DARKNESS YBS.....

could members who put ybs onto the darkness system tell us if they go straight onto the dark from weaning, or later on at some point.......and if so why? thanks,

david once they are weened and eating and drinking for a week then darken them down

yes good advise

david i put my young birds on the darkness when the clocks go forward, my reason is the birds are bred early more dark that day light hours, so techncaly they are already on the darkness, 50/50, so when the clocks go forward daylight be comes longer than darkness so this is when i put mind onto the darkness to regulate the time differance back to 50/50
Ken

hi ken, so when ybs are on the dark what sort of times do you open in the morning and close up for the night.....

david these times work for me because of my work hours, My wife opens the loft up at 12 midday, reason for this i can come home from work work let them out and stop them from forming bad habbits, the loft is closed down at 22hours yes i know its dark by then in the early weeks, but you are not putting them under undue distress by suddenley going from day light to pitch black in seconds
Ken

friendsloft wrote:

david i put my young birds on the darkness when the clocks go forward, my reason is the birds are bred early more dark that day light hours, so techncaly they are already on the darkness, 50/50, so when the clocks go forward daylight be comes longer than darkness so this is when i put mind onto the darkness to regulate the time differance back to 50/50
Ken

Technically your spot on Ken, but I always put mine on straight away, In the main to get me back in the habit of doing it again

It is only for a week or two though

regards

fred

Fred u say for only aweek or two why is that
Ken

I tend to wean them early in March, which is normally a couple of weeks before the clocks go back

regards

fred

friendsloft wrote:

Fred u say for only aweek or two why is that
Ken

sorry a week or two before you have to

hope this makes sense

regards

fred

Thanks Fred i understand
Ken

do they still hold there flights for national fred

hi fred, so would you pair up approx in mid january ? and is this all your birds or ones intended for distance racing? hope you dont mind me asking but im trying to learn different ideas and methods of different fanciers.... thanks.

Hi ian

I fly North Road at the present, so its the combine for me, they normally have 7 or 6 to go by the 16th of september, so no problems for me, any further in the moult and they will start to go soft in the feather

regards

fred

DAVID wrote:

hi fred, so would you pair up approx in mid january ? and is this all your birds or ones intended for distance racing? hope you dont mind me asking but im trying to learn different ideas and methods of different fanciers.... thanks.

To be honest with you David, I try all different methods with them, some are not as good as others, next year I will be pairing one lot up on the 1st of Jan (dry pairing at the moment) along with my stock birds, and my combine birds will be raced dry

hope this helps

cheers fred i put mine on the dark for around 11 weeks they look like yearlings by the time they start racing

hi ian, what time do you open your lofts in the morning, and close at night ? i would have thought with it simulating the hours of winter it would be open at approx 8 am and close at approx 4 pm.....

yes david thats right half hour either way doesnt matter

ian, so if i run to these sort of times it should be fairly ok ?

yes david you,ll be fine dont forget take them of the dark on the longest day

so did you have yours on dark for roughly about 11 weeks did you say ?

yes david

The best young bird system i have seen was "Steve Van Breeman" video and he has a large amount of pigeons in a small loft

For me if you are going to use the darkness system you need two teams for if you breed very early you will find them start moulting before the end of the season

But if you have two teams then you can fly the complete season with good feathered pigeons not saying you cannot fly with your first rounders, but you have a better chance with the second rounders

im not sure and ken will correct me but i think i remember ken telling me something along those lines......that even darkness ybs can start tomoult befor the yb season finishes.