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 Introduction to better breeding by Jack Barkel

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PostSubject: Introduction to better breeding by Jack Barkel   Introduction to better breeding by Jack Barkel EmptySat Jun 13, 2009 5:30 am

Introduction to Better Breeding.



If we may recap before we proceed with a breeding program let us go over the ground of selection once again. We have covered most aspects of the genetic imprint on the eye without boring anyone with the technical aspects of this complicated organ. Likewise we have pointed out how we can use the signs in the eye to give us a strong indication of the genetic qualities we can expect, without going deeply into genetics.



This is for those who do not wish to be burdened with all the technical jargon that goes into the subject of better breeding by the use of the theoretical study of genetics. I likewise make the claim that I have not seen better results obtained from these theorists than that which I have achieved with this method that is for the practical person, and unlike the scientific methods, it works every time when applied correctly.



I believe that the reason for this is that most pigeon geneticists have either never heard of genetic drift, or do not know how to retard or control it, neither do they seem to know, that the most obvious place we can see it is in the eye. Genetic drift occurs in the product of almost every pairing we put together. It can vary considerably depending on our knowledge and ability to recognise and control it by the signs in the eye we have portrayed and discussed previously. Several qualified geneticists in the world involved with racing pigeons, are at this very moment arguing over what should be the genetic name for the only colour mutation in the world for the last 100 years or so. They can argue until the cows come home, but I have named it and so it will stay, for it was my discovery and I developed it into a strain. As one world renowned geneticist stated, "Jack Barkel discovered it, propagated it and named it, all of them will not be able to put that genie back in the bottle". I mention this just to add proof that one does not need a piece of paper ( degree ) to be as successful or knowledgeable as the person who has.



Together with the knowledge of eye sign and physical attributes and how they originate, we are armed and ready to venture into the world of breeding.



Before I stock a pigeon, I check that it has the physical attributes I mentioned previously.

No step in the wing, the humerus bone very close to the body, and that I prefer a long deep keel and a medium sized well balanced body. These attributes together with the well balanced sphincter muscles of the eye, leave very little to chance when it comes to eliminating unwanted genes.



I also prefer stock pigeons to possess pedigrees or printed history of a pigeon. I do not select on performance pedigrees but on the breeding pattern of a pedigree. I believe that a pedigree that shows a lot of wins, does not show the breeding qualities of a pigeon, and that it is just a performance pedigree and of little use to a breeder, neither does it make such birds a definite proposition to install it in the stock loft.



Many breeders sell pigeons on a performance pedigree and although it is very impressive to the purchaser, they soon find out that the flow of winners seems to end with the bird they have purchased. It is a proven fact that pairing winner to winner hardly ever produced the desired effect of breeding many more winners, more often than not it shows a decline in the performance of future progeny.



I believe that all stock pairs should be housed in separate pens, and better if not separated at the end of the season. I have found by leaving the pairs together throughout the year, that the hens lay less eggs than they do when separated. They also very rarely breed in the off season, but lose the urge to procreate until spring, much as we see practiced by the wild birds.



Separate pens not only guarantee you proof of parentage, but also as the cock does not feel threatened by other cocks as they do in communal dwellings, for he does not go into drive mode with his hen. This means that the hen will not be laying eggs under threat, and is able to gather all the necessary nutriments together to lay a good egg. I doubt if many champions have been bred from a pair where the cock has deprived the hen of food by driving her to the nest.



If the readers would like me to proceed with this mode of discussion that includes using selection of the eye and physical characteristics, I am willing to explain the rest of my methods here for all list members. Those who are interested please let me know your feelings on this matter before I continue. Let me say before I go any further, that although I am a breeding station, I no longer export pigeons. Therefore my aim here is only to help fanciers who are interested in my methods, and not to sell pigeons. At my age I have enough continuing sales from my reputation in my own country, to keep me busy for as long as I shall live.



Regards

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PostSubject: Re: Introduction to better breeding by Jack Barkel   Introduction to better breeding by Jack Barkel EmptySat Jun 13, 2009 5:32 am

Introduction to my methods on controlled breeding.

I do believe from my travels to many parts of the world while evaluating pigeons, that the average fancier is not aware how to reproduce their top stock cock.

Many are of the opinion that a son of a top stock cock that may be the same colour and pattern is the reproduction of this original sire. This is a misconception, because to the unenlightened, the pigeon geneticists although they are aware of the fact, have omitted to explain that although they are correct in saying a bird inherits 50% of its genes from both sire and dam, they omit to mention that a daughter inherits none of its sex genes from its mother.

Based on this fact alone such statements are misleading, and they also fail to make it clear that because of genetic drift in the progeny of the pairing, the genes we are seeking to control are possibly never inherited 50 / 50 in any bird we are trying to breed. I am sure that this will make many of the purists hot under the collar, but I have never heard them refer to genetic drift, or even to its existence.

