Darkness anyone

Anybody going to use darkness for their ybs this season, we did it last year and it seemed to have worked ok for us, now, others say it's a recipe for disaster, yb sickness poor yearling performance etc ,I won't lie, we did have a little sickness but nothing that we didn't expect ,seems normal with ybs nowdays, only a few went down with it and we cleared it up quickly,as for the yearling performance, we have yet to find out, but we will be using this system again this year for our ybs as it seems to be the only way to keep up with the others in the club that always use darkness, any or all you guys going on it this year

not had the sickness in the ybs for 3 seasons now have had them on natural and darkness and honestly don't think it has anything to do with them getting ill ...I am doing my own little study regards what fanciers call young bird sickness and one common factor I can see so far is all that get it treat heavy before pairing and very close to pairing so are the parents passing on a fungal/yeast problem to the youngsters 2 local lofts who get the sickness every year and treat before pairing tried something different last year by using natural products through the year and not treating with a antibiotic prior to pairing and they never experienced any sickness in fact 1 of the lofts had their best ever season and the other is not a successful loft but enjoyed a healthy yb season and got a few cards so for me the yb problem could well start with the parents and yes we will darken again this year ...atb roy

I think like you say, some keep them natural with the notion they perform better as yearlings, some arnt too bothered about yb racing and treat it merely as learning......I think if you want to do well racing ybs then you need to be on the dark, altho` some still do win on natural until they start to fall apart.

if I race ybs I will definitely put them on darkness, but not the usual method.....I tried one system a few years ago which mufcrick told me about and I much preferred it, I cant remember whos system it was but it was to darken at 4 o`clock then when it got dark go and remove the covers, which helps with the air flow not being restricted during the night, and also thee birds got a natural day break in the morning, instead of going and removing the covers at 9 o`clock.

when i restarted 2012 after a few years out i put my 2012 ybs on darkness...yes i got ybs put them straight on layers pellets and treat them with 4in1.....ok after 3 or 4 days.
timed in every week bar 1 and that was because i was preparing 4 fut ybs for a monday race.
the next year as yearlings i won 4 out of 5 channel races in the fed..the one i didnt win i was 2nd..
some unc possitions 10th 99th 38th 40 something 2 unc possition out of bourges 570 mile yes yearlings only 2 in race time.1st fed 470 with unc turn (forgot what) plus more than one timing every channel race....so no it doesnt effect them as yearlings

If I remember rightly it was only 3/4 were a bit sick, shaking heads with corn coming up, treated with stuff that goes on the corn and didn't see any more , birds raced pretty well and are looking really well at the minute, looking forward to race them as yearlings, I like that idea of taking off the covers when it's dark David

If your not on the darkness system then your not racing Young birds its as simple as that and yearlings will race just the same as any other yearling that hasn't been on the darkness

Still on our learning curve mark, you hear so many different stories, do this , don't do that or you'll ruin your birds, even in our club conflicting advice from different members,race the yb so far then stop them,and race them all the way as it's the only way to find out if they're any good

i think ad schaerlaeckens wrote an article about darkness Lofty

I tried keeping them on the dark. But could not get enough ventilation. So quit it early. Will do what a succesful fancier does out West. They have 16 hours light now as they are still in the nest. Wean at 30 days or so. By then they should be on the floor, eating etc,. Then move them to the young bird loft. Glass door so lots of natural light. No extra lights. No darkness. Treat them as normal. Longest day of the year keep them at those daylight hours until end of season. I was told that some may carry a flight in to the next year, but not to worry about it. The fellow who told me this wins with yearlings and old birds also. Simple system.

fieldwalker wrote:

i think ad schaerlaeckens wrote an article about darkness Lofty

Ad keeps his ybs in almost total darkness. He doesn't seem to care if they move enough to drink. He stressed that the birds must come to rest. No droppings scattered on the perches. I don't know Ad, but this is what he said in Jim's film about him. One thing I noticed in thing that film though....
He said he quit treating for canker. No chemical dependent birds, but he does use electrolytes, vinegar, garlic ect. He did adopt the use of droppers though. He seemed a little sheepish about the matter though . I like Ad's ways on feeding, and medicating. Ofcourse, that is probably do to my background in husbandry matters.

halcanada wrote:

I tried keeping them on the dark. But could not get enough ventilation. So quit it early. Will do what a succesful fancier does out West. They have 16 hours light now as they are still in the nest. Wean at 30 days or so. By then they should be on the floor, eating etc,. Then move them to the young bird loft. Glass door so lots of natural light. No extra lights. No darkness. Treat them as normal. Longest day of the year keep them at those daylight hours until end of season. I was told that some may carry a flight in to the next year, but not to worry about it. The fellow who told me this wins with yearlings and old birds also. Simple system.

