Jack Barkel

Hello Ted, I believe that the Iris must appear to stand out as if painted on with oil paints. An Iris that looks as if it is put on with water paints has no definition, again Carney's expression, Wishy Washy. Regards Jack

Hello Hyacinth and All, You must watch your widowhood cocks from a hidden observation post. When your widowhood cocks see you, they associate your appearance with that you may be going to show the hens, and they will not fly. This is all part of the widowhood skills, the system is great but we must understand the mind of a widower. Those who separate them and pair up again are not really flying widowhood, they are playing guessing games with it. No disrespect but such practices are not done in top lofts, that is not true widowhood. Most top widowhood flyers would frown at such practices, but never mind to each their own. I do know there is a reason for everything in this game and if one does not understand it, I would advise, do not experiment or play with it. Find out where we are going wrong. Linda for you, this is the only reason your widowhood cocks will not fly, they must not see you while exercising. Stick with it, there is no better way to get the ultimate out of a pigeon. Keep out of the loft as much as possible and cocks will not go off the boil. Most problems are created by the fancier, we must learn these skills the same as any other, it is a wisdom in itself. All these experiments were proven unreliable before we were born, by the Belgium's, I doubt if anyone is going to find anything new, it has all been done before. Stick to good practices and do not change it for anything. Once it goes wrong find out your mistake, pair them up for the rest of the season and try again next year, with more skill and understanding of the art. Kind Regards Jack

They don't have to be, but they would be so much better if they were, some may even be able to get along without it, but most cant even have a good guess, without it. We should never disregard or condem anything because we do not understand it. This is one of the mistakes and weaknesses of the average mind today. Jack

Hello Ted, The number 4 circle, I always refer to it as the iris, will either drift to being full and spreading to other parts of the eye, in other words encroaching on the fifth circle (breeding circle) or covering the correlation( third circle). This is the most common deterioration seen in the eye, which will effect the breeding qualities more than the racing qualities. The other drift we see but not as regular, is where the iris opens up, thin with wide spaces. The correlation can be seen to flow right through from the pupil to the outer edge of the eye in places. This is the drift that leaves you with a loft full of pigeons of the poorest quality, these are best out of your loft, and not given as a gift to anyone, for they will ruin any loft. Ted, I personally do not keep either of these types in my loft, and have been rewarded accordingly. Too many have the attitude, "It looks all right to me, and its parents or one of them was good". This can put a fancier in the Carey Street of distress for pigeon fanciers, lowering their breeding prowess to the lowest depths of despair. The most successful lofts I have seen in my travels, keep much larger amounts of stock birds than race birds. This ensures them of producing top birds with regularity, from which a smash on race days is only a hiccup. The stock loft is the back bone and foundation of any successful loft, in my opinion it takes a greater skill to breed top pigeons than to race them. This can be seen by novices often winnning a race but rarely producing a champion. Regards Jack

Hello Ted, I do not think you are slow thinking at all, you have asked many good questions which has enabled me to explain why certain thing are the way they are. The only stupid question is the one not asked, and I may not be able to answer all of them. Kind Regards Jack

hi jack,,,,,from past memory again,no 2 circle,if this was all black and no colour,what does this indicate,breeder or racer or both? if my memory serves me right,this no 2 black must be black as possible or as said to me blacker than black and almost looks like circles 1 and 2 were one big black ball,just hope i dont get it wrong and make myself look stupid? ted Hello Ted, This indicates that the colour is covered by a superimposed composite, if this is jet black it is superimposed if it is grey or dull black it is dilute. This is the racing sign and when pairing two birds together it is advisable that the aditions of this composite on the cock and hen do not exceed 100%. There fore if we have a pigeon with a 100% composite covering all the adaptation, it should be paired onto a pigeon showing the adaptation colour all the way round, We refer to this as a yellow clear or a pearl clear. I hope this explains the situation without pictures. Jack.

