darkness y/bs

advice needed what is latest you can breed in the season to put y/bs on darkness system

i would like to learn a bit more about this subject being its all new to me

stu H wrote:

advice needed what is latest you can breed in the season to put y/bs on darkness system

hi stew H, i paired up 5th feb last season and still managed to get them on the dark, a lot of people do it when the clocks alter but i did mine a week or so later and they moulted the body just as they normally would do on the dark, they even could have flown the full yb season without dropping to bits..........

ive paired a week earlier this year stu, as our first oldbird race is the 7th april.


maybe some of our more experienced members can give better info.....

i believe darkness ybs need to be on dark for 12 weeks coming off the dark around the longest day near the end of june and idealy starting darkness before the clocks change last week of march so i would say in a ideal world you would want your darkness ybs leaving the nest around last week of march at the latest jmo

THE DARK SYSTEM EXPLAINED


The Dark System manipulates the length of the day artificially to cause the young birds to moult their body feathers very rapidly while not moulting the flight or wing feathers. This system tricks the pigeon’s biological clock to think winter is coming.

When a pigeon is on a short day length it will only drop the body feathers, which includes the head, neck and shield and not the wing flight primary and secondary feathers. This gives the pigeon the best possible chance of surviving through a harsh winter with a full wing and a fully feathered mature body. The pigeon grows and matures during the body moult. This big burst in size, strength and maturity is nature’s way to best protect the pigeon. Like reptiles that grow during shedding of skin, pigeons grow very rapidly during the body moult.

Here are a few reasons that make the Dark System such an advantage for racing young birds.

1. The young birds are sexually mature.
2. The young are adults in every way except they do not have the adult flight feathers.
3. The young birds have adult pigeon immunity and are not effected as readily by respiratory, Adeno virus etc.
4. The young can be raced on a double widowhood system.
5. The young have a full wing and are not stressed by racing during the body moult.
6. The young pigeons are ready every week unless the race is a real disaster.

Here are the disadvantages to racing young birds on the Dark System.

1. The young will reach maturity so fast; they may be too old physically and mentally when training begins. Losses could be great.
2. Lack of ventilation during the darkness period could lead to many health problems.
3. Problems with pigeons going into the old bird season with several baby flights still on the wing.
4. The young tend to begin to moult the body and wing feathers six to eight weeks into the young bird season.

Here are the misconceptions about the dark system.

1. You do not have to mate right after Halloween. The pigeons finish the moult in 9 weeks, so if a round is weaned in April and then another in May there is still time to finish the body moult before the young bird season.
2. The pigeons fly terrible as old birds. Some fanciers report this others have no problems. This could be due to the young being pushed too hard or not finishing the wing moult before the spring old bird season. My suggestion would be, to only race the hens as young birds on the dark system and let the cocks remain on natural light. Use the cocks as widowers during old birds.
3. The pigeons can suffer health problems during the darkened stage if the birds are crowded and the ventilation is poor. Install exhaust fans in the roof of the loft that run at all times to draw stale air out. Cut some openings in the floor for the airflow to come from the bottom of the loft without light coming in.
4. The loft does not have to be totally dark. As long as it gets dark at the same time every day the birds will moult fine. My pigeons can still go down and drink when the loft is closed up.

I will explain how the system works followed by how to prevent the problems that may come about.


Dark System Procedures


Wean the young into a section that has been designed to allow ventilation but can be darkened to somewhat darker than dusk.

1. Let the sun come up in the morning and darken the loft 9.5 hours later. By doing this the pigeons have the sunrise to adjust their biological clock. Remember you must open the loft at night for it to get light in the morning. If this is not possible you must adapt the system to your schedule. In this case open the loft up and close it up leaving the light for 9.5 hours. You must do this at the same time every day. The strict timing is very important for the pigeons to adjust to the dark system. Letting the sunrise naturally for the babies is the best system but I have used both with success.
2. Feed a high protein grain and give vitamins, mineral and grit regularly. Feed very heavy because the moult will be rapid.
3. Use garlic in the water four or five days per week as a natural antibiotic.
4. Let the pigeons out as much as possible and start them flying young.
5. Start short tosses as soon as they are flocking. Begin across the yard and down the street and go in very short increments. The young must be trained very young for them to be able to learn. Once they are trained out to 25 miles you do not have to worry but losing them very easily. The dark system pushes the young bird through its learning phase very quickly. On the dark the young become adults at 13 weeks of age instead of five to six months when not darkened.
6. Once the young are trained out to 25 miles several times, stop them until training restarts again for young bird racing.
7. Two weeks before you begin the second phase of training for the young bird season, put the pigeons on natural day length. After two weeks start your training the same as you start for every young bird season. The pigeons were already trained out 25 miles earlier in the year, but start slow again unless the pigeons are routing real well.
8. If possible separate the sexes. You must determine if you want to excel early or late. Leave the sexes together for the first couple weeks of racing if there are many young bird specials at the end of the season. If you want to dominate early separate the sexes two weeks before the first race.
9. If you do not have the space leave the sexes together the entire season.


What to do during the Race Season?