That is my plan Hal. I don't want to over complicate things on my virgin year. The two whole members that I talked to in my club, turn off the lights when finished breeding, and kick them back on in june.

That sounds the best idea...do what suits you and your area.
Here some take them off the dark end of june then on the light couple of weeks later to hold the flights until first week in september

Mine were on the darkness and I missed the first three races, as I work and couldn't get them trained and I still won all four races that I sent to. 1st race I was 1,2 3, the got ybs so missed the next two races and won the next three races.

95% of the Fed members keep them in the dark. They have done for years now. Some come down with sickness, some do not. 4 % keep them on a light system. Same amount of sickness. 1% keep them natural. Same amount of sickness. I assume from talking with folks (ahem, listening in) the great majority medicate their birds. I am not a beleiver in medication. Natural, sure. Man made no. It is very seldom I have a sick pigeon. If I do I do not isolate it. Whatever it has it can pass on. It gets too bad I nuke it. My bird feeder has many types of birds. Jays, woodpeckers finches and wild pigeons visit. Plus the hawk for his weekly meal. When my birds are free flying, fielding they will of course pick up anything these guys have. I assume so anyway. One cannot medicate to prevent all the potential health hazards the birds may encounter. The medication cabinet would be overflowing! Some fanciers have to medicate because of circumstances. Clean sanitized lofts and no open loft. Immune system not a 100%. Each has to do what works best for them. No matter light or dark or any other system. To win young bird races one needs healthy birds, many flights as possible etc,. The dark system was hailed as the only system when people found out about it. Same as widowhood many years earlier. I have never flew widowhood or the dark system. But have competed against the majority that do. I have beat them, not consistently but enough to realize that whatever method is used, Smart pigeons in good health will win. Now if the fancier is also as smart has his birds...hoping to get there!!

chuda wrote:

Mine were on the darkness and I missed the first three races, as I work and couldn't them trained and I still won all four races that I sent to. 1st race I was 1,2 3, the got ybs so missed the next two races and won the next three races.

so how far did you jump them into the 4th race ...?

Romedius wrote:

fieldwalker wrote:

i think ad schaerlaeckens wrote an article about darkness Lofty

Ad keeps his ybs in almost total darkness.   He doesn't seem to care if they move enough to drink.  He stressed that the birds must come to rest.  No droppings scattered on the perches.  I don't know Ad, but this is what he said in Jim's film about him.  One thing I noticed in thing that film though....
He said he quit treating for canker.  No chemical dependent birds, but he does use electrolytes, vinegar, garlic  ect.  He did adopt the use of droppers though.  He seemed a little sheepish about the matter though .  I like Ad's ways on feeding, and medicating.  Ofcourse, that is probably do to my background in husbandry matters.

First off here Good little topic . Rom take heed of what wisdom Ad has etc. Seen much of the spin & bling in his time & he wisely concluded on average most was just waffle in the big picture as such. Example fish & chip vinegar, compared to the fancy stuff with a pigeon on the bottle at 10 times the price . Always have held in high regard here & at the end of the day what I call. A kiss type of guy .  

David it should not matter. Our first race is 115 for me. Train to 40. Have missed the first and went next week to the 200 or 150. Once past their last training point they will come in the direction they have been trained to then get better bearings on the loft. Then speed up.

I think our first race is Newark 56 miles, if I missed that I wouldn't risk them.......

David. Each to their own. Even at 40 mile training my young birds will fly over the loft and keep going. Return 30 or 40 minutes later. Why waste gas money when training when the birds will fly themselves the extra distance?

David wrote:

I think our first race is Newark 56 miles, if I missed that I wouldn't risk them.......

56 miles. Must be a bunch of Brave heart types David . Read up on Rom's combine etc especially Mr Noonkester there who on average, sends 1 a race   & it has 56 miles to fly on it's own unfortunately, just to get home    .

Knackered. Never thought to look at the site Rom flies in. You sure you do not work, or did work for MI5 or similar? Devious! Smart also. You must have a dossier on all on here. Umm. find anything incriminating? Grounds for divorce etc? Share!! LOL!

Yes but he wont tell your wife lol

halcanada wrote:

Knackered. Never thought to look at the site Rom flies in. You sure you do not work, or did work for MI5 or similar? Devious! Smart also. You must have a dossier on all on here. Umm. find anything incriminating? Grounds for divorce etc? Share!! LOL!

Shoot! No one has that much paper!

Romedius wrote:

halcanada wrote:

Knackered. Never thought to look at the site Rom flies in. You sure you do not work, or did work for MI5 or similar? Devious! Smart also. You must have a dossier on all on here. Umm. find anything incriminating? Grounds for divorce etc? Share!! LOL!

Shoot!  No one has that much paper!

hes a sly old fox is our knackered.......

I looked at the area but got side tracked by great
horned owls...only supposed to hunt at night fall just look like bigger longeared owls