiotics and medications) fail to clear up the problem.

Also, we have a new product (yet unnamed) that brings about good results in the birds. Be sure to ask about it when you call in an order for any of our products.

I wanted to comment on an issue that has come up over and over again concerning the use of Max Immune Plus and Show Stopper. The schedule that I recommend is tailored to the needs of a racing pigeon fancier that is competing in a race series. It assumes that the fancier is using both Max Immune Plus and Show Stopper during the week.

However, I find that not all customers are using both products. Some customers prefer to use Show Stopper and some prefer to use Max Immune Plus. I do not prefer you use one or the other exclusively, but if you do, please make sure that you are giving three (3) treatments a week of whichever product you are using.

There is a reason why the use of both product during the week is the best protection, it has to do with the fact that Max Immune Plus and Show Stopper each have ingredients unique to that product that are not available in the other product. Now it is true that both products share many ingredients but it is also true that each product contains ingredients unique to that product. This segregation of ingredients was necessary in order to place ingredients that are NOT water soluble in one product (Show Stopper) and to leave the other product as water soluble.

The preferred method and the method that provides the most protection for your birds is to use both products each week. However, if you prefer to use one or the other then make sure that you are giving that product three times a week at its regular dosage.

For those of you who are not racing, you can reduce your usage to two time a week from three. When birds are racing they share the crate with birds of unknown health and as such they need that extra protection during the race season that is not necessary during the off season.

As I get re-orders on our new Muscle Max product, more and more I am hearing about how fast the birds recover from the races when you put Muscle Max in the water for the returning birds. The difference is very noticable. I developed Muscle Max to quickly recuperate the birds after a race and to rebuild the muscles 12 - 24 hours sooner than birds that do not recieve Muscle Max.

Just last Saturday, another one of my Muscle Max customers told me he is doing very well in the early races so far this year. On Saturday, he lost the 250 Mile race by one second, but did take 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th and 8th. Most of his team clocked in the top 10% and 90% of his race birds were in the top 20% of the race sheet against about 750 birds shipped. This fancier, uses my products exclusively (Max Immune Plus, Show Stopper, Super Creatine Plus and Muscle Max). He does not medicate or use antibiotics except for a single Ivomec treatment for worms during the race season.

This fancier, uses Muscle Max and Super Creatine Plus on the day of basketing. However, he removes the supplemented water and replaces it with fresh water when he is giving the birds their last meal, about three hours before basketing. He also puts Muscle Max in the water for the returning race birds on race day. This is what is working for him.

I am reposting December 22, 2006 Annoucement, because is shouldn't get buried down the list. Bringing it to the top of the posts, will allow fanciers to re-read this important information about some of the ingredients we use in our products.

I have recently added four new ingredients to my products. These ingredients are now included in most of my health products at no extra charge.

Their major benifits are:

Better absorption of Calcium, Magnesium and Phosphorus
Better absorption of Vitamin D3
Improved Osmoregularity (controls cell hydration or water content of the cells)
Increased Thermoregulation: Allows a bird to fly longer without overheating or dehydrating
Increases the surface area of the digestive tract by as much as 5% - 9% allowing for better utilization of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc
Protect the intestinal lining from damage associated with pathogenic infection which otherwise might cause lessions and scaring of the digestive tract
Includes precursors (primary building blocks) needed for natural Carnitine, Adenosine, and S-adenosyl methionine (SAMe) production.
Increase the effectiveness of folic acid, and vitamin B12 in the bird's system

In addition to the above mentioned ingredients, we have added an additional source of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc,, to the Max Immune Plus product to supplement the original supply of vitamins and minerals already present in the product. What is exciting about this new souce of addtional nurticuticals is that they are micro-encapsulated which protects them from degredation and breakdown until they are absorbed into the bird's system. This means, that the ingredients are protected from breakdown until delivered to the cells which increases the availability of these ingredients to the birds.

