In our previous article, we promised to talk about the use of vitamins and a lot more. Till now, we in BLUE HEAVEN LOFT always used it in the drinking water. Mostly because it’s easier but also because we found out that our birds take it better by the drinking water then by their food.
That’s all changed now and certainly when we use vitamins.  From now on and in future we will use it in the food of our pigeons.
The reason of it is following. I had a discussion with my daughter Linda, who told me to be more careful by using to many vitamins and food supplies. She sais that when you eat and drink  healthy, you normally don’t have to take extra vitamins. You get these out of many vegetables and fruit you use every day. Now you must know that both, my wife and my daughter are vegetarian; they don’t eat fish, meat and nothing with fat of animals. This wasn’t easy for me but you finally accept it and adjust. When you take too many vitamins, especially those that aren’t natural.  You have a bigger risk of getting cancer and that’s something you can miss, even if you have to avoid certain things. That’s what she learned this past year at the university. And it was clear that she had prepared all well, to push my nose into the facts. This is what I learned:

For a perfect breeding

Indispensable during the racing season

Vitamin A: very important for our sight, our growth and the care taking of our skin. It’s also very important for the development of our teeth, our tissue, our skeleton and also our reproduction. Animals that don’t get Vitamin A even loose their appetite. Eggs, meat and dairy products contain a lot of Vit.A. Also vegetables like green vegetables, coloured fruit, carrots and paprika.
 Vitamin B1 : is important for our metabolism.  This can be found in grains, brown bread, fish, meat and milk.
Vitamin B2 : stimulates the healthy growth and recuperation of the tissue. It helps to release the energy out of the food, takes care of a healthy skin and the production of red blood cells. Not unimportant to our pigeons. You can find it in grains, nuts, milk, eggs, green vegetables and lean meat.
Vitamin B6 : is important for a healthy function of the brains. It’s important for production of red blood cells, demolition of albumen and the convert of amino acids.  You can find it in beans, grains, nuts, eggs, fish and meat.  A shortage of Vit. B6 can be found with women who take contraception and with alcoholics.
Vitamin C.  : Is important to take care of healthy tissue and the healing of wounds. It also helps to absorb iron in the intestines. Sources are : oranges, grapefruit , lemon and fresh fruit. Boiled or fried potatoes and several vegetables contain enough Vitamin C, to be self-sufficient to us in normal circumstances. A shortage of Vitamin C can be noticed by tiredness, weakness, pain of the muscles, swollen joints and loose of weight. Vitamin C belongs to a group of nutrients among which also Vitamin E and B- Carotene, which we call anti-oxidants.  People that eat food that’s rich of nutrients, have less chance to get a coronary complaint and certain cancers. But…trials with supplementation of these pure nutrients weren’t able to show a positive effect. 
Vitamin D :  is the least toxic of the fat-soluble vitamins .  It has a kind of hormonal effect. It’s very important for the regulation of plasma concentration of Calcium and Phosphor. People who don’t get a lot of sunshine, need Vitamin D. A shortage of it creates more risks on Osteoporosis, high blood pressure and heart diseases. They say that enough vitamin D can prevent 17 different kinds of cancer.  Sources: by nature, it can be found in fat fish, liver and egg yolk. But 250 ml of milk should be enough to provide our daily need of Vitamin D. A combination of Magnesium, Calcium and Vitamin D should take care of strong bones. It has also been proved that Vitamin D3 together with Calcium, prevent fractures and the weak bones of the post-menopause.
Vitamin E : sources : vegetable oils are a rich source of Vitamin E.  It can be recommended to prevent chronicle diseases, like coronal heart diseases or cancer.
Vitamin B 12 :  Is soluble in water but nut present in plants. It can be found in liver, creamy milk, eggs, oysters, shrimps, pork and chicken.  
Folium acid : is necessary for the production of red blood cells and it can be found in beans, vegetables, citrus fruit, fruit juice, grains, dark green vegetables, poultry, pork, crustacean and liver.
That’s it, in “grosso modo” , what students learn at the university.
But on the other hand there’s also a publication out of the UK, which shows by tests on more than 250.000 patients, that those that got Selenium, Vitamin C and E, have for 67%  less chance on the most dangerous diseases of our century. Scientists don’t know yet what the cause of this dramatic reduction of risks, can be. They think that the anti oxidants that neutralise the free radicals, are not only at the base of this but that they also stimulate our immune system.
Conclusion : I will keep on taking my Vitamins, my food supplies and anti-oxidants, in contradiction what my daughter said. Am I an incredulous man? May be. Nevertheless, I feel good and I won’t change my way of living.
On BLUE HEAVEN LOFT, all rest has returned and we’re on schedule. As you all know already, the results of Bourges National were good. We’re also glad to mention a little improvement, concerning the national race from Limoges yearlings (658 km). We had put in 28 pigeons and scored with 22 prizes instead of the 18 I mentioned before.
Still 3 national races ahead of us: Argenton,  La Souterraine and the last one from Gueret. In the mean time we already had the national race from Bourges.  Here for we let our old and yearling birds together and a few days later, we put under some eggs. The next races will be done on a nest… It can be noticed on the pigeons, the reunion of the family did them well.  But that’s not all; twice a day they are taken away from the nest to train for an hour, together with the youngsters. That’s not easy because pigeons on a nest don’t like to get outside and don’t come inside easily. Here you have to show them who’s the boss but not frighten them or loose the trust of the master. Nevertheless it all works with a patience Many fanciers have good eyes but they don’t see what they need to see on the loft.
We will end it now. To all my readers; a successful end of the season because this will belong to the past within a month. 
A lot of success!

Your servant

THE LOST SON