Hello Ted, I did put up a couple of faulted eyes, but we must realise that very few eyes are perfect, in fact I will go as far as to say that the average birds bred in the world show imperfections at a rate of up to 93%. There are very few racing pigeons bred in the world that do not show some genetic drift in the genetic imprint in their eyes. I myself breed 300 to 400 pigeons each year for the fancy, and even with my rigorous selection and compatible pairings there are still about 30 to 40 of these that will pop up out of these very selective gene pools to be disposed of as faulted. Too many fanciers are happy with a bright eye, or some particular feature in the eye that attracts their fancy. Just read the critiques of most would be evaluators. They will tell you it will race, or that it will breed, they very seldom tell you at what percentage they will achieve these successes or how they arrive at that decision. They will often be heard to say it will never breed anything, and yet if paired to a good partner it can prove such a statement to be incorrect and even ludicrous. They never describe the eye, and talk the customer through it, the only ones I can say that I have found besides myself to do this, are Piet de Weerd, and Bill Carney. These people would give a professional critique and give you without any fear the reason why. Whether they were always right I cannot argue, I can only speak for myself from my own records. In saying this, I must say that Bill was the all-rounder whereas Piet was only selecting the sprint jobs around the 300 kilometre mark, he never stuck his neck out much over that distance. Both of them often did not consider that the breeding partner of a pigeon they condemned or elevated could prove them incorrect when making statements on breeding abilities. Both these men could be seen to run their fingers deftly over the body of a pigeon when they saw a better than average eye. Never could you say that these men based their whole decision on the eye, but that they checked out the other physical characteristics too when evaluating a pigeon. Nothing is as accurate as a hands on approach to this subject for then all characteristics are available, plus a live eye. In my opinion a person that says it takes two eyes to fly, is not very bright. We are not out to select the best racer, although this can be done. The basket is a sure fire way to achieve this as all racing pigeons will carry racing genes, just some carry more than others. The object of eye sign is to select the breeder and a compatible mate. Here it takes the selection of four eyes to breed a champion, and that is why I myself have lost a lot of respect for people who make these empty statements and even more so for the fancier who is gullible enough and blindly believes them, thinking this is an intelligent reply to the subject. Regards to All, Jack

Hello Ted, It is an overflow from the correlation, these specks as you refer to them are really rods going down into the pupil of the eye. They are the sign that that particular pigeons eye has a very strong foundation which is the correlation. Sometimes when these rods overflow into the pupil they move around for a while and attach themselves again onto the inner edge of the correlation, which is the base circle next to the pupil and extends to the outer perimeter of the eye. When this happens you will never know that your base circle was so rich in quality, but if it remains in the pupil it is a sure indication that your foundation is on the strong base that champions are made of. Whatever the size or amount of Star Clusters in the eye, I attach to all of them the same high importance. Regards Jack

Hello Ted, I believe the feature you are describing is the star cluster, I submit an example from my own loft, in fact he is one of the three cocks that formed the three line bred families to my Lemon strain. I have never had a pigeon with this feature, that when paired the correct way, did not prove to be a prolific breeder of winners and stock pigeons. I describe how I believe the star cluster to be formed in my latest book. Regards Jack

Hello Edwin, Yes there are three pages in my latest book describing how to photograph the eye, complete with illustrations. Both your books are on their way to you, I think you should have them by this weekend. Enjoy, Jack

Hello Karl, I have been away in South Africa for 41 years, but my heart is still in Ryhope/Sunderland. If you see my brother give him my regards, also my nephews David Sid & Kevin. I have returned several times and hope to do it one more time. Stay in touch we might get the chance to meet up in the future. Regards Jack

Hello Joe, I am afraid for me it will not do, the photo has been taken while the pupil was dilated, the light refraction was incorrect and the sphincter muscles although they can be seen are at their weakest because of incorrect photography. Sorry I am not prepared to stake my reputation on a poor photo although the eye looks good. Maybe you could take a better photo??? Regards Jack

Hello Ted, I discovered this hen with a band in its tail, which caused me to think it was bred down from blues and not ash reds. I guessed it was a new mutation and just what I needed to pair to my three top breeding Slimme Cocks. That was in 1997, and by the 29th August 2001 they were known and recognised in many parts of the world as " The Barkel's Lemon". For three generation selection was rigid and slow, but by the fourth generation I was breeding them at will to the confirmation I desired. It sounds easy, but I can assure you I had many dissapointments, before getting it right. Kind Regards Jack