Below is a list of micro-encapsulated nutricuticals we have added to the Max Immune Plus product:

alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, ATP, Boron, Calcium, Choline Bitartrate, Chromium, citrulline, Copper, cysteine, fatty acids, Folic Acid, glutamin, glycine, Glycocymine, histidine Inositol, Iodine, Iron, isoleucine, l-glutamine acid, leucine, long chain glucose polymers, lysine, Magnesium, Manganese, medium chain triglycerides, methionine, Molybdenum, n-Aceyle-Glucosamine, Omega 3, ornithine, Para-Amino Acid, phenylanine, Phosphorus, Potassium, proline, red apple, Selenium, serine, Sodium, sweet potato, taurine, threonine, TMG, tyrosine, valine, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Vitamin H (biotin), White Willow Bark Extract, and Zinc.

One of my customers re-ordered this week and they told me that they are very pleased with the health of their birds since putting them on Max Immune Plus and Show Stopper.

He went on to say that he uses my products like I suggest (Max Immune Plus one day a week in the water and Show Stopper two meals a week on the feed) but that he also sprinkles a tiny amount of Max Immune Plus in the water every day it has nothing else in it. He says the birds are the healthiest he has ever seen, better by far than when he was using medications and antibiotics.

I think he is right, recent studies I have been doing on probiotics suggest that a little every day is very helpful and even though my Max Immune Plus and Show Stopper products contain probiotics and prebiotics (this accounts for use three days a week during the race season), giving Max Immune Plus in the water more than one day just might be a very good idea. It certainly is cost effective over the rotation of medications and antibiotics that most fanciers give their birds with lesser results.... Just my opinon.

One of my east coast customers reordered today and while on the phone reported how well he had been doing in the YB season, so far. The best returns he has ever had. He ordered some Show Stopper and some Muscle Max.

At the same time, he reported just how "hot" the Muscle Max" product has been working for him. He said that the birds bounce back from even the hardest of races in just hours, when on the product. He did an experiment where some birds got Muscle Max after the race and other did not. He said the difference was easily seen in just a few hours.

Not only that, but Muscle Max is used on the day prior to shipping (or the morning of shipping). This is a Great product that is winning converts to our performance products line of products

We received news from one of the top fanciers in the USA, who may well have the 1st American Ace Pigeon in his category, that he had excellent results using Muscle Max in the Old Bird 2007 race season. So much so, that he has ordered additional bottles to keep on hand for the Young bird season as he knows this item is sometimes out of stock and he cannot be without it!

I have been very busy lately and have not been keeping this page up with tips from customers, however today I received feedback on a recommendation I made to a fancier just yesterday and thought I would share the results with you.

This friend has a bird with one of the top racing records in the country. Several weeks ago, this race bird was lost on a tough 500 mile race that saw only 12% of the birds home on the second day. Two days ago, this bird finally made ti home in terrible condition. When found in the loft, it could hardly get off the floor and this fancier feared that it might take weeks if not months to restore this bird to health. That is, if the bird did not die in the next few days.

Yesterday, we talked on the phone, and he mentioned the condition of the bird and that he feared it might need a long recovery period. I remembered what another customer had told me several months ago about using Show Stopper to recouperate a broken down bird. I suggested that my friend mix some Show Stopper in a little water and use an eye dropper to administer this slurry to the bird.

This morning, we talked again and the bird has made so much progress in the last 18 hours that it voluntarily took flight with the other birds for 5 minutes today. This fancier was amazed at the recovery he had seen in the bird!

I am not exactly sure how and why this happens, but I thought you might like to store these observations in the back of your mind for future reference should you find yourselves in a similar situation.

Of course, if you have my American "No Light" Green Pills you can accomplish the same results by dropping one or two of these pills down the bird's throat.

One of my customers called to reorder today and this is what they had to say about how their birds look on my products: The feathers are slilky, the feather pigmentation is rich, the eyes are dry, the wattles are snowy, the birds have a glow and the bounce of health. Sometimes, as I look at the birds and ask myself - are these birds real?

Thanks Tony, you echoed what others have commented on, the appearance of health that comes from weekly use of our all natural products.

I have recently added four new ingredients to my products. These ingredients are now included in most of my health products at no extra charge.

