My copy is a hardcover book with a very colorful and beautifully designed dustjacket. The board’s design is the same with that of the jacket which means that even without the jacket you’ll have a very beautiful book on your shelf. The book has a total of 322 pages, with many colored photos throughout, divided into 9 sections with 48 chapters. The book is about 2 ½ cms. thick, 29 cms. high and 22 cms. wide.

Dr. Walker is one of the world’s leading avian veterinarians and it is just fitting that he writes one of the most complete book on the subject of pigeon health. Aside from his profession, he is also a very successful pigeon racer and has many top caliber birds.

The book starts with an introduction in Section 1 where the author briefly gives a description of pigeon racing. He then explains the importance of pigeon health on the success of any loft and how modern pigeon medicine can assist the fancier.

Section 2 covers the more common diseases like canker, respiratory infection, e. coli, paratyphoid, viral infections and parasites.

Each disease is carefully explained and analyze for the lay person and medications are recommended. Colored photos are provided which helps the reader to visualize what is being explained.

Young birds are then covered in Section 3. This includes weaning, development medical problems and racing. Though not very long, the author looks into all aspects of young birds and there are many tips included which will help the fancier understand more about young birds.

Covering Racing, Section 4 is the longest with 13 chapters that includes, health & its effect on race form, disease control in the race season, developing race fitness, selection of birds for the race team, basketing & race day and race recovery protocol, stress, winning, cortisone use, visible indicators of health in the head and throat, management of pigeon health during the race season, exercise, diet & electrolytes and pigeon racing in Australia. I will not go deeply into the different topics as they are self explanatory.

What I can say is that this section is a book in itself and many tips and knowledge can be gained by the perceptive fancier.

Section 5 then covers Breeding. There is only one chapter in this section which covers problems of the breeding season.

We now come to my favorite part, Section 6 covering Health programs. There are two chapters in this section, one covering program development in the race loft and the second covering health management programs for all stages of the pigeon year.

Illustrations are use in this section to help the reader visualize what the author is explaining. These programs may be followed as is but I recommend to the reader to try and understand the underlying reason for the program and try to adapt it based on his situation or area.

Section 7 covers Management keys to aid performance and improve clocking time. Chapters include loft design, loft humidity and temperature and their effect on health, moulting and race performance, food for thought, fungi, feed & form, testing of “bad food”, the use of probiotics in racing pigeons and natural supplements.

Most of the chapters’ titles are self explanatory so I’ll just go into the chapter “Testing of bad food”. I’ve read about this topic on the internet before but cannot find my reference files. Basically the chapter covers testing for fungal toxins on grains. It seems that these toxins could be present on the grains fed to the birds which may not kill them but will certainly lower their health and affect their racing form. One more very good tip from this book.

In Section 8, the author covers Diagnosis and Medications. Topics include diagnosis at a distance, submission of samples, dropping interpretation, the use of the microscope by the fancier, practical microscope use, a pictorial guide to microscope use for the fancier, pigeon queries a-z, medication guide and Dr. Walker’s Australian Pigeon Company.

The most important part of this section are the tips and guides on how to use the microscope for self analysis by the reader. I have only read one other time where microscope use was discuss in a pigeon book, from Dr. Whitney’s Keep Em Flying, and here it is very well explained. Color photos of worms eggs, coccidian, trichomonads, etc. are included which really helps the reader identify what to look for under a microscope. This section alone is very good reason to get your copy.

The book ends with Section 9 titled Management Diary covering the pigeon year – a management diary for the southern hemisphere. The year is broken down into each month and explained. Keep in mind that the author is talking from his experience in Australia.

There you have it, a short review of Dr. Colin Walker’s book, “The Flying Vet’s Pigeon Health & Management”.

Final thoughts:

The book covers many topics not just pigeon health. It is one of the mostly complete book I’ve ever read. The author is authoritative on the topics he covered because not only is he a veterinarian, he is also a very successful pigeon racer as well.

We’ll finish this review with a blurb from the book’s dustjacket.

Pigeon health and Management covers such a wide range of topics that

there is sure to be something here for every fancier. Yet at the same time

it no doubt will be referred to by veterinarians world-wide. This book is

long overdue and lifts the veterinary knowledge available to fanciers into

the 21^st century. It is sure to prove very popular and within several years

is likely to be found on the bookshelves of most fanciers world-wide.