Jack Barkel eyesign

Pairings to avoid.

We should by now have realised that we need to pair birds with a similar uniform set of sphincter muscles. When one makes injudicious pairings the progeny of such bad joining, either show a widening of the iris and a decrease in the correlation or fifth circle until both these circles are completely overlapped by this iris. I have often likened this type of eye to a water bucket full to the brim, which any attempt to put in more water will prove futile, for once it is full it is full, and any attempt to try and rectify this mistake has proven erratic, unreliable and unsatisfactory.



We then move on to the eye that has a very weak iris, this eye shows real signs of deterioration, the correlation breaks through the thin iris and joins up with the fifth circle. This pigeon type of eye may only have one thing going for it and that is speed.

It will lack stamina and homing ability and if let loose in the stock loft can reduce your future family to a lot of junk. This eye is exactly the opposite to Illustration 20, for although eyes that are full have been known to be good long distance races the eye with the weak iris has shown very little claim to fame other than at short fast blow home races. I have referred to this eye as the bucket with a hole in it, for no matter how much you try to put in, it will not hold water.







One must never consider trying to rectify these problems by pairing a bird with a too full eye, with an eye that is too thin or weak in the iris. It has the same effect as putting a small and large bird together. It does not breed medium birds, but large and small taking after one or the other of the parents. Likewise with the eye it will not compensate for the problem, but will breed mostly thick or thin irises from the genes of one of the parents. Very seldom will the genes of both parents combine to give us a happy medium, to restore future progeny to a well balanced eye. This is another fallacy I wish to expose and which is practiced by many eye-sign enthusiasts.




jackbarkel@mweb.co.za
http://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/jackbarkel/

The Catalyst Eye.



To some of you this may be a repeat of what I have already said previously. I print it again because I cannot find it on this thread and I wish to be sure that all readers are aware of it. Please remember this is my theory based on facts as I have found them in my experimentations.




For many years I have researched eyes that to me were not a common everyday occurrence among racing pigeons. I very rarely view less than 1000 eyes in any particular month, in a professional capacity. The following is a special research I have been doing on this particular type of eye for several years and feel it is time I have it recorded although I did mention it in my previous books.


One will be able to notice in the picture Illustration 27, that the base colour of this eye is a pale yellow, and that the iris is the deep pink of the pearl eye. Now when one has to judge the colour of this eye on the two basic colours we have for a long time accepted as normal, we are at a loss whether to decide if it is a yellow or a pearl. Many of us view colours differently for colour is in the eye of the beholder. Some will say it is a yellow eye whilst just as many will say it is a pearl. I would prefer to make this statement that neither is correct; for I believe it is split genes which in some way have given this eye the enhancements of the two basic colours. In many cases it has been called a False Pearl, which I think is not a satisfactory name, as it could just as easily be named a False Yellow as the basic colour is faded yellow. It has also been referred to, as a Dominant Violet, which I feel is also incorrect, and I will give my reason for this decision now. When paired to a pearl it appears to only breed that basic colour, ( recessive )

yet when paired to a yellow it will produce both. ( Dominant & Recessive ).

On this assumption I would say, although I believe the gene is split it leans more towards the recessive pearl than the dominant yellow. I do not agree that there is such an eye as a dominant violet, and from the photo�s such claimants have shown, the eyes are normal violet hue in the pearl, and if we are all agreed that pearl is recessive, we can�t have such an eye as a dominant violet unless it can appear in a yellow eye.



Here are a couple of interesting experiments I have done which have very often produced the following results.

The catalyst eye, which is the one in the centre photo, (Illustration 27) has a pale blue adaptation and fifth circle, whilst the eye on the top left photo, (illustration 26), has a yellow adaptation and fifth circle, then when looking at the pearl eye on the top right, (illustration 2, you will see that the adaptation although partially covered with a strong black composite, has a grey to pale pink adaptation and fifth circle.



Now here is what I have discovered, when I pair the catalyst eye with the blue eye sign to the yellow, I can guarantee that many of the offspring will be Yellows with the green adaptation and fifth circle. Likewise when I pair this catalyst to the pearl eye I produce many Pearls that have the violet hue as well as normal pearl eyes.



If the yellow eye carries the pearl-eyed gene which I suspect, the pearl-eyed birds bred from this pairing also produce birds with the violet hue. So for the fancier and breeder that is an Eye Sign Enthusiast, if they should wish to produce more than the average Greens & Violets, this is one way of ensuring much better success than lucky chance. Better still than having to wait until you have a compatible Green and Violet to pair together.



I do not know of anyone else who has conducted these experiments or published their findings. Maybe it is a first, and only time will tell, I am also breeding rare coloured pigeons that have the capabilities of being competitive flyers. My experimentations in this field are not anywhere near completion yet, although some good progress has been made.



