1905.] Rearing of Pigeons for Market. 



277 



size which they ultimately attain depend both on the breed 

 and on the feeding, and provided the conditions are favour- 

 able they grow with surprising rapidity. If one squab is 

 hatched out a day or two before the other the difference in size 

 can be plainly seen, and the older bird keeps in advance of the 

 younger until they are nearly fledged. When newly hatched 

 it takes about twenty squabs to weigh a pound, but at fourteen 

 days, old twenty will weigh ten pounds, and at three weeks old 

 the young birds will weigh a pound and a half per pair. They 



Pair of Silver Dun Homer Squabs (two weeks old). 



continue to grow at this rate until they are four weeks old, when 

 they weigh from two and a quarter to two and a half pounds per 

 pair, and they are then ready for killing. If there is only one 

 squab in the nest the growth is much more rapid, and it ulti- 

 mately attains a larger size than if there were two. 



Breeding Lofts for Pigeons. — Squab-raising does not require 

 a great deal of time and labour when the houses and their 

 fittings are methodically arranged, with a view to saving labour 

 and avoiding the need for constant attention. The most suitable 

 house is a loft divided so as to accommodate about thirty pairs of 



