CHAPTER II. 



Important Facts to Know 



There are certain facts essential to the management 

 of pigeons which can easily be learned by anyone be- 

 fore attempting to raise squabs ; if not thus learned 

 failure very frequently follows. These facts are as 

 simple as important; some are so axiomatic it seems 

 foolish to mention them. But because many have 

 started in the business and utterly failed for the lack 

 of just such knowledge, prominence is given them at 

 the very beginning of this work. 



Mating habits of pigeons. — Pigeons are monog- 

 amous, that is, one male and one female constitute a 

 pair, after they have chosen each other as mates. 

 This does not mean that a male and a female placed 

 together will always mate, for it is the custom of 

 pigeons to have a period of love making. When they 

 have mated, they usually remain true to each other 

 during life. This fact further means that if one has 

 50 cocks, and 50 hens, he may not succeed in getting 

 50 mated pairs; for until the birds select each other 

 there can be no mates. Some birds may not mate at 

 all. This simple fact, which has so important a 

 bearing in squab raising, was noted by the philosopher 

 Pliny more than eighteen centuries ago. 



Age of most profitable birds. — Birds under a year 

 old are not profitable. Very precocious ones will 

 sometimes mate when six or even four months old; 

 but such instances are very exceptional. Again, the 

 first two squabs raised by young parents are usually 

 poorly nourished. If they are raised they usually 



