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

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

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

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

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

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

In News & Views:
Stefan Mertens takes us this month into the lofts of Fréderic Beukenne, winner of the 1st National Ace Bird Small Middle Distance K.B.D.B. .... Mertens filed his report last month on Guy Everaert, this year's winner of 1st National Bourges against more than 40,000 birds!.... Mertens himself is the 2006 1st National Champion KBDB Middle Distance Youngbirds. For these reports, and many other archived features, click here...
Read on for all the news!

Where's Ed?

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


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


Midwest Show - Oct. 2 -4, Westfield, WI (Speaker)


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


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


National Show, November 15, Stamford, CT


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



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We urge you to vaccinate for salmonella and for paramyxo now, since November is the month to take care of this health requirement for your breeders. It's also time to prepare the breeders for breeding season. So November is the month for medicating, worming and giving them a preventative canker medication treatment.


With a complete regimen of medication, fertility and hatchability improve greatly--sometimes reaching 90 percent. Sometimes hens will retain an infection in their oviducts that will lie dormant in their bodies. In hens, the bacteria transfer into the egg, so the embryo dies in the egg or just shortly after hatching.


Cock birds can also have an infection in their system which can decrease fertility, because of bacteria which settle in the internal organs and lie dormant. The birds are resistant to it, but they're carriers, and pass it on to their offspring. It can affect fertility in cock birds, hatchability in youngsters, and the way a hen will lay--how easy it is for her to lay her eggs, how many she'll lay, etc. How can you prevent this? Treat for salmonella and E. coli two weeks before the breeding season begins. Ecol-Tonic is an excellent product, fairly new to the sport and creating great feed-back to us from fanciers around the country on its effectiveness. Why not go ahead and mark this important step to treat for salmonella and E. coli on your calendar now?

Most fanciers pair their breeders around Thanksgiving. You need to vaccinate and medicate two to three weeks before pairing the birds up, so that they can be fully recovered from the vaccines and already be gaining their strength back.

It's also a good time to begin to boost the birds by giving them vitamins, and there are several fine products on the market that will enhance your effort and improve the condition and preparation of the birds for breeding. Vitamin E is considered a fertility vitamin, and besides being proven to aid in fertility, it is known to help to build resistance to disease. We have used either a combination vitamin called Pego AD3E, or a Vitamin E drop from Pego, which is pure vitamin E. Either one can be put directly on the food for flock treatment, or given individually. We use vitamin E several days in a row to really build the birds up.


We are also very excited about a highly specialized product from Comed called Breeding Oil. According to the pigeon laboratory that developed it, Comed Breeding Oil is adapted to the specific needs of breeders, and replaces Fine Oil during the breeding period. Fertibol, also from Comed, is a product that will greatly benefit your breeders and their babies as well. It's a tremendous aid for fertility and hatchability.

Giving extra calcium at this time of year is also a great idea. We prefer the Calcium-Vitamin D3 Syrup from the Australian Pigeon Company. This is especially important to prevent a calcium deficiency in the hens when they lay. Hens may still not have recouped their calcium reserves from the prior year's breeding season, and it never hurts to give extra calcium. It really helps the birds, because we can see that when they've had a calcium supplement, they're much more vigorous. This is a sure sign that they feel good. Extra calcium also helps to add bone mass. Birds that are not very active in a breeding loft tend to lose bone mass, just like inactive people.


We recommend a four- to five-day treatment for canker, with products like Pegosan, Turbosole or Ridzol, which in our experience have proven to be very effective against canker.

Worming is essential. The optimum time for treating for worms is the first week in November for three days with Moxidectin or Moxidectin Plus, if you want to treat the flock. Moxidectin and Moxidectin Plus are also good for individual treatment. Ivomec drops are also good. Göpolex Worm Tablets from Pego are the ticket if you prefer individual treatment. Worms won't be a problem after you use any of these approaches.


Something for salmonella, E. coli, and coccidiosis should be your final medication at this time. Divet tablets and Enroxil tablets work very well against salmonella and E. coli. APC Baycox and our Ten-in-One Capsules are also among the products that are safe and effective against coccidiosis. These treatments can render an excellent prevention against bacterial infections if done two weeks before pairing up the birds. The breeders will have a great start if you follow this advice.
The "good" gut bacteria are always affected by this or any other medication. After medication, we give our birds two days of a pro-biotic. Pro-Bac, Digestal, Pro-Digest, and Optimix are all excellent gut restoratives. The positive feed-back that we get from fanciers around the country about Health Gard as a fine pro-biotic can't be ignored, either. Then we like to give them Pigeon Power, a tonic to start building them up for the breeding season. It's loaded with minerals and amino acids. Pigeon Power helps to get the birds into condition for the stress that they're bound to go through, with wintertime coming, and cold, damp and nasty weather, added to the stress of breeding and raising young!

By now, the pigeons have just finished the moult, and we have had them on a program of Biochol from Oropharma or Methio Forte from Herbots. These promote good feather condition and bring out shine and silkiness, and help to make the wattles white. Now is also a good time to add garlic juice or garlic oil to the water or feed. This conditions the birds and makes them just shine. When they feel so good, it brings out the "romance" in them. The birds are separated right now, but the hens are getting very "matey," and they're cooing to the cocks. The cocks are cooing back to the hens and are getting very aggressive, and they're fighting more with one another. With all of this going on, you know the hormones are working. It's easy to see that the more active the birds are, the better they are feeling.


We are conscious of the possibility of needing to treat our breeders for a respiratory condition, but we do not do this as a preventative. We do it only if there is an obvious problem. In the last 13 years, we've not had to give our breeders anything for a respiratory condition because their stress levels are not that high. Our very best weapon against a respiratory infection is Doxy-T from the Australian Pigeon Company, which is the perfect mixture of doxycycline and Tylan. Linco-Spectin and Tylan Concentrate are also effective.

(Please note that our Malathion Liquid is this 57% solution which is safe and effective for our birds. We cannot vouch for the concentration or the safety for treating pigeons of these types of pesticides sold in garden supply stores.)
We also check the health and the weight of the breeders. Heavy pigeons don't breed as well as pigeons of proper weight. We also want to make sure that the birds are not too thin, which could indicate a problem like worms or salmonella.


So to summarize, we're vaccinated the breeders, treated them for bacterial infections and worms, given them a gut restorative, dipped them for external parasites, given them a calcium treatment, checked them for a respiratory problem, and treated them with a feather conditioner. When they are through with the moult, we have a shiny pigeon, in excellent health, ready for the rigors of mating and raising young for the next year.


Now the fun begins! It's time to start to pair the birds. Refer to the "Ask Ed" section of the Web site for my recommendations on how to do your pairings.

Malathion Liquid – 57% concentrate.
1 gallon   
$69.95
Item #0076
SW 9.30 lbs

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


1 pint
$19.95
Item #0098
SW 2.80 lbs


1 gallon
$99.95
Item #0096
SW 9.30 lbs

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