Harkers Hormoform – Interview with James Hanock from Harkers
Interview Transcript:
2025-06-29 11:32:38
Mark Lyford 00:00:06
Hi, everybody. Welcome. Today, I’m interviewing James Hancock from Harker’s Pet Life.
James Hancock 00:00:14
Hi there.
Mark Lyford 00:00:14
James, how are you doing, James.
James Hancock 00:00:17
Good, thank you. You, Mark.
Mark Lyford 00:00:18
I’m good. Yeah, I’m good. So today we’re talking about Harker’s generally, but specifically about Hormiform. I mean, Hormiform has been around, it’s been a staple of the racing pigeon community for decades. And it’s, you know, it’s helped countless flyers and lofts improve their performances and their breeding and condition. Can you give us a bit of a brief history of Hormiform and Harker’s really and why it’s such a trusted supplement.
James Hancock 00:00:47
So Hormiform was the first product launched by Harker’s, in fact, back in 1954. So it’s been around for, I don’t know how long, 70 odd years now. So a long, long time. It was off the back of, two years of kind of extension. feeding trials with some of the UK’s top fancies back then. So a long, long, long while ago. You know, over the years, it’s grown in popularity. It’s helped with, you know, rearing youngsters with race ability. It’s helped with the whole kind of race and pigeon regime, really.
James Hancock 00:01:18
Up until quite latterly, the formulas remained fairly constant. I think probably 15, 20 years ago, we added methionine, which is one of the amino acids, which helps with re-feathering. So particularly during the mold, it’s really, really beneficial to use Hormiform. But last year or two, we’ve kind of changed the formula a bit further. You know, for added benefits, added nutritional values and that kind of stuff.
Mark Lyford 00:01:43
OK, so, yeah, talking about the change of formula, the update of formula, what led to that decision to update the Hormiform formula? And was it a change driven by customer feedback or scientific research or industry development.
James Hancock 00:01:56
Well, it was a bit of both. It was. it was the the inavailability of certain ingredients so if we go back a year or two we swapped out cod liver oil for algae oil it became harder to source cod liver oil you know the human industry if you go into a hole in a barrel or whatever everything is cod liver oil so in terms of the the pet and kind of animal industry it’s harder to source so we swapped that for algae oil, algae oil is a more sustainable version of cod liver oil in essence but you still get all the same benefits you get all the efas the other fatty acids you get epa dha it helps with.
James Hancock 00:02:32
brain function with you know general kind of as i said flight ability just general kind of help so with algae oil in essence in a nutshell it’s more sustainable compared to cod liver oil and you get all the same nutritional benefits essentially so the more latter change we’ve made uh is swapping out red oxide powder which gave form of it’s very kind of bright of red vibrant color simply because we couldn’t source, anymore. I don’t know why exactly, but regulations change, etc.
James Hancock 00:03:04
Nutritionally, red oxide does nothing. It’s just a colourant, so we swapped that for beetroot powder. So you still get the same kind of red tint to the product, not quite as vibrant, but the benefit of beetroot powder compared to, red oxide is absolutely huge. So nutritionally, it helps with blood flow, increased blood flow, it improves oxygen intake. Brain function, again, like the alveol, just generally speaking, it helps with overall kind of athletic.
James Hancock 00:03:36
performance. It helps with, its inflammatory as well, so it improves recovery post-race. You know, nutritionally compared to red oxide, it’s night and day. It literally is, but it does mean the denture product looks a little bit different compared to what it used to look. So it’s not quite as kind of vibrant in red colour. It’s a little bit more kind of powdery, but the benefit to that.
Mark Lyford 00:04:00
it’s not as sticky uh personally using it but i think that’s good yeah i i would agree mark i.
James Hancock 00:04:06
mean in in the old days you know you you’d feed your birds uh the original kind of horn form version you’d have red all over your hands the the white feathers of the birds will be covered in red they’ll be red uh kind of everywhere but with a new formula you don’t get that you still get a bit of red but in terms of the mess there’s there’s just much much less so there’s many many benefits to a new formula so you know i appreciate that people don’t like change i don’t like change some of the guys have used horn form for 30 40 years in some cases that they’re used to how it has always looked but you know things do change so uh most birds take to new formula no issue at all.