To make it perfectly understandable what is genetic drift, it is plainly this. When the genes combine from a sire and dam to produce a new pigeon or pair of pigeons, the genes we are seeking will most certainly not be inherited fifty fifty, and may even drift towards some other ancestor introduced in the last three or four generations of uncontrolled parentage. This changing of the genes which often produces a bird entirely different to its parents is what we refer to in this case as genetic drift.

Genetic drift also occurs in viruses in our pigeons, where an entirely new strain can emerge from the particular strain of virus as we know it, and for which when it first rears its ugly head we have no serum or antidote. This is not my field, but these medical scientists certainly know about genetic drift, and their frantic search to develop a cure.

My whole point here is to make the reader understand that to breed a successful strain or family of pigeons, we must have an understanding of what genetic drift is, and try to control it in the genes we most desire to install in the progeny our selected pairings produce.

What I have written here must be fully understood before I proceed with my methods of pairing and breeding. If anyone is not sure please ask and let me try and elaborate further before we proceed.

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PostSubject: Re: Introduction to better breeding by Jack Barkel   Introduction to better breeding by Jack Barkel EmptySat Jun 13, 2009 5:33 am

MY BREEDING METHODS Contd.

I hope my next explanation will not make the reader lose interest, but I have to be sure that we understand that in pigeons the sire has the XX chromosomes, that is to say they are fixed, and the hen has the XY chromosomes which we refer to as the loose chromosome. The Y chromosome will denote the sex of the youngsters so the hen denotes the sex in pigeons, unlike a human being where the male denotes the sex and carries the XY chromosomes. Fanciers who are not aware of this fact become horribly unstuck when they try to pair pigeons the same as the laws of human genetics, for they are exactly the opposite.

Consequently we cannot have a direct line from a hen as we can from a cock. This must be fully understood, for fanciers are still stating on forums that you should pair an old hen to its sons and grandsons. These are outcrosses and do not achieve any concentration of the hens genes that we are looking for.

The only true line of descent is by pairing daughters, grand daughters, and great grand daughters back to the original sire. We do not have to take into consideration how many unrelated hens are selected for the original sire, as the daughters from these pairings will not inherit any of the sex genes from their mothers. Hence all the sex genes are inherited from their father, which is how we come to refer to true line of descent. Sex genes are those that contain, colour, vitality and stamina, and seem to be the main ones we need to harness to produce the offspring we are looking for.

I am putting these sections on in small portions so that everyone can read and digest what I am trying to put across. I do not wish to make these segments long and boring for we need a working knowledge of every step of the way, and the reason for doing it. The next section deals with the selection and method of pairing selected stock pigeons.

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PostSubject: Re: Introduction to better breeding by Jack Barkel   Introduction to better breeding by Jack Barkel EmptySat Jun 13, 2009 5:34 am

My Breeding Methods Contd-2.

Armed with all the previous knowledge I have placed on this thread, I then select a cock which in our case is known to have the predominant bloodlines of a particular strain. This cock must have passed the scrutiny of having a near perfect eye, preferably a My Choice *****. He will be rejected if in conjunction with this attribute he does not possess a humerus bone close to the body, and a wing that shows no tendency to have a step through a shortening of the secondary flights. The wing preferred is shown here attached to this article, it shows plenty of cover over the back of the bird, highlighted with a black vertical line extending down the back of the bird. It also shows a highlighted black horizontal line along the secondary's accenting no shortening of these flights in relation to the first primary flight. Last but not least I prefer a long deep keel to suit what I believe to be other criteria in the conformity I intend to keep in my breeding lofts.

I then select a hen with the opposite colour eye to this cock that I have selected for stud. That is to say, if the cocks eye is dominant ( yellow base ) then the hens eye must be recessive ( pearl base ), and once again it must have the best rating we can find. Please remember, a pearl eye is not as commonly referred to by some a White Eye, a pearl eye is a pale pink, this I can prove in anyone's presence without any shadow of doubt, and there is a reason for me insisting on this. Again all the physical attributes of this selected hen, must be as close to conforming as possible to those of the new stud sire. Now we are ready with our first pair of stock birds to start a breeding program.

Next step will explain line breeding and inbreeding as I control it in my lofts.

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PostSubject: Re: Introduction to better breeding by Jack Barkel   Introduction to better breeding by Jack Barkel EmptySat Jun 13, 2009 5:35 am

My Breeding Methods Contd -3

From the daughters produced from the pair we matched together in Part 2 of breeding methods, we must select the hens with the opposite coloured eye to their father, that is to say, the same coloured eye as their mother. The eyes although a different colour should possess the outstanding characteristics of their father. They must also conform to the physical attributes we are looking for, which the father possesses. As yearlings these selected daughters must be paired back to their father, and similarly the following year the daughters from this union of father and daughter must be paired back to the original sire again.