Their major benifits are:

Better absorption of Calcium, Magnesium and Phosphorus
Better absorption of Vitamin D3
Improved Osmoregularity (controls cell hydration or water content of the cells)
Increased Thermoregulation: Allows a bird to fly longer without overheating or dehydrating
Increases the surface area of the digestive tract by as much as 5% - 9% allowing for better utilization of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc
Protect the intestinal lining from damage associated with pathogenic infection which otherwise might cause lessions and scaring of the digestive tract
Includes precursors (primary building blocks) needed for natural Carnitine, Adenosine, and S-adenosyl methionine (SAMe) production.
Increase the effectiveness of folic acid, and vitamin B12 in the bird's system

Below is a list of micro-encapsulated nutricuticals we have added to the Max Immune Plus product:

Please remember, that our Max Immune Plus and Show Stopper products are not intended to be your sole source of vitamins and minerals. If you are using these two products, you can reduce any additional vitamins and mineral sources to one half the recommended dosage - once a week.

Received a call from a fancier back in November that had fallen on his face in a big money race that week. He was barely on the race sheet and he called around for advise from his friends. One friend, told him to call RacingPigeoMall. He did call and he ordered Max Immune Plus and Show Stopper.

I was pleased to see the other day that three weeks later when they had the second big money race of the series, that he was all over the race sheet and clocked more birds in the money than anyone. His first bird was in the top three and the rest of his birds were.... Well, he did very well. He did say that he treated for respiratory and said this helped his success. However, he said he did not want me to reveal his name because he does not want the competition to know he is using my products.

I understand his feelings on this matter. It has been my policy to not disclose names or other information that might reveal who my clients are (unless the client ask me to reveal this info), in order to protect their secrets from their local competition. Besides, my clients are more than willing to refer new customers (their friends) to me that are not their competition. This is the major way my business has grown these past two years, word of mouth. The best way to grow a business.

I recieved an email the other day that was so encouraging that I wanted to print it here on the website. I have removed flyer's names and the name of the competitor's products.

Here is what he said:

As you recall we were having Candida Yeast problems with our Young Birds in the middle of the season this year, so I treated them for the yeast problem, then put them exclusively on "Show Stopper" and "Max Immune Plus", instead of the [name removed] products we had been using. The birds really improved the last few races and looked better and better each week. The Last Race of the season was 306 Miles with a two-day ship. We shipped 30 birds and placed 1st through 22nd way out front of everyone else despite the two day ship, so the birds really peaked again at the end of the season.

I also got a call from [name removed] in Florida, He is a new flyer. I told him a few weeks ago to put his birds on the 'Show Stopper" and "Max Immune Plus". He said he ordered it and has been using it for 2 weeks now. This weekend was the big Auction Race. He had been training for this race and it was the only race he flew in YB's. He placed 1st and 2nd.

Reflecting back on the AU Convention Race, I realized that the fanciers who were using our Max Immune Plus and Show Stopper products, were top performers in the race. No, they did not win the race, but of the top four lofts placing birds in the money, two of those four were using my products (instead of medications), and I only had four handlers total using my products in this race.

There were 47 lofts sending 1103 birds to this race, there were 230 prizes paid out which means that 20.85% of the birds won a prize.

The top four percentage prize winners were:

11 out of 25 (44%) Used my products
7 out of 17 (41.18%)
14 out of 35 (40%)
9 out of 26 (34.62%) Used my products

I think what this shows, is that there is no "Magic Bullet" that puts your birds in the front, but Max Immune Plus and Show Stopper, puts all your birds in the best condition to win! You just do not get that many birds in the money if the whole team is not healthy and ready to outclass the competition.

Update to the September 23rd Announcement (see below): Received a call today that the birds are fully recovered and look fantastic! The fancier cured the problem by giving 2 teaspoons of Max Immune Plus per gallon (double dose) and then on althernate days giving Show Stopper at one teaspoon per feeding/ per 50 birds, for two feedings a day. So, he was using Max Immune Plus and Show Stopper on alternate days (at double doses) for five days and now all the birds are in super health.

Considering the extreme distress these birds were in, often leading to death, I am amazed at how quickly Max Immune Plus and Show Stopper, corrected the situation and brought health back to the loft. Fanciers are constantly demonstrating the usefulness of these two "all natural" products in dealing with the "day to day" and the "extreme" health challenges our birds face throughout the year.

