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Posted

Hello chaps

This is my first year racing and I have hundreds of questions but I'll save them for later!

 

I'm a little confussed on darkness ?

 

My question is" if I pair up my birds on the 10th December we have natural darkness

 

How many weeks/months are they ment to be in darkness?

 

If I pair them on the 10th dec when would they molt?

 

Hope some one can clear this up for us

Posted

I would have thought that pairing up at that time of year

Why would u keep them on darkness till June that's 6

Months surely 8 to 10 weeks is enough to see them through

The body moult,that being the objective ???.

Posted

Yes that's my question. So only takes 8-10 weeks so am I right in saying they will be on natural darkness. No need for darkening the loft is they? Or is they???

 

A friend has told me natural is all they need at that time of year. So I can't see why ppl put them selfs through all the extra work by pairing later in the year. It just don't make sense

Posted

Rabbit I'm not an expert on the subject but pairing at that time of the year

I would think that they would shed all their body feathers , but after 8 to 10

Weeks coming of the darkness they would start to cast flights which defeats

The purpose,my young are on darkness but I don't pair up until the 14 th February

I'm afraid I don't see any benefit of pairing that early .just my opinion .

Posted

Right now this is making more sense. So first it's body moult then the flights.

 

Are you ment to pair the yearlings after they have moulted all there flights?

Am important part of darkness youngster is insuring that they get thru the moult between september/November

Posted

Right now this is making more sense. So first it's body moult then the flights.

 

Are you ment to pair the yearlings after they have moulted all there flights?

 

The whole aim of darkness is to deter them from throwing their first flight. A body moult kicks in which you could say is a by product of this and isn't the main aim of darkness. Once they throw their fifth flight the body moult will commence again, they'll body moult twice in one year. In essence your trying to time the moult so they're in the best possible condition (feathering) whilst the young bird races are flown.

 

When paired as yearlings the following year I personally wait until the last flight is fully grown.

Posted

once the wing moult starts keep an eye on the cover flights [bars] --once they start to go the bird loses thrust from the wings and wont compete as well as having a full wing.

Posted

Mine have never failed to throw all their flights.

 

Would I pull a flight to help them finish the wing moult? No

 

From what I understand, if they fail to finish the wing moult and carry their 10th nest flights they'll cast these when they throw their first flight as yearlings.

Posted

If you mean yearlings, 2 year olds, 3 year olds etc.

 

These generally race from mid April for 12 weeks, prepared properly they'll not body moult in this period. Depending on what system raced you try to get them to throw their first flight as late as possible. They'll go into the body moult on or around the casting of their 5th flight which is to be avoided whilst racing. Its regarded they'll cast their first flight sitting their 2nd set of eggs (around 10 days of sitting). Natural fliers will pair up as late as March to hold back the moulting process. Widowhood fliers pair up much earlier but don't allow them to sit their 2nd round of eggs after 10 days, again to stop them casting their first flight.

 

Darkness with youngsters ensures you race them in the best possible feathering, forethought & preparation with old birds ensures the same.

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