George R.
Guest
May 14, 2004
3:29 PM
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In my short years of breeding and flying our little athletes Ive noticed that most of the birds I bred that had yellow eyes rolled down.I was wondering if its just the strain I have or do most rollers with yellow eyes carry alot of heat (roll).
Thanks George
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Steve S.
Guest
May 17, 2004
10:45 AM
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Hi George,
I have messed with rollers alot of years and I have gotten rolldowns from all different colored eyed birds.
This yellow eye as you call it, is it an off orange?
Most all rollers I am familiar are Orange,Pearl,bull or dark-eyed and some gravel eyed or cracked.
Tell me more about these yellow eyed birds and their back ground. Please.
Steve Sissel
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George
Guest
May 17, 2004
2:06 PM
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Steve I only get a few (3 or less) a year and yes they come from orange eyed birds they seem to be very unstable(rolldowns).
They are bred off of a strain that goes back to Pensom and are highly inbred and linebred.
Thanks George
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MCCORMICKLOFTS
74 posts
May 17, 2004
2:32 PM
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Like Steve, I too get roll downs or overly hot birds with all different eye colors, but more than half of them have what some call a "yellow" eye. The yellow eye as I have noticed is an orange eyed bird that lacks the character depth I usually associate with more stable birds. If you look at an orange eye you will notice that the deeper orange color is actually accummulation of deep red or orange flecks beginning at the outer edge and decreasing in number as they get closer to the pupil. From a visual distance in the hand this gives the appearance of the eye being orange. Kind of like if you mix red and yellow paint together, you get orange. Now, with a bird that lacks this trait, there is less, in some cases, FAR less of the flecking (the racing homer guys have a term for those flecks that I can't recall) which results in the majority of the eye, primarily the half extending towards the pupil to appear plate yellow. The yellow is usually from my experience the base color for the orange eyes, but because of the lack of this character trait, the eye appears to be more yellowish instead of orange. I have read up some on how the racing homer guys interpret eye sign and one thing that seems to be predominant in the positive aspect of what they like to see is eyes with LOTS of character and depth. Almost as if you are looking into a crystal ball filled with all kinds of floating flecks that contribute to the iris coloration. The best birds for performance seem to have this trait his might be why we tend to see more weaker character eyes in our rollers being the over cooked or weaker birds. Just some thoughts to chew on.
Brian.
Last Edited by MCCORMICKLOFTS on May 17, 2004 2:38 PM
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rollerpigeon
Site Moderator
109 posts
May 19, 2004
7:50 AM
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Hello George, good question! I have put up a poll so we can get a "semi-scientific" count of those who have noticed an eye color trend with rolldowns in thier family.
Tony Chavarria
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George Ruiz
Guest
May 19, 2004
8:22 AM
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Thanks Tony
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nicksiders
52 posts
May 20, 2004
7:36 PM
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So, rollers do have kinda of a eye sign? Come on fellas. I have had roll downs with all shades and colors.......I still say there is no eye sign in rollers.
Last Edited by nicksiders on May 20, 2004 7:37 PM
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MCCORMICKLOFTS
76 posts
May 20, 2004
8:27 PM
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Nick, there IS eye sign in rollers, but not for performance like racing homers, but for faults. That is the difference. I too have had rolldowns in all colors of eyes, but there are certain character flaws that can be seen, assuming you know what to look for, that can identify certain birds that might have a weak trait such as being too hot or rolling down. One of the most obvious is an oblong pupil, soft on the bottom edge and offset down from center....guaranteed unstable roller! The difference between a yellow eye and an orange eye is largely the amount of the character flecking in the eye, and usually the lack of character results in a soft bird that will be on the hot side.
Brian.
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Mother Lode Lofts
Guest
May 21, 2004
10:29 AM
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Nick next time you have a rolldown or constant bumper study the eye,the eye can be read,of coarse there are exceptions but rarely in a rolldown,but do "I" cull birds due to the eye or stock due the eye ? no never unless I have two birds that are near equel,then I'll take the bird with the richer eye everytime,color of the eye or feather never plays in unless it's a Rec Red,to many Rec Reds in the loft make many Rec Reds and on a hole tend to run weaker as far as control,I let them either make the grade by flying out hard or let them fail,but the hot ones will generally have an eye that shows a lot of heat
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nicksiders
53 posts
May 23, 2004
11:57 AM
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Now we are back to eye sign and color being indicaters of roll quality................very interesting. It was not too many posts ago that we were all denying color influence and eye signs.
I forgot who posted it, but one of us posted about eye sign something like "take about 5 seconds to look at the eyes and make sure there are two (one on each side of head)"
Now we are talking about color and shape of the eyes being indicators. Now color of feathers has again been raised. Is it recessive red or is it black colors that are too hot? Do dark birds roll better then light?
This topic will be fun. Pigeon breeders are like Rabbis. If you get two of them together you will find that the two of them will have three opinions about any given topic LOL.
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Russ
Guest
May 23, 2004
1:22 PM
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Nick,
I don't believe in the eye sign theory or the color theory as relates to Birmingham Rollers as a whole. But, there are definitely characteristics within certain families of birds that if understood, could be indicators of the quality of the bird at hand. Maybe it is off center pupils or yellow eyes for one family or recessive reds for another family or maybe orange eyed tortoise shells in your family, but if you spend enough time with your birds you should eventually be able to see certain characteristics that will give you a good idea of what you might expect from the bird. In my family of birds I know that the tortoise shells are going to be very frequent and unstable until after the first moult and then they straighten out and many turn out to be outstanding. But that is my family and I wouldn't generalize all torts. as being that way. Get to know your family of birds and remember, any advise from others is based on their birds and might not be applicable to your situation.
Take care,
Russ
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