Hello Speedbird, Widowhood cocks will come into form for 7 to 10 weeks, you must find form, and do everything you can to keep it. No excitement from a Wednesday, and if your birds have not dropped their first primary flight then the preparation was wrong and you are racing them on condition not form. Condition is a monthly cycle and is visible, form comes but once per year and is only visible in your record book. If a pigeon peaked last year at a certain date, and if his preparation is right he will peak the same time every year. If a cock and hen both peak naturally around the same date and you pair them together, all youngsters from them should peak the same time every year for it is an hereditary factor. To fly widowhood like a professional one needs to study it much further than the basics. Of course rest and quiet is necessary from a Wednesday. On a forum such as this, it is difficult to help you become a pro at widowhood, my best advice is to go to the opposite end of your country or even another country and chat to one of the wizards. I am afraid you will not increase your widowhood knowledge by asking your competitors. I do not wish to argue the toss about widowhood, but there are many who would like to make one think they do several crazy things and are still successful. My advice is to take such comments with a pinch of salt, do it like the pro's do and you will have amazing consistency. Meddle with it and your results are no better than those who fly their birds celibate. I have joined many arguments in the past and have been hassled for being too forthright about many things, so if you think my comments are not constructive let it pass, for I have no desire to quibble with anyone on the matter, I am only stating my opinion. Many people are convinced they are flying widowhood but are not really, in the true sense of the word. There are many variables today of the original Belgium system, and in my opinion they all fail to come up to the high standard of that applied by the old masters. Try to understand the difference between condition and form and you are half way there. One can make many mistakes with widowers, and once we have meddled with the desire that makes them special, we can call it a day until next year. Kind Regards Jack jackbarkel@mweb.co.za http://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/jackbarkel

Hello Ted, In three to four generations of pairing a yellow eyed daughter from a yellow eyed daughter of a yellow eyed daughter, to this original pearl eyed sire, you will produce a pearl eyed cock and a pearl eyed hen, not from the same nest and probably not even the same year. Then and only then do you cross this perfect line of descent and pair Brother to Sister, that is to say switch from line breeding to in breeding, and only then do you put the two pearl eyes together. I guarantee you that if your selection has been the correct one of continuing this perfect line of descent, then every young cock from this mating will be the perfect reproduction of the original sire. It must be understood that this original pearl eyed cock must have an impeccable background or his progeny will all display genetic drift as can be seen in most lofts where this type of control is not fully understood. I hope this helps, Regards Jack jackbarkel@mweb.co.za http://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/jackbarkel

We are still wondering to this day how he knew she had died - Hyacinth Hello Hyacinth and All, I believe, and have proved for myself that pigeons are highly telepathic. On race days I could phone my friends and tell them the birds would be clocking between 20 minutes to a half hours time, and not once in a period of several years was I wrong making this statement. You see when the birds were in this time frame from our loft, the widowhood cocks that were fastened up in their compartments not being in the race that week commenced buzzing around and making as much noise as they could. Sure enough 20 to 30 minutes from the commencement of this excitement the birds started arriving. I did not allow any shouting whistling or no marked actions to provoke this happening which always occurred every week with the same regularity for years. I have not heard or read of anyone else observing these events, but I certainly am convinced that intelligent pigeons are TELEPATHIC. Best Regards Jack

Hello All, It is only a genetic trait in some families, just as is the white toe nail on black toe nailed birds, or the white splash above the wattle. Like everything else, some will be a sign of good pigeons in some families, and can be just the reverse in others. Regards, Jack

Hello Chip, Send me your private e-mail address and we will send you some information. Regards Jack jackbarkel@mweb.co.za

Hello Ray, Yes I think it is a good idea, but I myself although I have a digital movie camera, cannot seem to get the quality one needs to make a good job of such a presentation. I am busy with a DVD/CD on the subject of eye sign in which I would like to incorporate some live visuals, unfortunately as I say, I will need a lot of research and practice before I can release such a presentation to the public. I have seen videos of eyes taken from stills, but I have not seen it done with the capture of live examples. I will try to answer all posts regarding eye sign or pigeon iridology. Kind Regards, Jack

