Article in SA & World Pigeon News, August 2007

Interview by Kevin Winter, agent of Medpet in the UK...
P Stobbs & Son of County Durham, England.

 The Loft
The pigeon loft is set in the beautiful County Durham countryside and was built in November 2005 specifically to Paul’s design, with a view to start racing young birds on 5 August 2006.

The Loft is a stone building with a slate roof.  The large aviary runs along the entire length of the young bird and stock loft.  The interior is fitted with various nest boxes which are connected to an electric cleaning system so all the cleaning is done at the push of a button and takes only minutes to complete.  As England does not have a South African climate, the lofts are fitted with radiators, which keep the temperature to 20 degrees Celsius and the humidity to 50%.  The method of ventilation is via a complex electric extraction system. 

They have a very special lighting system installed, which is used to suit the weather and moult conditions as required.  Each drinking fountain has its own water supply, which runs through an industrial filter system.

The Pigeons
Paul chose to stock this fantastic Loft with Jas Soontjens and Jas Thone birds.  He purchased birds from a number of very well known master breeders including Frank Sheader, Nigel Laycock and Ian Stafford who have bred many successful champions.

Competition
The partnership competes in the Medomsley Homing Society Club and the Leadgate Homing Society Club.  Both of these Clubs are affiliated to Consett Federation, which sends approximately 2,500 birds weekly.  This Federation is part of the West Durham Amalgamation. 

In his first season racing young birds only, the Partnership won 17 First Clubs, 7 First Federations, 8 Second Federations, 9 Third Federations, 8 Fifth Federations and a staggering 98 times in the first 30 of the Federations.  But remember, this loft only competed in 9 races.  The Partnership was the top prize winner in the Federation and also set a new record by having the First 9 positions in the Federation from the Young Bird National, being 2^nd, 8^th, 9^th, 13^th, 14^th, 17^th, 24^th, 37^th, 40^th, 51^st, 65^th and 75^th Open West Durham Amalgamation, 6,600 birds competing at a distance of 270 miles.  What a fantastic start! 

At the start of the season in April 2007 it is continuing in much the same way.  After 8 races, the Partnership has 4 First Federation wins, and many Federation positions.  In the Old Bird National race they already have a 5^th and 7^th Open and another three pigeons in the first 20 of the Open result with 8,000 pigeons competing.

Health issues
I asked Paul if the pigeons had suffered any health problems.  He confirmed that he had 2 pigeons that died suddenly at the beginning of the year, and a further 2 pigeons had drooping wings and an inability to fly.  All birds were hens. He took these pigeons to be tested and it was established that they were suffering from a streptococcus infection. The birds were treated with Avivet and Medilyte in the water, with Medimune on the feed.  The problem was very quickly solved with no further problems or outbreaks.  In fact, one of the pigeons which was unable to fly at this time went on to top the Federation only 3 weeks ago.

I asked Paul whether the pigeons had received any other medication than the Avivet.  He confirmed that so far they have only been treated once for Canker using Cankerex-Plus for 5 days.  They were also using Mediworm tablets.  Paul said that his birds have regular health checks every 3 weeks.  If the results are negative, he does nothing, but would not hesitate to use the appropriate medication if a problem was to arise.

Products
I asked Paul why he used Medpet products and what it was he liked about them.
“I looked at lots of different products on the market and studied which top fanciers were quoted as to using which products.  I noticed that many of the top fanciers were using Medpet products.  In particular, the Champion Old Bird three years in succession in the mighty Up North Combine, which has 7 National races, and the birdage for the 7 races with more than 100,000 pigeons, was won by pigeons which came from lofts where the Medpet products were used on a regular basis.”

He said, “ In my opinion the products are very consistent and the quality is excellent.  The products work very well and I believe the reason my pigeons do not need a lot of medication is because the immune system is working at a very high level due to the regular use of the Medpet tablets and I also use Medimune powder, Viroban and Premolt regularly on my young bird team.”

Speed-Plus
Without going too deeply, let’s just have a quick breakdown of Speed-Plus, a favourite of Paul, to see why it seems to work so well.
Vitamin B1 – Thiamine
Vitamin B2 – Riboflavin
Vitamin B3 – Nicotinic Acid
Vitamin B6 – Pyridoxine
Vitamin B12 – Cyanocobalamin
Vitamin B15 – Dimethyglycin
L-Carnitine

B1– one of the main activities of B1 is the transformation of glucose into energy or fat.  It works extremely well when combined with B6.
B6 – Riboflavin apart from being a converter of carbohydrate fats, and proteins into energy, is also needed for the formation of red blood corpuscles.
B3 – Nicotinic Acid is also involved in the metabolism of carbohydrates, fat and protein.
B12 – formation of red blood corpuscles works well in combination with other B vitamins, in particular B6.
B15 – Dimethyglycin increases oxygen from the lungs into the blood stream, muscles and vital organs.  If used in combination with Vitamin E the effect is very much enhanced.  Of course, we adhere this to the corn with Plume-Plus, which has a very high Vitamin E content. 

A lot of thought has gone into the Medpet products and you can see by a very simple breakdown the products are not gimmicks.  This is just one product in a range of products.