Jack Barkel

Hello Stevie, One always will find that the genetic drift starts with the cocks, the hens seem to hold to type much longer. I would suggest that you race out the young from these cocks, and in the meantime have a good look for some five circle eyed cocks. We will then help you to select daughters from these new acquisitions to pair back to their sires. Within three to four years we will have your loft bristling with birds that show ample amounts of Speed, Energy, Stamina and Intelligence. (Homing Ability). Stevie if you wish to put it right you must start with acquiring the right kind of cocks first. I will help you right along the road to success if you wish. I can assure you I have done this in several parts of the world for fanciers who were willing to change. Best Of Luck Jack

Hello Tony, A good observation, yes the pupil must be round and not oval like that particular eye. As far as the eye sign shows, many judges have different criteria to award points in this regard. Bill Carney used to judge shows a few years ago and I favoured what he looked for in the eye. I doubt that we will ever have consistency in this regard, as there are too many differences of opinion, I know of eye sign men that would favour most of these eyes I have put on the sight, and yet by my perception they are all a waste of time. Regards Jack

Hello Ted, Yes I think if all circles were relative it would be the best eye although it is a blurred photograph. Regards Jack

Yes Ted you are correct. Unfortunately the iris is so full that it overlaps the fifth circle entirely. It is sad when such a strong eye lets these genes dominate. Regards Jack

Article 2. In article 1. we discussed the eyes that genetically drifted towards the fancy pigeons such as the Smerle, Cumulet, etc that was added to the homer to give buoyancy and speed. We now show the eye that has degenerated back to the pigeon with plenty stamina and homing ability but no speed. These are very strong pigeons that look like record breakers. However to understand what I have discussed and portrayed with photographs up until now, will prove to you that these birds lack speed and vitality. Neither the birds in the photo's in article one or these birds in article two would ever get near a stock loft if I had my way. They are too full, blotting out the correlation and in many cases the fifth circle also. Most of these can home at 600 miles easily, but not on the day unless helped by a tail wind. To use either of these types, fills your gene pool with pigeons that will in most cases keep one at the bottom of the race sheet. Again because there are some good genes floating in most gene pools, now and again one pops up that will cause you to doubt what I say here. I am prepared to stake my reputation on it that what I have suggested here is correct. To breed a large percentage of good pigeons consistently, this is the way to go. I attach this collage of full eyes that I reject also for the stock loft. Article 3. will be to show the near perfect eyes that we all must be on the look out for to introduce into the stock loft. Regards jackbarkel@mweb.co.za http://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/jackbarkel/

Hello Slugmonkey, I would say the iris, for by going wider or narrower the iris does in most cases govern how the other circles look apart from the adaptation. However I would say as long as one has five circle pigeons in the loft, this is a place to start. Gradual selection from five circle pigeons will eventually produce more of near perfect eyes. Regards Jack

Hello Ted, Yes this is correct, my next article, Article 2. Shows a collage of this type of eye. Just as Article 1, showed the eyes of those where the iris had gone too thin. Regards Jack

Hello Slugmonkey, You have hit the nail right on the head, the birds with superior eyes have an abundance of superior genes in their gene pool. Which means when paired together these birds produce a much higher perecentage of superior pigeons. This is the secret of maintaining an even balance and eliminating or flying out the odd one that will be produced from such a pairing. Regards Jack

may sound a stupid question but as the iris is of human design,by altering the iris through breeding does it also alter the physique of the birds...dont mean after a couple of rounds of ybs but over a period of time? also can you breed strength into the eyes of the strain that you have without introducing other stock... Yes David, Altering the iris through breeding will also alter the physique of the birds, we must always check the humerus bone the length and depth of keel and safeguard against any shortening of the secondary flights. Nature is always genetically drifting out or in to what is dominating in the gene pool. It is a constant battle to keep all things equal. can you breed strength into the eyes of the strain that you have without introducing other stock... Yes but rather maintain strength than breed it into a strain where this characteristic is lacking. Regards Jack

Hello Ted, As I said in a previous article, the iris should look as if it has been put on with oil paints. The water type colour iris described by Bill Carney as wishy washy is to be disregarded for stock purposes. Regards Jack

Hello Spencer, If you look back to Article 1. I have put four eye on there who are drifting genetically towards the fancy pigeons that were bred into the homing pigeon. My next article will include a collage of eyes that reveal birds that are genetically drifting back to the homing pigeon side of the racing pigeon. Because of the blending of all these types in the early days, genetics are having a constant fight to return the pigeon back to the characteristics of one or the other of these additions. It is our job to recognise this and by evaluating the eye, help to keep the creation of the racing pigeon on a regular and even keel ( no pun intended) My third Article will include a collage of eyes that are acceptable for the stock loft. I hope this helps. Jack

