THE CLEANLINESS CONCEPT

by John Clements

Pigeons do not have a concept of cleanliness, only man has such a concept and in historical terms even this is relatively modern. As late as the Industrial Eevolution, the majority of people were living in absolute squalor and rivers such as the Thames, the Mersey and various Welsh rivers were open sewers. The ruling classes at this time were not as clean as the average working family of today, they just opted for country estates, clean water and space to get out of city dirt and various ills from water borne bacteria.

Getting back to pigeons and the pigeon idea of life, the advantages of a clean loft do not even enter their head. They are much more concerned with it being dry, with it being secure, with where to lay their eggs and where it is safe to rear their young. The fancier who cleans his loft out twice or three times a day is not usually doing it for the sake of the pigeons, he is more likely to be doing it for his own sake. He may think he is trying to keep bacteria to a minimum or combat various viruses but this is a battle he cannot win. Anyone who has experienced ravaging Young Bird Sickness in a completely clean loft knows the truth of this.

When it comes to viruses and bacteria we are taking on literally billions or trillions of them. They have been around since the dawn of life on our planet and are likely to be still around long after the human race has either burnt itself out or disappeared. It is a hopeless task, much better to evolve with bugs and drink clean water rather than take them on. Much better to develop the one sure tool we were all born with, an immune system that can and does develop over time. Better this than dilute our immunity. We should work with what nature has already given us.

To do this we must ditch the idea of absolute cleanliness. If we mistakenly think we are winning we should think again. Let's make a new start by accepting a bit of untidy rough stuff around to prime the pigeon's immune system. If we do that we will be doing ourselves a big favour. The pigeons won’t mind a bit of dirt and surely they don’t know their immune system is being primed. As a matter of fact they will begin to feel more easy and comfortable and more able to survive better in the race basket, especially during a holdover or a difficult race. The youngsters of course will be better because they get a head start from their already highly immune parents.

We all have to ask if we are endlessly scraping out for ourselves – for visitors – for improved performance or for a cleanliness culture that has soaked into our minds since soap and detergent adverts began to bombard us about the awful prospect of nasty bacteria doing immeasurable harm. In my view a few bugs bring a richer and more fulfilled life all round, especially for the pigeons.