darkness

[thomasd]

all my darkness r dropping small feathers i was told to keep light on from 8 to 10 to keep thier wing feathers sould this keep thier wing feathers even if they r dropping small feathers now

[Guest Grasshopper Lofts]

all my darkness r dropping small feathers i was told to keep light on from 8 to 10 to keep thier wing feathers sould this keep thier wing feathers even if they r dropping small feathers now

 

when u say small feathers do u mean down feathers if u do all healthy pigeon will drop these dont worry about it

[thomasd]

yes all down feathers

[Guest]

all my darkness r dropping small feathers i was told to keep light on from 8 to 10 to keep thier wing feathers sould this keep thier wing feathers even if they r dropping small feathers now

 

i had that last year and thought they would go into to a second moult but it didnt happen in fact i had the best y/bird season ever 5x1st  3x2nd 5x3rd club dont worry they will be ok

[jimmy white]

its allways a good sign to see plenty down feathers, [as above post suggests],, you will soon notice when they take their second moult ,, the loft will be full of feathers

[Guest]

i dont think hes talking about down jimmy its small body feathers and for darkness doo,s that souldnt happen i contacted 2 top fanciers last year that fly the darkness  to ask for info they had never seen it it did not happen this year to me

[jimmy white]

i was thinking  down feathers frank i must say ive never seen this

[Guest Owen]

The best way to avoid the moult in darkness youngsters is by providing light. The idea is to avoid them having an Autumn. So you time the timer to give them in excess of 16 hours of light.

The best way to use a timer is to allow the birds to go to bed with the natural twilight but set it to come on early in the morning. This avoids the need for dimmer switches and your birds are garanteed to perch for the night.

In theory you can have them in full feather right into the Autumn if you want to.

[just ask me]

new one on me too  

 

[Guest]

new one on me too  

 

thats exactly what they 2 top top fanciers said to me

[jimmy white]

The best way to avoid the moult in darkness youngsters is by providing light. The idea is to avoid them having an Autumn. So you time the timer to give them in excess of 16 hours of light.

The best way to use a timer is to allow the birds to go to bed with the natural twilight but set it to come on early in the morning. This avoids the need for dimmer switches and your birds are garanteed to perch for the night.

In theory you can have them in full feather right into the Autumn if you want to.

 

with due respect owen, would birds holding   full body feathering, well into the autumn, manage to throw all their nest flights  for the following year?? in the past ive always put them on normal daylight hours on the longest day,,then after the racing , gave plenty rest, baths, and buttermilk in their water, with no problem in them fully moulting their flights , ive seen fanciers with darkness yb,s holding their last flight,, then the following season threw this last flight at the same time as their second flight

[Guest]

The best way to avoid the moult in darkness youngsters is by providing light. The idea is to avoid them having an Autumn. So you time the timer to give them in excess of 16 hours of light.

The best way to use a timer is to allow the birds to go to bed with the natural twilight but set it to come on early in the morning. This avoids the need for dimmer switches and your birds are garanteed to perch for the night.

In theory you can have them in full feather right into the Autumn if you want to.

  .

 

 

[Guest]

very interisting point jimmy some of mine never finnished the moult last year i think that went hand in hand with what happened last year but out of 4 years doing the darkness last year was the only time that happened to me now iam no expert on darkness but even the top fanciers that have been very sucessfull with it over a great no of years had never came accross that but it did effect the normal moult i think

[jimmy white]

its a strange one that frank,, it makes you wonder why this happened only the one year, using the same system,, and the yb,s flying very  well,,, just wondering what would cause this :-/     our climate in scot??  this confuses us, never mind the birds lol ;D,, but it does make you wonder,,, has anyone down south had this happen?/

[jimmy white]

  .

 

 

youll get plenty of info on that post frank ;D ;D ;D

[Guest]

its a strange one that frank,, it makes you wonder why this happened only the one year, using the same system,, and the yb,s flying very  well,,, just wondering what would cause this :-/     our climate in scot??  this confuses us, never mind the birds lol ;D,, but it does make you wonder,,, has anyone down south had this happen?/

 

thats the doo,s for you to be honest i dont know if i would want it to happen again they are only y/birds for a year jimmy they are old birds for the rest of there lifes

[Guest Owen]

jimmy white

I would normally do things the way you do them. But the question was basically centered on the control of the moult. And that was the answer I gave. The point is that, if the light is controlled, the moult is controlled.

