32 



As soon as the first egg is laid, brooding begins. The hen 

 occupies the nest from about 4 in the afternoon until 10 the 

 next forenoon. The cock then sits while his mate eats and 

 rests. In this order the brooding goes on and at the end 

 of about seventeen days the egg first laid hatches, and in 

 due course the last one also hatches, if no accidents have 

 happened to it. 



In this way it happens that one of the young birds is two 

 days older than the other and almost invariably the one 

 first hatched is a male, the latter one being a female. 



The old birds now begin to feed the young, and they grow 

 marvelously. They are kept stuffed full of "pigeons' milk" 

 and on this they seem to grow while one watches them. 



In a few days the hen is ready to lay again, and if there 

 is a spare nest box the pair make another nest and the hen 

 lays two eggs, after which the couple are kept very busy 

 brooding one pair of eggs and at the same time feeding a 

 pair of rapidly growing squabs. 



When the squabs are about four weeks old, they are 

 heavier than they ever will be again in their lives, as they 

 have reached full size and are very fat. It is at this time 

 that they are taken from the nest and sent to market. 



If not taken from the nest about this time, the old birds, 

 desiring to start in with another pair of eggs, turn the squab 

 out and they fall on the floor of the loft so fat they can 

 hardly get about. Here they become lean while learning 

 to eat for themselves, and soon become sleek and trim, in- 

 stead of being unwieldy with fat. 



This doubling up with families shows the necessity of 

 providing at least two nest boxes for each pair of pigeons 



