138 AMERICAN SQUAB CULTURE 



right, and proceeds to try and win him a mate by physical 

 power. If he can succeed in wliipping some other male away 

 from his nest, breaking up the family, it is possible for him to 

 secure a mate in that way; l)ut by liis undertaking, he generally 

 onh' succeeds in breaking eggs, killing young squabs and wear- 

 ing out himself and his antjigonist, without getting the female 

 to desert her former mate. 



The female will invariably contribute to the defense of her 

 liome, and try to protect her young ones. It is not desirable, 

 therefore, to have either odd females or odd males in a loft of 

 working birds. It is better to have an even number of males 

 and females, for invariably they will find each other and mate 

 up. The best mating plan is to take an equal number of odd 

 males and females, and shut them up together until they mate, 

 and then turn them in with the regular mated birds. 



As stated previously, a male can be mated with almost any 

 female, regardless of color, size or kind; so if you desire to mate 

 any particular male with any particular female, all that is 

 necessary is to shut them up together for a few days. Of course, 

 they should i)e given food, water and grit duiing that time, and 

 should hav<' a place wliere it would be possible for them to 

 make i' nest. Large space, however, is not necessary. A small 

 COO}) with two ()• three s(p:are feet of floor space is all that is 

 need<Ml. The mating coop should be sufficiently ventilated, yet 

 free fi'oni di'afts, as birds will catch cold c[uicker shut up in a 

 sjiiall place than in an open iooiii. 



Nev/ly mated bi'c's must be left together long enoiigh to be- 

 come well mated before i)utting them in with other birds lest 

 they separate, it they are to be put back where their old mates 

 are, they must ])v kei't away several weeks or they will likely 

 separate and go back to their old mates. 



The statcniejit that any i»igeon will mate with most any other 

 l)igeon does not mean that I sanction or believe in the plan of 

 crossing breeds. On the contraiy, I am very muclj opposed to 

 crossing IhuhmIs, as it is not i)ractical to create new breeds, and 

 mongrels generally inherit the inferior qualities of both parents. 

 Elsewhere in tliis book, will be foinid an article on this sul)ject. 



