darkness and the eyes

do any members think that darkness young birds are slower in the development of the eyes due to the hours of light being shortended

How would the Development speed of the eye affect the bird?????
Please EXPLAIN---

they say there eyes change after about 14 weeks thats on a normal lite system im asking if that would slow down eye developement on the darkness system

not sure but will have some naturals this year and will compare

don, your wanted on the chat.........

I don't think it would affect the development of the eye, as the eye would still work and develop the same, except the darkness pigeons eyes would just adjust to shorter days, making them rest more..

fair comment gary i was just wondering cus not many talk about it

they seem to always blame ybs

just something i was thinking about realy

plus got me another post

birdy2011 wrote:

do any members think that darkness young birds are slower in the development of the eyes due to the hours of light being shortended

Can't see a problem G i would say no mate but open to opinions

Seriously, that is a fair question. Obviously the pupils would work a bit more. But I can't see it actually obstructing the growth of the eye.

some do have a lot of problems getting y/b to fly till later though i was wondering if that was anything to do with it being in the dark so long if you take all them xtra hours on the dark it would amount to a few weeks some eye sign expert may have something to say i bet

a yb darkness loft isnt pick black anyway is it, they say it should be just dark enough to read a news paper...........

There was a farther and son partnership of belgium have the best method darken the loft then remove curtain 12.00 at night pigeons have natural sun light the following morning

They won the 1 bird duration race

thats true david and i see your point mine never was pitch black

I'm not being funny mate, but early on some darkness birds do have a slight problem respiratory problem, which does seem to clear up fairly quickly once the lofts are reopened. But I see hell of a lot of darkness birds gagging when they first start to fly. If this doesn't clear up quickly or is not picked up on by the fancier. This is when he starts to have birds back late from training and I believe does contribute to losses.
Only my opinion.

true gary and a lot shut the loft in so no loght or air gets in it a breeding ground for trouble

But when you think about it logically, it's dark, very little draft, the gasses that come from the pigeons themselves from exhaling, the body heat from the birds, gasses from their droppings and the feathers they shed, plus all the plumage dust.
This is where an Ioniser would benefit any loft and your type of ventilation system would pay dividends.

does either graham or gary think weaning straight onto darkness is of any benefit to the ybs, rather than putting them onto the dark when the clocks alter.....? yes i know they will be more advanced in the moult but would they race any better.....?

I'm not a darkness fan to be perfectly honest. But I have seen the system achieve the desired results. I personally would think the sooner the better. Because this makes the bids mature more quickly. Some put them on extra light after the moult.
But the sooner you get them through the moult the more you can work at building up their fitness. Because the advancement in fitness is what I think gives the the natural and light birds the edge, until they start to drop flights. But saying that I have won some of our longest races with birds with partially grown flights.

second that Gary

It's when they are bursting, the bigger primaries you have to to rest the natural birds. This where the darkness pigeons come into their own.

Just a note about the eyes, I have studied the eyes for years and I can tell you something for nothing and Im sure all eye sign boys will tell you the same, you can tell nothing from a youngsters eyes, a yearlings eye may show promise, but not until the bird is 2 and over will it be fully developed. I have studied and taken pictures of eyes for years and they constantly change up until 2 then it seems to stop but I have seen some change a little even after that but rarely and not after 2/3 years.

That's an interesting fact, thanks for that mate.
I know very little about the eyes,, but have photographed some for others to look at. But that's as far as it goes.

so really then y/b eye sign shows are a waist

That is a very interesting point. I see these so called pigeon eyesign men, giving it plenty with latebreds and yearlings. Not being an eyesign fan, I never used to comment much. But now I have a little ammo.

birdy2011 wrote:

do any members think that darkness young birds are slower in the development of the eyes due to the hours of light being shortended

no i dont infact i think they mature quicker in everyway