1. If the sexes are separated allow them to spend 30 minutes together before shipping.
2. After returning from the race leave the sexes together for two hours.
3. The separated sexes must be trained and exercised separately during the week.
4. After week two of the race season add three hours of day length (by turning on the lights) everyday for the rest of the season. This causes the young to believe it is mid summer when the wing moult is so very slow. The young will begin to drop the first few flights but the season will be over before the young reach the third or fourth flight.
5. Race and win!


What to do After the Race season?


1. After the race season return to normal day length for one month. This will cause the pigeons to begin the moult really fast. The pigeons will start another body moult followed by the completion of the wing moult.
2. When the month is complete run the lights 24 hours per day until the wing moult is finished.
3. If you did not race the young cocks on the system there is no need to run lights after the month. The young hens will finish the moult the following year. This does not matter if they are not raced as old birds.
4. Feed high protein with plenty of vitamins and minerals until the body moult is finished

Thanks for that Ian very intresting

Thank you for your replies, it has helped me a lot

hi stew, let us know how you do on the dark system wont you.........

Yes David i will let you know how how I get on with them.

have you paired up yet stuart, i paired the week after blackpool but no eggs yet, some of the hens are in the bowl looking as though they are ready to lay, hope to breed around 20 ybs and ill be happy.

ian looks like the one on my site haha

chris this was put on here 2 years ago mate just brought it back on to help new members understand the system

no im just saying i think i have that on my forum haha

IANYOUNG wrote:

THE DARK SYSTEM EXPLAINED

8. If possible separate the sexes. You must determine if you want to excel early or late. Leave the sexes together for the first couple weeks of racing if there are many young bird specials at the end of the season. If you want to dominate early separate the sexes two weeks before the first race.
9. If you do not have the space leave the sexes together the entire season.

that was a really good read

were trying darkness this year with the ybs for the first time so allot of good advice there.
could i just clarify one point you made
you leave them together untill a few weeks into the season then separate them for them to peak at the end of the season

i was planning on doing the opposite and try to get them on eggs for the open races at the end of the season. just wondering what your thoughts where on this


thanks
Alan

there are many ways of racing youngbirds cawdy so who is to say which is the best you do what you think is best i know a lot who pair them up so they are chipping eggs for the big races some like them feeding big younguns aswell probably all as good as the other if you get them right

not paired up yet david been altering loft be another week or two left it a bit late

yea know what you mean ian there always more than one way to skin a cat. but it dosent mean than some ways aren't better than others

as i said this will be our first year trying darkness and its taken me months and allot of work to convince my granddad and uncle to give it a go. so im trying to make every thing run as smooth as possible.

stu H wrote:

not paired up yet david been altering loft be another week or two left it a bit late

im a bit pushed for space stuart, i havnt put my other loft up yet.........thats why im only hoping for about 20 ybs this year, im thinking of just racing the old birds out, and whatever gets lost means more room for the ybs.

will you be ready for the old bird season ?

cawdy wrote:

yea know what you mean ian there always more than one way to skin a cat. but it dosent mean than some ways aren't better than others

as i said this will be our first year trying darkness and its taken me months and allot of work to convince my granddad and uncle to give it a go. so im trying to make every thing run as smooth as possible.

you wont be disapointed wait until you see them after moult they are like old birds

if you dont fly darkness you,ll be left behind the naturals cant live with them
sean

cawdy wrote:

yea know what you mean ian there always more than one way to skin a cat. but it dosent mean than some ways aren't better than others

as i said this will be our first year trying darkness and its taken me months and allot of work to convince my granddad and uncle to give it a go. so im trying to make every thing run as smooth as possible.

hi cawdy, ive tried dark for the last 2 years......the first year i seperated the cocks and hens and the second year i left them together, for me they raced better kept in the same loft as some were pairing up or showing signs of pairing up........i dont think i would race ybs natural in the future as ive noticed the difference between members birds who use dark and use natural, and the people who do the winning are on he dark 9 times out of 10.

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WITH DARKNESS IS TO GET THE VENTILATION RIGHT THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO DO THIS BUT TRY AND BE READY BEFORE THE BIRDS GO IN THE DARK SECTION REMEBER IT DOSENT HAVE TO BE PITCH BLACK THE MAIN THING IS A FLOW OF AIR

birdy2011 wrote:

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WITH DARKNESS IS TO GET THE VENTILATION RIGHT THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO DO THIS BUT TRY AND BE READY BEFORE THE BIRDS GO IN THE DARK SECTION REMEBER IT DOSENT HAVE TO BE PITCH BLACK THE MAIN THING IS A FLOW OF AIR

spot on G if ventalation not right no end of trouble y/b sickness ect sean

seanl wrote:

birdy2011 wrote:

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WITH DARKNESS IS TO GET THE VENTILATION RIGHT THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO DO THIS BUT TRY AND BE READY BEFORE THE BIRDS GO IN THE DARK SECTION REMEBER IT DOSENT HAVE TO BE PITCH BLACK THE MAIN THING IS A FLOW OF AIR

spot on G if ventalation not right no end of trouble y/b sickness ect sean

Spot on 100%

i should be david only got 12 pair going to try dark system with youngsters thanks to info from members[