CHAPTER VII. 



INCREASE OF FLOCK. 



It is Possible to Breed One Pair of Squabs Each Month, but 

 in Actual Practice this is Seldom Attained — The Squab 

 Raiser with Pure Thoroughbred Homers should Count on 

 Six to Nine Pairs of Squabs a Year — The Common Pigeon 

 Breeds Only Four or Five Pairs of Squabs a Year, but 

 Eats as Much or More than the Homer — Differences 

 between the Homer and the Common Pigeon — Good Homers 

 Scarce and the Market for them Firm and Steady. 



It is theoretically possible for a pair of pigeons to breed 

 twelve pairs of squabs a year, for it takes only seventeen 

 days for the eggs to hatch, and the hen goes to laying again 

 when the hatch is only two weeks old. So, if you start with 

 twelve pairs of Homer pigeons, and they should breed one 

 pair of squabs a month, at the end of the first month you 

 would have twenty-four squabs; at the end of the second 

 month, forty-eight squabs; at the end of the third month, 

 seventy-two squabs; at the end of the fourth month, ninety- 

 six squabs; at the end of the fifth month, one hundred and 

 twenty squabs. Now the first lot of squabs which your birds 

 hatched will be ready to mate and lay eggs, so at the end of 

 the sixth month you should have one hundred and sixty- 

 eight squabs; at the end of the seventh month, two hundred 

 and forty squabs; at the end of the eighth month, three 

 hundred and thirty-six squabs; at the end of the ninth 

 month, four hundred and fifty-six squabs; at the end of the 

 tenth month, six hundred squabs; at the end of the eleventh 

 month, seven hundred and sixty-eight squabs, and at the end 

 of the twelfth month, nine hundred and sixty squabs. Such 

 figures are purely theoretical and are seldom attained in actual 

 practice. You will have some pairs in your flock which 

 will raise ten and eleven pairs of squabs a year, but the 

 average will be seven to nine pairs of squabs a year. If you 

 get less, your flock is not pure thoroughbred Homers, or your 

 feeding and nesting arrangements are wrong. In our visit 

 to squab breeders in 1902, we asked every one with whom 



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