The iris although only one integral part of the five points of the eye, is the easiest to recognise if one is drifting in or out of genetic control. We will soon become expert if we pay strict observation to these points. Each small facet of the eye is important in our observations but these points are the basics to watch out for, and will serve you in good stead in selection of your stock birds. I put the eye in its completion on here to show you with all the arrows what this eye looks like when complete. One can observe a slight darkening of the fifth circle to that of the adaptation. Unfortunately the flash did not give the same light intensity for the full expanse of the eye, darkening a little towards the outer extremities. For those interested it is the eye of a Slimme Cock named " The Bill Carney Cock" named after that great eye sign man in England of the same name. The bird was a 1988 pigeon and passed on Christmas week 2006, a sad loss although infertile for a few years. It father is still alive in the loft today, although fragile he is 22 years old. I hope you have enjoyed the descriptions of the sphincter muscles of a pigeons eye. We will next return to Article 2 which should have been the second article on this thread. Regards jackbarkel@mweb.co.za http://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/jackbarkel/

We now come to the final segment of the eye, which is the iris. This is the fourth circle and like the adaptation and composite is controlled by our breeding techniques, for its width and texture is of human design. The iris comes in various depths and shades of colour, but the basic colours are deep pink, known as the genetic pearl, and orange red known as the genetic yellow. There are two ways we can observe degeneration from the perfect racer / breeder when viewing this particular portion of the eye. If the iris is becoming too wide or broad, it will eventually dominate the whole eye, covering most and sometimes all of the correlation and fifth circle. This will indicate a major drop in vitality and speed, but a gain of increased stamina. These are usually long distance homers that are hard to lose but often seem to be just out of the clock. They can be consistent, but very rarely can they be called a winner. As we showed in Article 1. of this thread, if the iris becomes too thin, the correlation can be seen to be breaking through the iris. It may be seen as a widening of the correlation and or a widening of the fifth circle, with several breaks in what should be a solid iris ring. This will indicate that one is breeding towards pigeons with reduced stamina and intelligence( homing ability) These are blow home pigeons with increased speed, but if it cannot stay in the pack it will invariably get lost. These are short distance pigeons that can be consistent for several weeks, until they eliminate themselves and never return. The attachment shows the iris of this pigeon to be of even and strict proportions, and it should be the aim of all of us to try and breed to similar parameters as this illustration. The answer to controlling this genetic drift is to breed the iris so that it does not dominate the eye, neither do we want to make it so thin, that the eye is dominated by everything else. Regards jackbarkel@mweb.co.za http://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/jackbarkel/

Hello Ted, The question is not silly, in fact it is possible, but usually takes careful breeding and selection for three to four generations. I say gradually breed the pigeon you want from near perfect eyes. This is the only way I know to halt the genetic drift and stay as near as possible within the parameters. Regards Jack

Hello Ted, The eye needs to have these balances that I have recommended. If the adaptation is not near equal to the fifth circle, the percentage of good pigeons reduces in numbers. I have found that well regulated pairing of good eyes can give from 50% to a 90 % first class progeny produced. The average statistics throughout the world is 7% acceptable. I say if a person has the right eyes, why mess around with pigeons for stock that show they have a lot of imponderables swimming around in their gene pool. We will only get out what we put in. We must try and create the correct gene pool with the material we have available. Regards Jack

We now come to the fifth circle or breeding circle, and in the illustration we can see that it is the same colour and width as the adaptation. The bird with this eye was a prolific breeder and although it displayed no composite sign it was a double winner. I do believe from my breeding records over the years that it is very important to have the adaptation and fifth circle as near in colour and width to each other as is possible. It is very difficult to produce anything perfect when breeding anything that has been interfered with by humans, but it is possible to get very close to perfection. The closer I have come to producing well balanced eyes, the greater my successes have been. We will deal with the iris next, then display this eye when it is complete. Regards jackbarkel@mweb.co.za http://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/jackbarkel/

Hello Spencer, I believe that genetics plays the major part in eye sign evaluation, recognition and pairing. I believe I have got the recognition of genetic drift in the genes of our pigeons down to an art where I can use it to the advantage of the breeder. I believe that all illnesses, major accidents and stress can be seen in the eye. I believe the genes places all these things in the eye where we can use it to our advantage. There can be no other reason for the variables and changes in eye sign. Best Regards Jack

