Peter D' Arcy has Kindly typed up the following Infomation to share with everyone.

When flyers from the Canberra Combine commenced vaccination of their pigeons it was a matter of learning on the job.

When the injection equipment was assembled, and taken apart, the very small ball bearings and springs ended on floors, down the sink, and lost in the grass!.

We purchased the excellent vaccinators from Bellsouth and were the 0.5 ThaMa 223 type.

The local Chief Vet of the ACT, Will Andrew, gave some very good pointers for cleaning the equipment, before and after using.

What might be of interest to pigeon flyers was the degree of care Will, in his professional capacity as a Vet, went about preparing the needles for the vaccination session. The trade names have been used here, and can be purchased from Chemists and/or Drug companies.

·         He first used ‘Riotane’ to flush out the vaccinating gun. [Chlorhexidine 0.5%, alcohol 70% -used as a general swabbing agent.]

·         He then flushed out the Riotane with ‘Isopropyl Alcohol BP’  [99.5% alcohol used to disinfect needles, syringes and very good to clean out the syringe post use as it dissolves the oil-based vaccine. Much better than warm water]

·         When that solution was ejected he then flushed the vaccinating gun with distilled water before putting in the vaccine, which, of course, had been kept cold in a fridge.

Mircoshield Antimicrobial hand gel was available at all times whilst the vaccinating of the pigeons took place. Rubber gloves were used also.

It is so much simpler to follow these procedures rather than taking the equipment apart, and sterilizing in boiling water – and the ball bearings and springs stay in place!

Peter D’Arcy