AGE OF BREEDERS 



567 



are mated, and a list showing the pairs. The purchaser who buys 

 birds thus represented has a right to expect that they have 

 actually been mated, and will prove it by going to work and 

 rearing squabs." 



Production Age. — Pigeons are most productive between the 

 age of two and six years. The larger varieties will breed at the 

 age of eight months, smaller breeds at six months. They are 

 sometimes serviceable as old as ten years, but this is the excep- 

 tion. A good rule is dispose of old breeders at regular intervals. 



Fig. 340. — Runt cross pigeon. 



If one does not wish to buy mated birds, a good plan is to 

 secure young stock, about eight weeks old, and mate them at 

 the proper age. Squabs intended for breeders should be leg- 

 banded before they are old enough to leave the nest, and a rec- 

 ord kept of their breeding. Otherwise it is difficult, and a rriatter 

 of chance, to prevent inbreeding. Later, when the sex is defi- 

 nitely determined, the males are banded on one leg, usually the 