James Hancock 00:04:39
but a bit like us humans mark you know some birds when given something different which they’re not used to can take a little bit of time so my recommendation is just to give them a new formula kind of early in the morning before the staple feed when they’re hungry and they’ll take to it in no time at all and again in a matter of weeks you’ll see you’ll see the added benefits of all the uh of the algae or, of the beetroot powder, And it’ll be worth that little bit of extra effort.
Mark Lyford 00:05:01
I mean, I know personally, I put a video out of my 24 pair of stock. They have homoform available to them all the time in one separate feeding pot. And they love it. And, you know, it’s funny, actually. Some pairs clean out, literally clean it out within a couple of days. It’s a big pot. Others pick at it more. But there’s a few pairs I can think of that just will eat as much as they can,
Mark Lyford 00:05:33
which, you know, to me shows you. But the key of it is, is that that red oxide was doing nothing for the price. And the change is helping them. It’s as simple as that.
James Hancock 00:05:48
Indeed. Just to reiterate, the red oxide was purely a colouring. That’s all it was. So it gave it its bright, you know, nice red look. But in terms of nutritional value, it didn’t do anything, as you quite rightly said, Mark. So go.
Mark Lyford 00:06:00
I mean, always round, it’s a positive change. Now, I know you’ve mentioned to me that there is another addition coming as well at some point down the line.
James Hancock 00:06:11
Yes. So what we tend to do is, in addition to the alveoli, we tend to use a little bit of salmon oil as well, which won’t add to it hugely nutritionally. It certainly won’t take anything away. But what it will do, it will give it a slightly oilier kind of feel and texture, which, you know, when we get feedback from fanciers, and we get feedback daily, weekly, whatever, we do take into consideration one of the kind of key.
James Hancock 00:06:43
pieces of feedback we’ve had is the fact because it’s not as oily. It’s fanciers don’t like it in some cases. So the addition of salmon oil, it will just give it a slightly, slightly redder, slightly wetter feel, but it won’t be as messy as the old formula, if that makes sense.
Mark Lyford 00:06:59
And that’s, Coming on the next kind of big batch type.
James Hancock 00:07:02
The next batch. So certainly in time for hopefully for the malting kind of period. So September onwards, we should have the new batch, which will have a mixture of alveol and salmonell plus the beetroot powder. So nutritionally, it’ll be better than ever. And it will have a slightly closer appearance to how the original formula was, but with less mess.
Mark Lyford 00:07:22
Understood. So you talked briefly about the, I hope I’m pronouncing this right, the methionine.
James Hancock 00:07:30
Methionine.
Mark Lyford 00:07:32
And the feather quality. You know, is it right in saying those levels have increased over time.
James Hancock 00:07:40
In terms of the methionine? Yeah. So in the old days, it’s a relatively recent change. So it would have been probably slightly before my time. So maybe 15, 20 years back in the days of the then managing director of Parker’s, a guy called Michael Binns, who a lot of fanciers will be familiar with because in his day, he was a top. Yeah. top fancier. I think just based on feedback, based on scientific evidence, based on advances, you know, methionine was found to, you know, really aid with the growth of new feathers. So it was added in and it just means that, you know, giving homoform during the mull is.
James Hancock 00:08:14
particularly beneficial. You don’t get the kind of, you just get really, really good vibrant, you know, quality new feather growth with methionine.
Mark Lyford 00:08:22
So really important for the mull.
James Hancock 00:08:25
Incredibly, incredibly. Obviously, from our point of view, we’ve always kind of said that a good, you know, for example, this year, a good mull in 2025, you know, can lead to a really good racing season in 2026. So it’s all about, you know, being prepared for the next season.
Mark Lyford 00:08:39
Yeah, absolutely. So what would you say to flyers, fanciers who have expressed concern about the change? I mean, you said earlier, but I mean, to me, as somebody that is feeding it daily, my stock birds have never looked better combined. Again, I give them more other Harker’s products sporadically, but as I said, they’ve got Hormaform all the time.