Over the years I have experimented with canaries, sheep, goats and chicken. The pigeons are just an extension to what I found out then.

In practice, I think a Pigeon Fancier has to find a compromise, because he will want the birds to moult right out before the following year. So I would suggest that the lights are used until the end of August and then switched off. That way you should get all the benefits you want. Delayed moult followed by a moult that can be completed by year end. I think it is worth me pointing out that to achieve this the birds will have to be fully rested as  soon as they have completed their last race. And the feed must reflect the drain there will be on the system if they are forced to moult through in a shorter time than would be normal.  

[pjc]

What would you recommend feeding them Owen?

[pigeonscout]

Some times you will get the odd bird holding its last flight. Check all birds say 1st December,  Put any birds holding their last flight back on 16 hours of light this tricks them into thinking it is spring again and they will start the molt where they left off by dropping this last flight within two weeks. As soon as they drop it put them back onto normal day light hours.

[Guest]

jimmy white

I would normally do things the way you do them. But the question was basically centered on the control of the moult. And that was the answer I gave. The point is that, if the light is controlled, the moult is controlled.

Over the years I have experimented with canaries, sheep, goats and chicken. The pigeons are just an extension to what I found out then.

In practice, I think a Pigeon Fancier has to find a compromise, because he will want the birds to moult right out before the following year. So I would suggest that the lights are used until the end of August and then switched off. That way you should get all the benefits you want. Delayed moult followed by a moult that can be completed by year end. I think it is worth me pointing out that to achieve this the birds will have to be fully rested as  soon as they have completed their last race. And the feed must reflect the drain there will be on the system if they are forced to moult through in a shorter time than would be normal.  

 

your 100% owen but i think if you come off the dark on the longest day and feed correct there should be no probs with completing both well my y/birds are on there second flight right now only 1 on its sixth dont know why only 2 weeks to go so they should fall apart in good time to complete the moult for the end of november never had a prob except last year

 

[jimmy white]

jimmy white

I would normally do things the way you do them. But the question was basically centered on the control of the moult. And that was the answer I gave. The point is that, if the light is controlled, the moult is controlled.

Over the years I have experimented with canaries, sheep, goats and chicken. The pigeons are just an extension to what I found out then.

In practice, I think a Pigeon Fancier has to find a compromise, because he will want the birds to moult right out before the following year. So I would suggest that the lights are used until the end of August and then switched off. That way you should get all the benefits you want. Delayed moult followed by a moult that can be completed by year end. I think it is worth me pointing out that to achieve this the birds will have to be fully rested as  soon as they have completed their last race. And the feed must reflect the drain there will be on the system if they are forced to moult through in a shorter time than would be normal.  

 

owen, there  was certainly no dis-respect meant here, in the least,, only an informative discussion , i completely agree with you that light controls the moult , this off course what the darkenning system is all about,, i agree entirely with your post, i was merely pointing out for beginners, the dangers in not having a full wing moult, but as you say, this can be controlled by light, and off course the proper feeding, but no dis-respect whatsoever

[Guest pigeon82]

i took mine off darkness around 8th o june mine are feathered well still all between 8 and 5 flights left the ones that have 5 left slightly later bred

[Guest]

i took mine off darkness around 8th o june mine are feathered well still all between 8 and 5 flights left the ones that have 5 left slightly later bred

 

thats spot on for a last race next week but some of the y bird nationals are 2 weeks away or more then they could be on there 2nd last thats not good birds dont want to fly on the last two flights

[Guest pigeon82]

if i have birds on the last 3 flights they will not go anywhere beleive me you are right in what you are saying but i have been told last 3 flights hurt the birds so anything on that will definately not go

[Guest]

if i have birds on the last 3 flights they will not go anywhere beleive me you are right in what you are saying but i have been told last 3 flights hurt the birds so anything on that will definately not go

 

thats what iam saying the 21 june will give you the right wing for another 3/4 weeks (if you dont feed allot of conditioner seed for weeks) and still allow them to complete the moult before the end of dec.