Pigeon Fanciers Lung
10/03/2009

ON THE ROAD WITH KEITH MOTT

PIGEON FANCIERS LUNG.

It's that time of the year when fanciers have received their results from pigeon lung blood tests taken at the BHW Blackpool Show, by the British Pigeon Fancier's Medical Research Team. Some will be pleased to see a reduced reading of their pigeon lung count and many will be shocked and puzzled to be told that they are now suffering from the dreaded pigeon fancier's lung. I think it's common knowledge that I suffer from pigeon lung and I get countless phone calls, especially at this time of the year, from fanciers who are very worried and want to know the facts about the dreaded 'lung'. The first thing I tell them is don't get rid of the pigeons, to take their time and try better ventilated accommodation for the birds, as I did and reduced my own pigeon lung blood test count drastically.

My own pigeon lung problem came to a head in 1995, although I think I had probably had it for years but wouldn't admit it, for fear of having to pack up my beloved pigeons. 1995 was a very bad year for me. Firstly I discovered that I had pigeon fancier's lung after 25 years in our great sport. It was the hardest thing I have had to do in my life, when I had to get rid of my team of pigeons on doctor's orders. Not only did I feel sorry for myself, but was shattered for my daughter, Caroline, who was a very good pigeon fancier and my partner. On giving up my birds I decided to carry on as secretary of the Surrey Championship Club, an office I had held for 9 years at that time and increase my hobby in pigeon journalism. My second bit of bad luck that year was an accident at my work as a carpenter. I fell head first 10 feet through a rotten roof smashing my nose and right elbow on the concrete floor below. I had a stay in Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton, and had two screws inserted in my shattered elbow. This set-back meant a year off work and I wouldn't write. They say when one door closes another one opens and from the sale of my small team of birds I could afford to purchase a professional standard camcorder which I had always wanted, and the time off meant I could make some pigeon videos. Well, four camcorders and two cars later we have produced 18 highly successful 'Many Miles with Mott' videos, which are in turn producing articles on premier fanciers for the British Homing World and Gazette. While I was in Scotland shooting 'Many Miles with Mott' Number 12, I visited the Stobhill Hospital in Glasgow, home of the British Fancier's Medical Research Unit, for a one to one video interview with Dr Gavin Boyd, the pioneer of research into pigeon fancier's lung. In my interview I asked Dr Boyd what were the symptoms and he replied, 'Well I think the classic symptoms are flu-like aches and pains with a temperature, shivering, feverishness, sweating, coming on 4  6 hours after fairly heavy contact with the birds.' I then asked him if it could be cured with drugs and he said, 'I think the real treatment is to avoid heavy exposure to bloom and get exposure to the pigeons to a level below that which triggers of the clinical problem'. My next question to Dr Boyd was, 'So would you be saying that fanciers should be using an open aviary type loft?' His reply was, 'I'm not going to tell pigeon fanciers how to race their pigeons but the truth is, if you are sensitised and then you have to be able to adjust the way you make contact with the birds to limit the amount of bloom that you are exposed to. In 1997, whilst at the BHW Blackpool Show, I met pigeon lung sufferer Tony Grinsill of Wakefield and I had a chat with him about the problem. He was in a bad way with pigeon lung and had to pack up the sport under orders of the specialist at Mexborough Montague Hospital, where he had various lung function tests and x-rays. Tony had the idea of having a loft that you didn't walk into, so didn't get exposed to the bloom. The result was that the loft was 7ft long, 3ft wide and 3ft high and was set up at waist height, almost like a rabbit hutch. The loft worked so well that in December of that year he was discharged by the specialist, but had kept four pairs of pigeons since early October. On my return home from that Blackpool trip I was offered a pair of my old pigeons back, which had gone past their sell-by date. I built two rabbit hutches, so I could have them as pets. The result was no bad effect, so I added a third section and bob wire traps.

In 1998 I obtained a few choice youngsters from my good friends, Eric Cannon and Tom Gilbertson, with the view to racing in the Pau NFC event, which I think is one of the premier races in our sport. With such a small team of pigeons I can't hope to enjoy weekly racing success as I did in the past, so it is more realistic to have a go at one good race, like the Pau National and hopefully be successful at one or two other Channel events along the way. I trained my 1998 young birds well along the south coast and entered five in the London & South East Classic Club Guernsey race, recording 4, with my first bird being in the open result. In the winner of 1998 decided that the stack of 3 rabbit hutches was not practicable with the bottom one being too low and the top one being too high. In the Christmas period, as predicted by many, I doubled my rabbit hutch setup to 6 sections. In the space of 7 days I moved out the old set up, put down a slab patio and built the new loft on top of it. The loft is 10ft long, 2ft deep, and 6ft high and has 6 spacious sections to house 6 pairs of long distance racers. It is made of 3/4inply and is set on a nice 3in x 2in timber stand. Each rabbit hutch has a bob wire trap and all wire doors are fully removable so they don't flap about and damage the birds as they fly out. When not in use the bob hole trap is blocked off with special 'gravestone' shut off boards and the stand has a nice shelf to store the pigeon bath and nest bowls etc. Since building the old bird rabbit hutch I constructed a new matching 4ft double to house 10 young birds each season. I always wear a mask when cleaning out the rabbit hutches, which is a very quick job carried out at least once a day and the whole set-up is kept spotlessly clean. When the birds are taken out in the car they are carried in reeded widowhood baskets in the car boot and the driver's window is always kept open. The baskets are cleaned out every time after use, and re chipped regularly, always with a mask on. The 1999 season saw me race 5 yearlings and 11 youngsters to my rabbit hutch loft. I won several good positions in the Saturday Club and 56th and 116th open in the London & South East Classic Club Guernsey Young Bird Classic in a strong east wind, lifting £500. It's a wonderful way of keeping racing pigeons and the birds keep so well in the rabbit hutch type loft. Other highlights in recent seasons have been - 2002: 1st and 2nd Godalming clock station, 276th, 305th Open Nantes NFC (9,074 birds), sent 3 birds to the Pau NFC race (552 miles) clocked 2 on the winning day, recording 5th Godalming clock station, 311th. open (3,941 birds). The 2001 season saw us compete in only 2 old bird races with our 8 old bird racers and we recorded 3rd and 5th clock station, 77th, 80th, 90th, 91st, 92nd and 94th Open Perth (370 miles); 1st, 2nd, 5th clock station, 51st, 52nd and 69th Open Thurso (516 miles) with the London & South East Classic Club. We can house only about 15 young birds and in 2001 we started racing with 14 youngsters, flying the programme, including two Channel races, and finished with all 14 birds. The youngsters scored several times in the very strong Esher Club, including 1st Club Blandford (160 birds) and in the London & South East Classic Club won 2nd, 4th and 5th clock station, 107th, 126th and 132nd Open Guernsey recording 2nd and 4th Futurity and lifting £1,300. There is pigeon racing after pigeon fancier's lung and prizes can be won racing to rabbit hutches!