Mark Lyford 00:09:10
To any fancier that’s watching this that either hasn’t ever used it, which certainly in the UK I would imagine would be few and far between, but this video is going worldwide, would you just basically say, look, give it a try and you’ll see the difference within a few weeks.
James Hancock 00:09:28
Absolutely. So when Hormaform was first launched all those years ago, it’s a supplementary feed, so you feed it alongside the staple feed, but the idea is it contains all the vitamins, the minerals, the amino acids, et cetera. So the idea is it makes up for any shortfall in that staple feed. That’s always been the idea. As I said earlier, it’s been trialled by top fanciers for 50, 60, 70 years. All of the important races have been won on Hormaform rear birds. So the success of Hormaform kind of speaks for itself over…
James Hancock 00:10:00
that period of time. Just try it. The results will be, you know, apparently in a matter of weeks, I’d say, you know, it will help with digestion to a certain degree as well. And just when the birds are ripe, when the health is right, that will lead in itself to, you know, better race ability, better show ability, and just healthier kind of birds. I’ve said already, the appearance is now different. So some fanciers will be, don’t like change. As I said earlier, I don’t like change. It does look different to the old kind of bright, vibrant, red, quite oily type product.
James Hancock 00:10:32
So it is a bit dusty, and I’ll find a better word. It’s a bit kind of less red. But just give it a chance. Just try it. If the birds are initially unwilling to eat it, feed it early a.m. when they’re hungry, you know, before the staple feed, and they will take to it. Once they take to it once, as you’ve said, Mark, you know, most birds will absolutely love it, and it will benefit their health. Just try it is my message. I think my, I think the word for me is.
Mark Lyford 00:10:57
it’s drier. I don’t think dust is. It’s just more of a drier mix. In your opinion, I mean, my stock birds get fed it separately in a separate pot, but my other pigeons, I mix it in. Have you got any take on what you think is better from feedback you’ve had.
James Hancock 00:11:20
It’s all subjective. We get different feedbacks all the time. Some fancies like you, Mark, do it in a hybrid kind of way, both on its own and mixed in with the stable feed. Others just give it in individual little pots. I think both methods have led to good levels of success. So it’s up to the preference of the individual fancier, in my opinion.
Mark Lyford 00:11:42
And I know the answer to probably this already, but for people that don’t, so you have a nutritional expert, a vet on board as part of it. What input did they have to hormone form changes? specifically and generally tell us.
James Hancock 00:12:02
Yeah, I mean, our vet is an avian specialist. So we consult him when we do anything in terms of all Harper’s products. He would be particularly experienced in nutrition. So we have obviously consulted him. We’ve asked him what kind of in things are, what new scientific evidence says, et cetera. So the addition of algae or the addition of beetroot powder would have been led by him to a degree. But we would have also consulted top fanciers as well,
James Hancock 00:12:32
fanciers generally, the manufacturing companies that actually make Hormaform. They’ve got lots of experience in nutrition. And they are leaders in their field. And they know what the scientific buzzwords are, what the ingredients that we should be using are. So it’s a mixture of our vet on staff. It’s a mixture of fancier opinion, scientific kind of comments, kind of knowledge advances. lots of little things together.
Mark Lyford 00:13:02
Cool. So we’ve talked a lot about Hormiform. With regards to other Harker’s products, are there any other products that you’re looking to update or is there any new releases coming on.
James Hancock 00:13:17
Yeah, I mean, we always look to update our range and keep it fresh. I mean, we’ve kind of done that for 50, 60, 70 years. We’ve tried to be at the forefront. We’ve tried to be innovative and kind of lead the way. And I think our combination products have done that, the three-in-one, four-in-one. Again, we’ve got a guy called Dr. John Mulaney on staff who’s a director on Harker’s. He is a chemist by trade, so he’s a scientist. So he works to formulate all these products and he’s always looking at new things to do. There’s nothing specific at this stage,
James Hancock 00:13:49
but he’s got kind of ongoing trials. And we always try and launch something new in Blackpool, if we can. We kind of see Blackpool as a platform to launch new lines, and we hope to be… doing the same again in 2026.