We will find that after three or four generations of breeding to perfect line of descent in this manner, that it is becoming increasingly difficult to produce hens with the opposite colour eye to the original sire. Also that the progeny from these line bred pairings are becoming more like the original sire with each generation we produce in this manner.

By this time if we have selected and planned everything correctly as I have described here, we will find a certain male and female with all the characteristics of this original sire. These are your original line bred family and it will be noticeable to all discerning fanciers that visit your pigeon domain. From then the step to producing this original sire and top stock cock is simple.

Only now do you pair this line bred brother and sister together, for now you are inbreeding in the true sense of the word, and only now do you put the same coloured eyes together, which is the eye of the original sire.

The cocks you produce from this pairing will be exact replicas of the sire, from which you meticulously bred down to this perfect line of descent. Any deviation from this method as I have described it will prove disappointing, so make sure you do not attempt to introduce an idea or two of your own, for you will most certainly have wasted three or four years of hard work and selective breeding.

Defining which is line breeding and inbreeding has always been a contentious issue. Many practice and even write about close breeding as being line breeding or in breeding when it can be proved in practice it is nothing of the kind, Cousins, half brother and sister and sons to mothers are still outcrosses.

I cannot accept where anything but perfect line of descent, that is to say using one sire and breeding down the line to his daughters, grand daughters, and great grand daughters, which should all be his daughters also can be categorised as line breeding. Then after four generations of this practice to put brother to sister can then be determined in breeding.

Let me finish this part by saying that any variation from this strict practice, only involves outcrosses, close breeding, and what I perceive to be guesswork of equations. If one is lucky such guesswork may produce one in ten or less of the genes we a seeking to fuse together.

We have covered how to breed for stock, next issue will explain how from this to breed for racing and vitality.

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PostSubject: Re: Introduction to better breeding by Jack Barkel   Introduction to better breeding by Jack Barkel EmptySat Jun 13, 2009 5:38 am

My Breeding Methods Final.

Many will now be saying; well we have learned something here about line breeding and inbreeding, but what about racing and vitality.

I have made it a practice to retire to the stock loft of the same strain three or four top cocks. These are usually from different families, where I practice the type of line breeding as I have explained in the previous article. It is well known that continuous breeding to this perfect line of descent can cause a reduction in vitality, and yet it is a risk of incurring vast amounts of genetic drift if one does not adhere to these principals. I therefore devised a method of taking a cock with all the characteristics we require from the one line and pairing it to a hen of one of the other lines, this ensured a family outcross without going outside the strain.

This method of breeding for racing puts back any vigour that may have been reduced, and also insures that you have not deviated from the strain. I must insist that one must never contemplate using a cock that has excelled from this family outcross to put to stock unless you are prepared to start a new line of this strain. It is however a great source for finding new hens to introduce as stock for this can also revitalise the stock loft as well as the racing loft.

I believe that if I had attempted to draw a plan where we start with Cock A and Hen B, and ended up with progeny c&d that we paired together with the pretext that this would breed us progeny e,f,g and so on, that this would gather all the good genes and eliminate the bad genes. Not only would you lose interest in my algebraic equations, but the reader would soon realise that it was a lot of mumbo jumbo and if put into practice, would have little if any better results than you had before you attempted such an erratic and risky venture.

I regard the gene pool in a similar vein to that of a spot we make for fresh water fishing for carp and such fish. We must create a pool and feed it with food to attract the catch we want. If we are going to stick our line in haphazardly we will catch a lot of variables that we do not want. As it is with a fishing spot, so it is with the gene pool, we must stock the gene pool with the right genes and hope by doing so in a calculated manner we will hook the big one and produce a champion.

In closing I may ask, how many fanciers have produced a true champion that on the coefficient system can be said to have beaten all comers throughout the country in which it resides over one particular season. I have had such a pigeon and I am very proud of the fact, there have been others also, but not that have beaten every bird that competed in all clubs throughout the land in one particular year.

It has been my good fortune to breed a strain of pedigreed birds with their own genetic listing, a first in the world for over one hundred years I believe. They have won from 150 kilometres to a thousand kilometres and cannot be copied unless their bloodlines originate from my lofts.

We have achieved many things for ourselves and others, and I am convinced that all things we have achieved can be achieved by others if the advice is followed that I have given here. Eye sign will reveal to you any genetic drift from the originals you are trying to produce. Perfect line of descent when applied using the selection methods we have described on this thread, will bring you success like one could never imagine. Of course other methods than those I have laid out here will bring some measure of success, but none with the regularity or with the high percentages we are sure these methods will give you.

To the people who have enjoyed the articles on this thread, and those who are prepared to acknowledge it, I wish you every success in the future. To those who did not, it makes no difference, it is just one mans learning off some of the best pigeon fanciers there ever was in my day. I pass this knowledge on for the price I paid for it! NOTHING.

I will still be here to answer genuine questions for those who wish to learn more. As one book taught me, the meek shall inherit the earth.

Thanks to all who have read my transcriptions with patience and understanding.

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