160 POULTRY PRODUCTION 



room. After a pair is mated the cock drives the hen until 

 she deposits her eggs in the nest. A good driver is likely 

 to be a good breeder. 



Two eggs are laid about thirty-six hours apart and usually 

 hatch between sixteen and eighteen days after the last egg 

 is laid. When the eggs are first hatched sex cannot be 

 determined, but if both eggs are hatched and prove to be 

 a pair the cock will usually hatch about twelve hours earlier 

 than the hen. Where two squabs hatch in the same nests 

 of unequal size they should be changed from nest to nest 

 so that the pairs are evened up in size.' If this is not done 

 the earliest hatch or largest bird will crowd the smaller one 

 so that it is likely to die. 



Fig. 74 



Squabs ("squeakers"), twenty-four hours old. 



Pigeons mature at five months, but are said not to breed 

 until the tail feathers are moulted. In order to hasten the 

 breeding it is sometimes customary to pull the tail feathers 

 out at the age between six and nine weeks, at which time 

 they may be placed in the mating-room. 



A young pair will usually not produce more than two 

 pairs of squabs the first year. While unusual, mature pairs 

 sometimes produce as high as twelve pairs in twelve months; 

 the average production probably lies between five ?mdi six 



