NATIONAL CITY, CALIFORNIA 41 



Pigeons 



SELECTING BREEDERS 



Good breeding stock is one of the prime essentials of success in squab 

 raising. Many failures in squab raising have been due to poor stock, be- 

 cause the prospective producer secured old pigeons past their period of 

 usefulness, or a surplus of male birds. Both the age and the sex of pigeons 

 are hard to determine by casual observation, which forces the buyer to 

 depend largely on the seller's word. 



There is a great difference in the value of pigeons as squab producers, 

 even when of the same variety, making it advisable to select the birds in- 

 dividually for their prolificacy and vitality, for the quality and size of their 

 squabs, and their ability properly to feed and rear offspring. Dark-colored 

 skins, legs, o*r beak indicate poor quality of flesh and should be avoided by 

 selecting birds for breeding which have white or pinkish-white skin and 

 light-colored legs. 



Pigeons are 'most valuable as squab producers when from two to six 

 years of age, altho many will breed until they are about eight years old. 

 The small varieties mate and breed at five to six months, and the larger 

 ones at eight to nine months. It is advisable either to buy mated pigeons 

 which are from two to three years old or to secure young birds six to 

 eight weeks old and mate them at the proper age. Squabs which are to 

 be saved for breeding should be banded before they leave the nests and a 

 record kept of their breeding. They are usually removed from the breeding 

 pen after they are able to fly about and get their own feed. A catching 

 net or bag made of large-mesh cotton netting, with the mouth or top 

 about eighteen inches in diameter, is very useful for catching the pigeons. 

 Squabs hatched in April, May and June make good breeders, while their 

 value on the market is comparatively small at that time of the year. 



MATING 



Pigeons usually mate in pairs and remain constant thru life, altho the 

 mating may be changed if desired. The presence of unmated pigeons 

 (especially males) in the pigeon loft is a source of much trouble and 

 usually prevents profitable results, therefore it is very essential that all 

 birds in the breeding pens be mated. Pigeons are usually mated at from 

 five to nine months of age. There are two methods of mating, natural and 

 forced. Males and females are placed in a pen in natural mating and 

 allowed to select their own mates, w r hich is usually indicated by the male 

 billing and driving the female. If properly mated the pair will commence 

 to build their nest and will be found together at night, while unmated birds 

 usually remain alone. Experienced breeders, however, are occasionally de- 

 ceived in selecting sex by the actions of the birds in mating. 



Forced mating may be made, if the sex of the birds is known, by con- 

 fining them to mating coops with a movable wire or open-slat partition 

 between the birds of each pair, so that they can see each other for six to 

 ten days, when they are allowed to go together and are then removed to 

 the breeding pen if they appear to be properly mated. The male is usually 

 placed in the mating pen one day earlier than the female. The female 

 pigeon is usually smaller and less assertive than the male and has a smaller 

 head and neck, altho sex is a very difficult thing to determine in this way. 

 Both natural and forced matings are used extensively with good success. 



The breeders should be selected with a definite object in forced mat- 

 ings, using males strong in points where the females are weak. The same 

 principle should be followed as far as possible in selecting the birds for 

 natural mating. Old pigeons mated with young birds often give good 

 results in breeding, making it advisable sometimes to break up and change 

 a mating as a pair gets old and prolificacy decreases. Some matings pro- 



