Dave barrie Posted November 21, 2009 Report Share Posted November 21, 2009 what do members think about this, i have a freind who has been told to keep lights on till 9 30 at night, this is going by our time, he has done this for two weeks and is carrying on through breeding, he is obviosley going for early y???? birds, is this normal as i have never heard of this carry on afore, the birds are just finished moult or should be at rest now were focing theme to go ahead.? this would be i think wrong,your thouts on this would be appreceaited. davy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiley Posted November 21, 2009 Report Share Posted November 21, 2009 if winter breeding you only need the lights on for at least 7 days before pairing but ideally 14 days prior to breeding, its to manipulate the pigeons clock to lead them to believe its spring or summer hence they are more willing to mate and will lay alot quicker then they would do on dark days and nights Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest j.bamling Posted November 21, 2009 Report Share Posted November 21, 2009 my stock birds have the lights on now from 5.30 AM until 8.00 AM then i have them come on at 4.00 PM untill 10.00 once the birds have paired up and are coming eggy i take away the night time lights but continue with the morning lights ** I would never do this with the race birds !!!! Wileys post explains it brilliantly !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest strapper Posted November 21, 2009 Report Share Posted November 21, 2009 if im right the length of daylight hours depicts spring..which i believe is 14hrs a day average. as others have stated the lights will induce the birds to believing its spring. i used this principle when i used to keep canaries years a go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamond dave Posted November 22, 2009 Report Share Posted November 22, 2009 I have been experimenting with the light system for the last couple of year with the sole purpose of getting the young birds through the moult prior to YB racing. I have not perfected it yet but many have and if you can get it right your birds will compete and beat darkness youngsters. To date I have found a couple of advantages 1 it is easier than darkness because the lighting should be automatic and 2 it allows you to get much more training into the birds prior to racing at a time when not many other birds are being trained thus reducing losses. It also has several disadvantages the main one being you have the added costs of feeding young birds for an extra couple of months and one other being that you may have to pull flights (which I refuse to do). The timing is all important and the amount of light that you have to give them each day is important. I am only a comparitive novice myself but I realised very quickly that if I am going to beat ace flyers on darkness I would need to do something different which is why I have been experimenting with the light. I'm sure that there are fanciers around that have perfected this system who can help you more but if you have any questions PM me and I will be happy to answer any questions based on my experiments - it may save you some time. Can I ask J Bamling why he wouldn't do this wth his race birds? as I intended to underlay my stock eggs under my race birds so I would have to pair them up too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwh Posted November 22, 2009 Report Share Posted November 22, 2009 I have been experimenting with the light system for the last couple of year with the sole purpose of getting the young birds through the moult prior to YB racing. I have not perfected it yet but many have and if you can get it right your birds will compete and beat darkness youngsters. To date I have found a couple of advantages 1 it is easier than darkness because the lighting should be automatic and 2 it allows you to get much more training into the birds prior to racing at a time when not many other birds are being trained thus reducing losses. It also has several disadvantages the main one being you have the added costs of feeding young birds for an extra couple of months and one other being that you may have to pull flights (which I refuse to do). The timing is all important and the amount of light that you have to give them each day is important. I am only a comparitive novice myself but I realised very quickly that if I am going to beat ace flyers on darkness I would need to do something different which is why I have been experimenting with the light. I'm sure that there are fanciers around that have perfected this system who can help you more but if you have any questions PM me and I will be happy to answer any questions based on my experiments - it may save you some time. Can I ask J Bamling why he wouldn't do this wth his race birds? as I intended to underlay my stock eggs under my race birds so I would have to pair them up too. you answered the question yourself with light you are tricking the birds into thinking its breeding time this being spring/summer days which are longer hence more light this stimulates the moult so by the time your 1/2 way thru the season your racers are to heavy in the moult to race Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamond dave Posted November 22, 2009 Report Share Posted November 22, 2009 Thanks DWH but the light for my racers would only be on for about 4-5 weeks, do you think that this would make that much difference to the racers. Then when I re-pair just before racing would this stop the advance of any moult?? D.D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Owen Posted November 22, 2009 Report Share Posted November 22, 2009 For early breeding, the birds do better if they are on a minimum of 10 hours of darkness. Set your timer to go on early in the morning and let the birds go to bed with the natural twilight. That way you will not need dimmer switches and the birds will never be caught in the wrong place when the lights switch off. When you wean your birds they will automatically go onto darkness if you do not use lights for them. This way they will fall into a body moult much quicker then is normal. You will end up with mature youngsters at a much earlier stage of the season than any other way. Ideal for young bird racing. I have done this in the past but I do not do it nowerdays because I can do without the extra work that having mature youngsters will bring. This is because it is best not to mix second and third round youngsters with these early birds. But that is another story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwh Posted November 22, 2009 Report Share Posted November 22, 2009 although we still do it agree with u entirely mixing rounds just does'nt work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeonscout Posted November 22, 2009 Report Share Posted November 22, 2009 I have never used lights before pairing up and my birds come down on eggs at the same time as my friends birds who does use lights. You do not need to trick a bird into thinking it is spring so it will pair up. If the birds are in good nick then they will breed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest j.bamling Posted November 22, 2009 Report Share Posted November 22, 2009 I have never used lights before pairing up and my birds come down on eggs at the same time as my friends birds who does use lights. You do not need to trick a bird into thinking it is spring so it will pair up. If the birds are in good nick then they will breed. Pigeonscout you do if you want to pair the 1st week in Dec !!! No way will you get eggs as quick as anybody with lights pairing this early in the year feb,march maybe yes !! DWH answered it exactly right i wont take the chance of affecting the racers moult when racing !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamond dave Posted November 22, 2009 Report Share Posted November 22, 2009 O wen, I can appreciate that the body moult will carry on but you surely can't expect to get all of the primaries out without the light.............??? D.D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwh Posted November 22, 2009 Report Share Posted November 22, 2009 Pigeonscout you do if you want to pair the 1st week in Dec !!! No way will you get eggs as quick as anybody with lights pairing this early in the year feb,march maybe yes !! DWH answered it exactly right i wont take the chance of affecting the racers moult when racing !! sorry mate we have all ours down 10-14 days without lights its nigh on impossible and every early bred youngsters is on there last flights we lost only 2 racing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeonscout Posted November 22, 2009 Report Share Posted November 22, 2009 Pigeonscout you do if you want to pair the 1st week in Dec !!! No way will you get eggs as quick as anybody with lights pairing this early in the year feb,march maybe yes !! DWH answered it exactly right i wont take the chance of affecting the racers moult when racing !! I pair fist 2nd week in Dec and they are all down on eggs 10 to 15 days without lights and have done so for the last 12 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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