Ted, A pigeon can have solid composite, and if the other circles are not of equal quality, it will be Just A Racer/ Not For Stock. If all circles in the eye are good, if it is a pearl eyed pigeon it should be paired to a yellow clear eyed pigeon. If it is a yellow eyed pigeon it should be paired to a pearl clear. Regards Jack

Hello Ted, Most eyes are nearly the same, but yes often through an illness one eye will detereiorate and that is the eye you must judge the bird on. In other words what it is today and not what it was at a previous time. Regards Jack

Hello Ted, Yes I evaluate by looking in both eyes, to do one eye is to do but half the job. Unless one is a bull eye and then you have no other option but to evaluate it on the one eye. Regards Jack

I now wish to portray the composite which is super imposed on the adaptation, the particular eye we are using did not have any composite, just a yellow clear adaptation as seen in the previous illustration. I have however shaded in a 40% composite on one illustration, and a 100% composite on the other. This composite is known as the racing sign and comes in various shades from grey to deep black. The shades of grey are referred to as "dilute" and the deep black as "super imposed". I have found that when pairing birds together it is best if the addition of the composite signs of a matched pair do not exceed 100%. I prefer two 30 0r 40% composites together. One must take care that if one has a pigeon they wish to breed from that has a 100% composite, then this bird should be paired to a Clear of the opposite colour eye. If we put two 100% birds together we may breed a top racer, but that is all in most cases, in other words a pure sport. That is why many people advocate putting winner to winner, for if they were flying machines we will find that very often they possessed 100% composite signs. Many fanciers on making this discovery think they have hit on the greatest revelation of all time eye selection. Soon their new team of winners using this formula degenerate into little of value. If it were not so, I could pair up your birds to breed winner after winner and stock birds to match. Unfortunately there is no loft that can maintain a constant high success rate putting winner to winner or excess composite together. Be prepared if attempting this, to experience short lived joy and thereafter plenty disappointments. Therefore I would suggest that you treat the composite as a serious factor and use it as a long term tool, and not as a short term benefit. If you pair an adaptation that is Clear to a similar adaptation, you will in the main breed birds with little racing quality but good stock producers,although once again I must add that a few may pop up out of the gene pool with racing ability. Vice Versa, if you pair birds together with over an addition of 100% composite you will produce mainly racers with little breeding ability,although once again a dual purpose racer breeder may at odd times pop up from such a concentrated gene pool. Genetics have played worse tricks than this when we get involved in the art of breeding. Nothing is written in stone, but be prepared how accurate can be the advise I am giving here. Again I am here for anyone that would wish me to elaborate on any particular aspect of what we have discussed up until now. Regards jackbarkel@mweb.co.za http://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/jackbarkel/

Ted, A good question, it all depends on the the depth or thickness of the correlation. This we can only tell by the clusters or floating clusters in the pupil. We will explain this when we deal with the formation of Star Clusters. Regards Jack

No Ted No difference, a bull eyed pigeon has the same chance as any other to have a reactive pupil. My Rapido Whites are a perfect example of this. Regards Jack

Yes Ted, You are correct, I would never keep a pigeon that did not have a reactive pupil. Caution here as some pupils react to light slower than others, give the pupil time to react, before making a final desicion. Regards Jack

The Adaptation. We now discuss the adaptation, this circle is located just outside the pupil, please refer to the example. The width of the circle is variable from pigeon to pigeon, but as long as it matches up in width and colour to the perimeter or fifth circle this does not matter. The circle of adaptation in this particular case is a Yellow Clear, one can have enhancements of gold and green, and when in a pearl eye which is pale pink, we can have enhancements of white, grey, violet, and even charcoal. I will at a later stage put up some photographic examples of these enhancements in the two basic colours. I must emphasise that the adaptation can be made as wide as you wish, for it is of human design and selection. It is wise not to make it wider than the fifth circle, as this will throw the balance of the genes in the wrong direction. I wish to point out at this stage that this part of the eye is linked to the well being of the pigeon, for the outer edge of this adaptation is known in iridology as the nerve wreath. Its detail will show you problems stemming from the digestive tract of the stomach, and with practice and much observation you can also study the bowel and other organs. This is straying from eye sign but I am just making you aware that such problems can be diagnosed in the eyes of our pigeons. I do not wish to transgress into the realms of homeopathy / iridology, there are people more qualified than myself in this department for anyone interested. I myself will stick to eye sign selection. The adaptation is often super imposed with an overlay of composite, which we will discuss next time. I hope you are all still with me, if anyone is not sure, please ask and I will do my best to answer before proceeding any further. Jack Barkel jackbarkel@mweb.co.za http://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/jackbarkel/