Hello Ted, Here are two well balanced eyes, one in the pearl and one in the yellow, these are two of my own Busschaerts. Jack

Hello Ted, We cannot fix a percentage on two yellows breeding a pearl, it is very seldom but can happen that such a pair will breed a pearl, but not with regularity. I think it all depends on Mendel which part of his law he decides on breaking. If No 3 (the correlation) is twice as wide as No 4 (the iris), then you will breed mainly short fast blow home pigeons. If No 4 (the iris), is twice as wide as No 3 (the correlation) the situation is preferable, but you will be breeding towards slower pigeons with less vitality and speed, but more stamina. I accept nothing less than a well balanced eye for my stock loft, no matter the marvellous performance pedigree it might have. This is my replies to your last two e-mails. Regards Jack

Hello All, When the introduction of fancy pigeons came about to produce the racing pigeon as it is today, two of the introductions was the Owl and the Smerle. Both of these birds although assisting with a lighter structure of bird than the original Carrier and Dragoon, they carried this frill. They were chosen because of high flying ability, what I say has been especially true over the last 100 years. Now when regressing to the frill, these birds will be found to get water saturated in the frill very quickly, and need fine days to perform up to standard. This can happen in any type of close breeding today and must be guarded against for it is a sign of regression. I hope this will help solve your doubtfulness of where the gene for the frill has suddenly raised it's ugly head. Regards Jack

Hello Ted, You will never find the composite between 12-3 o - clock, that is not be found on racing pigeons. This photo is taken of the right eye, and you will find the composite normally from 4-0-clock to 7 o-clock and then it increases from 2-0' clock around to 10-0' clock and then full circle composite. In this case the composite is not clearly defined around the outer edges. It fades away into the correlation showing weakness for racing and breeding. I would not have a pigeon as a present with this bird in it's pedigree, although they are exported all over the world for large amounts of money. We most times know what is good in a pedigree, but it will not reveal to us what is bad. Many people buy birds for lots of money that are worth very little if anything, we must do our homework before deciding on introducing a pigeon into our stock loft. By the way I usually photograph the left eye so I am not the photographer who took this photo. In fact I have no photographs taken by myself of eyes not fit for the stock loft. Pigeons with bad eyes I remove before anyone can ever see them, for I still breed 10% that are not to my liking. This is the average amount of unwanted genes I seem to have floating around in the gene pools of my pigeons. Not many in the world dare utter such a statement knowing it can't be backed up with records, we can safely say we have records and eye witnesses to back up our claim. If ever a bird is acquired from our establishment that does not come up to expectations it will have to be acquired in the first year of it's life, for once the birds physical attributes and eye sign is established there can be no mistakes. The average statistics throughout the world are 7% good and 93% bad that are produced among all fanciers. I can't afford to be part of that average statistical equation. Regards Jack

Hello Ted, Yes they are very acceptable if not overdone. It is like a muscle builder that wishes to increase his muscle size to look more attractive. He eventually ends up sluggish and muscle-bound but no one can say he doesn't look good. I would say I would rather the eye looks as if it has been painted on with oil paints rather than with water paints. Bill Carney had his own expression for a water painted eye with no definition, he referred to it as Wishy Washy. I hope this helps. Jack

Hello Ted, Yes in the main you are correct, the iris needs to be wider and uniform all round. This eye shows many weaknesses, although the adaptation and the fifth circle passes the test, the rest including the racing composite is not clearly defined, showing a lot of spread. This bird is in a famous breeding loft, and is off well known parents but unfortunately the same faults can be seen in one of the parents. Clearly an injudicious pairing by one who should know better. I told the owner to his face and consequently lost the friendship of a world famous fancier I would have welcomed as a friend. Sometimes as with Bill Carney and Jim Biss, it pays to keep your own council and not give an opinion at all, ( unless you are being paid to do so) rather than give a dishonest answer just to please the owner. Often because one of the parents is OK, a percentage of offspring will be good, and because a person only condemned one parent, ones comments are immediately regarded as rubbish. It is better then, not to make the statement that it will never breed a winner, as it takes four eyes to be taken into consideration if one knows what they are doing. My above utterances are based on many years experience and not on guess work. Regards Jack