Mark Lyford 00:14:03
Just briefly, talk about the new Turbo product. Well, it’s not new now, but the…
James Hancock 00:14:10
Wonder Turbo, yeah. So Wonder Pigeon is an amazing addition to everything we do. So the original Wonder Pigeon, the blue version, as a lot of guys will know it as, is a mixture of, simply put, just fatty acids. It sounds very simple, kind of a face value, but a lot of scientific work has gone into it, a lot of trials, et cetera. And just in a nutshell, in simple terms, what Wonder Pigeon does, it just aids digestion. Digestion is right, same in us humans. Everything else is right. So feathering is right, general health is right.
James Hancock 00:14:43
It improves flight ability, improves recovery, et cetera. The new Wonder Turbo version, again, in simple terms, is just an all singing, all dancing version of the blue version. It’s got antibacterial properties, anti-inflammatory properties. Again, it’s going to aid with… stress recovery with post-race recovery etc it will help if fed consistent given consistent on a daily basis it will help to treat prevent things like young bird sickness it will negate the need for other medications so what whilst at face.
James Hancock 00:15:17
value one the pigeon isn’t the cheapest product in the world the dosage is very very small in some cases might be one to two mil per liter drinking water per day and when you consider all the other medication it negates the needs for including antibiotics in some cases it’s actually a very very cost-efficient, products and when you use one division in conjunction with something like hormone form you’ve got all the fatty acids all the amino acids all the vitamins all the minerals and it just it’s a great combination for a success I.
Mark Lyford 00:15:46
mean all of my newly weaned young birds that go into their holding area before they go out to races they’re all on, one the pigeon. just sent some out to Thailand yesterday and they all look bang on they really do yeah absolutely.
James Hancock 00:16:04
yeah yeah in terms of appearance but both both form of form and wonder pigeon will work one visit really well uh obviously neither a miracle kind of product so both both need to be used with a bit of uh consistency and perseverance but if if used properly and consistently though they.
Mark Lyford 00:16:19
will help undoubtedly cool all right so yeah i mean it’s it’s looking good so that the new the the next batch will be a form of form would be ready around September time yeah but what i would say somebody that uses it every day um is if you haven’t tried the new formula try it because it’s better than the old one it’s no matter you absolutely absolutely and, if people want to learn more i’m going to be doing more videos about specific products.
Mark Lyford 00:16:51
the first one we’re starting with because it’s the it’s to me it’s it’s the key you, won and followed by them won the pigeon but if people, If you want to learn more about Harkers and the products, where can they go to.
James Hancock 00:17:04
There is more information on our website, which is www.harkersonline.co.uk. There are resources on there. There are articles on there. There’s information on all of our products on there. Or they can email our office. I forget off the top of my head what the email address is, but they can find it on the website. Or they can call our office. So we’ve got some great staff, great knowledgeable staff. Anything those guys can’t answer, we can speak to our technical guys out of there, our chemists, and we can help with almost anything.
Mark Lyford 00:17:35
Yeah, and what I’m going to be doing, as I said, I’m going to be doing more posts, info, and video on specific products. The next one I’m going to be doing is definitely Wonder Pigeon because I think it’s amazing. I mean, all of the stuff we use, everything that Pioneer Pigeons, that Harkers do, we use. Yeah, I’m going to be putting, I’m going to be putting out more information. Watch out on the socials as well. And Harkers is getting a new YouTube channel,
Mark Lyford 00:18:06
which if you’re watching it on YouTube, this interview, then make sure you subscribe. And if you’re watching it everywhere else, there’ll be a link to the YouTube in it as well. Thanks for your time, James. It’s been helpful, I’m sure, to a lot of people. And go and try it. Go and try homoform and see the difference within a few weeks.
James Hancock 00:18:25
Well said. Thank you, Mark. Appreciate it.
Mark Lyford 00:18:27
No worries.
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