During the Christmas period of 2000, I built a 10ft x 6ft aviary/loft, to house a few choice stock birds and my small young bird team. As I've stated my rabbit hutch loft system is brilliant for racing the old birds but, although the hutches are very roomy; the youngsters tend to fight a lot and dominant cocks hold the floor and stop the others feeding and drinking, The new shed has two sections, one with 6 widowhood nest boxes for my long distance stock birds and the other with 25 box perches for my small young bird team. The main features in the new structure are ventilation and being dust free with the pigeon lung problem in mind. The front has two large wire windows; with the top one fitted with two 36in perspex sputnik traps to shield the bottom window and stop the rain driving in. All the doors on the aviary/loft are sliding and made of wire, so there is constant fresh air going through and I've built a cupboard under the nest boxes to store the nest bowls etc. The nest boxes have timber fillets down the sides, sealed with mastic to the loft walls so there are no pockets in the loft where pigeon dust can build up. I have been using this new aviary/loft for almost five years now and had no adverse reaction to my pigeon lung problem, which means the ventilation must be correct.

I had six really enjoyable years as cheif convoyer for the London & South East Classic Club, which may sound horrendous for someone who has pigeon fancier's lung, but most of the work is done in the open air and I always wear a mask and coat when feeding, watering and liberating the birds. I loved driving through France to places like Bordeaux and Pau, and I have never had any real ill effects from my convoying work. In recent years I have made over 300 pigeon loft visits all over the UK, for my video and writing work, and if I said it hadn't affected me I would be a liar, but my pigeon lung attacks are much milder and less frequent because I don't go into a dusty, closed in pigeon loft every day. Not everyone who has suffered will be able to keep pigeons, but I believe that modern enclosed lofts are a major factor in encouraging the problem. Few fanciers had the allergy when racing 30 years ago to the old type dowel fronted lofts, and generally fewer pigeons were housed in them. I have been amazed at the number of fanciers I have spoken to who say they have the symptoms but have not been tested. However, if I'm honest, I think I had it for about 15 years, before it peaked in 1994, when I was very ill. I get many phone calls from all over the UK asking me about the problem and I'm always happy to have a chat about the allergy, but the person who really knows about the problem is Dr Gavin Boyd, at the Research Centre in Glasgow, phone number 0141 201 3000. I can't praise Dr Gavin Boyd enough for his excellent work. I am amazed at the great interest which has been shown in my rabbit hutch loft system. I've had phone calls and letter from pigeon lung sufferers from as far away as New Zealand, who are looking for a new start in our great sport.

A few long distance performances recorded racing to the rabbit hutches since our restart:

2000: 311th. open N.F.C. Pau, 552 miles (three birds sent), 2001: 51st, 52nd, 69th. open L.& S.E.C.C. Thurso, 516 miles (six birds sent), 2002: 204th, 252nd. open N.F.C. Pau, 552 miles (four birds sent), 2003: 32nd, 121st, 154th, 155th, 174th. open L.& S.E.C.C. Dax, 528 miles (eight birds sent), 2004: 23rd, 29th, 37th, 43rd, 69th. open L.& S.E.C.C. San Sebastian, 560 miles (eight birds sent), 2005: 20th, 116th, 119th. open L.& S.E.C.C. Pau, 552 miles (eight birds sent).

My recent pigeon lung blood tests taken at BHW Blackpool Shows, have resulted in a readings of 1.7mcg/ml, which is rated absent/normal. Brilliant, when I think back to the desperate times I went through with pigeon lung in the mid 1990's and even gave up my birds for three years. With a lot of thought and hard work, there is life in the pigeon game after pigeon fanciers lung! I have included photos of three of my premier long distance racers and all three have always lived and raced to a rabbit hutch. I hope you enjoy reading this article and maybe it might be useful to someone, who is thinks they might have a problem. My phone number is: 01372 463480. See yer!

TEXT & PHOTO BY KEITH MOTT.