Management of a Dove-cote. 
3/i 
regular, nor the meat itself of such good quality as now, large stone dove-cotes were regular 
adjuncts to many country mansions. These were most commonly built in the shape of low 
circular stone towers, the walls being made of considerable thickness, to allow of the nesting- 
places, which were built as recesses in the masonry, opening to the inside. Some of these old- 
fashioned cotes are still to be found in rural districts, the only entrance being at a considerable height 
from the ground, to keep out undesirable intruders, and entered by a ladder when it was desired 
to collect the produce. It was the custom only to clean out the manure once a year, and it seems 
as if the droppings, when thus allowed to collect in a solid form, by their strong ammoniacal odour, 
really repelled vermin, instead of fostering them, as in what is usually called a dirty loft. We 
have noticed the same thing in some fowl-houses, where the droppings had been allowed to 
accumulate until a foot deep, and not an insect was to be seen ; whereas, a more ordinary neglect 
would have bred vermin in swarms. The best time to clean the cote is in the autumn, when the 
birds have ceased to breed. 
With such a cote the management is very simple. It is desirable to fling a few handfuls 
of grain to the birds morning and evening, even where there is ample forage, for the sake of 
attaching them to their home ; and such a procedure will often, in addition, attract home a 
stray cock, who will bring a cross to the strain. No scruple need be felt in retaining all such 
strays, since wherever there are neighbouring pigeons there will be some little of such transfers, 
and one will balance the other ; but should a “ marked ” bird turn up, showing it to be a “ Homer,” 
or otherwise valued, effort will of course be made to discover the owner. Care must also be 
taken that the pairs of birds are somewhat less than half the number of nesting-places, since 
each pair requires two, and any quarrelling will diminish the produce most seriously ; in a large 
cote a hundred pairs of birds will be ample for three hundred holes. On no account must odd 
cocks be allowed, as such would do immense mischief ; but a few odd hens are useful, in case of 
deaths, and meantime will in most cases either pair up quietly, or bring home a cock from some 
other cote. Supposing all this seen to at commencement of the breeding season, all that is 
needed will be to take and kill the produce regularly, so as to keep it down. To assist in doing 
this easily, large cotes used to be furnished with a revolving ladder-frame, attached to an axle 
turning in the centre of the tower on iron pivots set in stone ; the ladder forming the outer 
side of the frame, and being close to the circular wall, could be turned to any part of the circum- 
ference by the hands working in the nest-holes, the attendant thus going round the whole, and 
filling his bag, without dismounting. 
In thus catching for the larder, any unusually large and fine bird should be left, thus reserving 
the very strongest of the stock ; and then at the close of the breeding season, when the whole is 
gone over, the oldest or most infirm, or any which show signs of illness or weakness, should be 
killed to make room for them. Pigeons are good eating up to six months old, after which they 
usually become more or less tough ; some may, therefore, be kept on through the winter to 
supply the larder, but in that case should be marked, or it will be difficult to distinguish them 
from the old birds ; and it is not well to keep the earliest-bred ones, or, later in the season, they 
are apt to mate, and make trouble. Almost the whole care of the cote, in fact, consists in 
attention to such trifling matters of detail as this, in order to keep the breeding stock at work 
through the season quietly and undisturbed. In that case, each pair will produce from seven to 
ten pairs of young in a year, whereas, if odd cocks or precocious young ones be allowed to make 
mischief, the produce may probably be diminished one-half. In no case, however, should a greater 
number of birds be kept than is found necessary, and year by year the stock should be carefully 
selected, and brought back to the determined quantity. 