A fancier (name withheld) called the other day with a health problem. His breeders were sick, they start out by throwing up their feed, then they stop eating, then their crops started holding water, and they were tilting their heads all the way back until the head touched the bird's back (as if trying to get the water to go down), and finally, birds were dying after about 5 days. I told him to put the birds on Max Immune Plus and Show Stopper, so that every day they received either Max Immune Plus or Show Stopper. Several days after starting the birds on this regime, he called again and told me that the problem was disappearing from the breeding section, birds were not tilting their heads back anymore, there was no water in the crops, the birds were now able to eat and no more deaths.

I am always amazed at the effectiveness of Max Immune Plus and Show Stopper. Fanciers are constantly demonstrating the usefulness of these two "all natural" products in dealing with the "day to day" and "extreme" health challenges our birds face throughout the year.

Wallace Soriano called today, he wanted to re-order more Show Stopper. At the same time he gave me a tip that I had heard several customers tell me time and again over the past few months. It seems that Show Stopper really helps the moult along. The birds seem to get through the moult sooner and the feathering is great.

I received a call from Nick Petrole today, he wanted to re-order the Max Immune Plus and Show Stopper products. At the same time he gave me this tip. Seems that Nick, has been giving Show Stopper in the drinking water when the birds come home from hot and hard races. He starts by stiring the Show Stopper in hot water and then adds additional water after the Show Stopper is well mixed. He gives this in the water for several days upon return from the races. Nick, believes that the droppings really firm up nice and the birds seem to recover quicker from these tough races. Thanks for the tip Nick!

I have added several new ingredients since the last time Nick ordered Show Stopper, including a new concentrated multi-mineral / Amino source, so there might be slightly more sediment in the water than what Nick has experienced in the past. Never the less, You might find this tip useful so feel free to try it out. You might like the results!

Question: Why I don't hype referrals? Answer: My customers don't want me to!

Joe Aguiar, called today (August 29th) and asked why I do not list testimonials from those successful fanciers using my products. Joe was particularly curious as he had sent me a wonderful testimonial earlier in the year (see bottom of this page) and had even mentioned my products in an article written about him in the Racing Pigeon Digest, this past spring.

I told Joe, what I am telling you now: In 2005 and 2006, I adverised twice a year in a pigeon publication. Almost all my customers have come from referrals or from people visiting my website. There are many fanciers using my products and to tell the truth, they just do not want me to share their success with the rest of the sport. That's right, my customers ask me not to tell how well they are doing on my products. Don't get me wrong, they refer their friends that are not in their club, but they do not want to give up the edge of letting their competition know just what health products they are using.

It makes me kind of proud to know that my customers want to keep my products a secret from their competition. That is about the nicest compliment I could receive. And, I like having them call me when they reorder and tell me how well they are doing. Some of these guys were never near the top of the race sheet until they started my simple, "all natural" health schedule and my #1 performance product.

I changed my instructions for using Max Immune Plus and Show Stopper recently. When I made up the original instructions, I did so assuming that fanciers would be using both Max Immune Plus and Show Stopper together. Sometimes, that is not the case. Sometimes, a fancier will be using just one or the other of these two immunity building products. If you are using just one of these two products and not both together (both together is preferable as you get a broad spectrum of protection not available in either one individually), then you should be using the one product three times a week during the race season.

If you were using both products, you would be using them together three times a week, so if using either one seperately, you should also give that one product, three times a week.

For example, my usual schedule for using these products together during the race season is to use Max Immune Plus on the day following the race and Show Stopper on the 3rd and 5th day following the race. In this way you spread the protection throughout the week leading up to the next race. However, if you were using just Max Immune Plus or Show Stopper seperately, then follow the same schedule: 1st, 3rd and 5th day following the race with just the one product. This will give the best results.

Having said the above, I will give you one tip that Joe shared with me today: He gives the Max Immune Plus three days straight following the race and if you look at the race results, you will see he is flying at the top (1st Champion loft, 3rd Average Speed and 3rd and 4th Champion birds).

By the way, just to please Joe, here is his testimony: "I have been using John's products for 3 years and have often placed many birds at the top of the combine race sheet including the first 4 places and first 5 places in the combine and Southern New England Combine Champion Loft. Three days a week on John's products and the droppings are perfect. Simplest health system I have ever found!"