I would like to state, I am not a geneticist, but do seem to have a good practical knowledge of what is required to produce these rare colours whilst preserving their racing qualities. I would like to say that what I have reported here is hard facts of work done and discovered by myself.

Movement & Positioning Of Eyes.

Most good birds have a swivel reaction in the eye. I believe it is there for the bird to be able to be able to swivel its eyes in any direction. Not only in the forward motion to see where it is going and to prevent it flying into objects, which in later years of advancement included electric cables and high tension wires. They are also capable of swinging their eyes backwards and upwards to observe birds of prey that may be contemplating catching an easy meal. Not all birds have this startling ability, but I can assure you that exceptional birds all have it. Not only does it seem to increase the birds orientation in flight, but also the balance bone of the inner ear. One can grade the good racers on these particular points, but not necessarily in the stock pigeons, although I prefer it to be a feature of all my birds.

Many top fanciers prefer the eye to be above the centre of the beak line. To add my findings to that statement, it is my contention that the racing pigeon inherits its main attributes from the species with long distanced capabilities, and the attributes of the navigator. However as I said previously to give the pigeon more buoyancy, fancy pigeons were added that had smaller bones and were very light in body weight. These birds could fly high up into the clouds and had eyes running below the beak line as they needed this facility to scan the earth and all things below the heights it was designed to fly.

The navigator however needed the eye to be above the beak line to be the fixed hub of its circle of vision. There are many variables to that which I have tried to explain, but the good breeder is always aware and on the lookout for these physical differences that separate the normal homer from the athletic types we are looking for. The racing pigeon was always at risk of being struck down by birds of prey that flew above him, and because they are hunters have their eyes in the front of their head by the way. That is why I believe nature placed the eyes of the long distance pigeon in this advantageous position so it could see the enemy before it struck and could also see the whole terrain in any direction.

I am always on the lookout for degeneration in racing pigeons; it is quite common amongst pigeons today for the pigeons to regress to its original state. Too much attention therefore cannot be exercised in observing that the attributes of the racing pigeon are kept intact with no allowances tolerated for variables either to the homer or the fancy pigeon.

Once again I am sure that I will be criticised for what I have said here, but I know of no person that has been willing to share their findings as much as I have on racing pigeons. I have no peers and can assure everyone that all what I write is my own work, neither copied or referenced from anyone or anywhere else.

This is not the end, there is more to come for those who are still interested.

Regards

jackbarkel@mweb.co.za
http://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/jackbarkel/

About Preferences Racing Cocks Or Hens.


It has been the opinion of good and bad fanciers alike that hens race better than cocks, it has also been stated by many world-class fanciers, that nothing will beat a good widowhood cock.

I am of the opinion that both these statements are based on personal experiences and not on what created this situation in their own private circumstances.

Why I say this is because it is a well-known fact that many hens have won the most coveted races, and so have just as many cocks. You can also say, because many countries fly predominantly with cocks in their part of the world it will tip the recorded performances in their favour.



What I am about to reveal to you is what my recorded evaluations and findings which run into several thousand lofts have shown to be points well worth taking into consideration. This has also drawn me to the conclusion, that one sex is just as capable as the other when it comes to racing.



First of all I flew roundabout for many years because I felt that when only flying widowhood cocks it was a waste of good hens. I have one particular cock pigeon that won the longest last three races of the season, he could have made this six, but I clocked three separate hens to beat him when I could have clocked him first. This is only one instance and the best one for me that proved the hens were no better than the cocks or vice versa.



There are those who do not believe my methods of evaluation, which is eye sign together with other physical attributes. Be that as it may, for those who wish to go along with me on these findings of mine, I would like to point out the following, of which I have a file cabinet full of fancier�s records to back up what I have discovered. This is FACT which I can prove, be it as it may that some would like to say it is only theory and contains no facts.



With the average know how in breeding techniques amongst the average fancier, if one is putting too much guesswork into their choice of pairings, there is a definite deterioration in the racing ability and breeding ability of the future stock pigeons. Now here is the astonishing point that I can substantiate from many lofts in various parts of the world.



When that deterioration clicks in, it is seen to show a rapid decline in the eyes of the cocks first, at this stage it can be corrected or halted, but years later when this decline in quality has started to show a marked presence among the hens eyes also, it is usually too late to do anything else but start again, hoping we have learned from the experience.



I have never evaluated a loft where the cocks had a better average than the hens, which is also factual proof that this is a situation that is a predominant one, or at least is showing a very strong pattern. When hens outperform cocks over a given distance or season, beware of what I have stated here. I know some will get hot under the collar, but it is only my opinion and documented findings. I think it is my duty to point it out to those who find it interesting, and to those who would rather condemn it without a trial so be it.



My conclusion, and it is why I submit this information, is that whichever sex you concentrate on and prepare to win, can and will be as good as each other if they are prepared as to their individual nature.

jackbarkel@mweb.co.za
http://mysite.mweb.co.za/residents/jackbarkel/