14 
the record will accurately describe the bird. Then should any bird 
die the record will show its sex and another mate can be substituted, 
or the remaining bird can be taken out and placed in the mating coop 
until again mated. 
If a beginner is in possession of a flock of 50 pairs of selected birds, 
well mated, this record will make easy the matter of increasing his 
flock intelligently. Young birds, from the best breeders only, should 
be selected and banded as directed. At the age of 6 weeks these 
youngsters should be taken out and placed in a separate coop, and in 
this coop none but young stock should be kept. All young birds, 
before being put thus in the separate pen, should have all tail quills 
plucked out, because there is less mortality among birds so treated 
while attaining their growth. 
It is well for a beginner to keep a record of the squabs as produced, 
numbering each nest, and entering in the records the birds working 
in each nest, and the number of squabs produced. Some pairs will 
produce 10 pairs of squabs a year, .while others may yield only 5. 
The record will enable the breeder to save young breeding stock from 
his prolific breeders only. If the bands are numbered consecutively 
and the birds are banded before leaving the nest, the nest mates will 
always have consecutive numbers. It sometimes happens that a nest 
will have only 1 bird in it, in which case the record should indicate 
that fact. A very simple way is to underscore after the record of 
each nest is made, thus: 
478— b. b. cock. 
479— b. b. hen. 
480— b. ch. cock. 
481— r. ch. hen. 
This means that 478 is a blue-barred cock and the only occupant of 
the nest; 479 and 480 are nest mates, the hen being blue-barred, and 
the cock blue-checkered; 481 is a red-checkered hen from another 
nest, and the only occupant of the nest. 
INBREEDING AND CROSSING. 
Care must be taken not to inbreed. Under no circumstances per¬ 
mit 479 and 480 to breed for they are nest mates. If they should 
mate they must be separated until a new mate is chosen by each. 
Numbers 478 and 479, or 478 and 481 can be safely mated. 
When increasing stock, it is a good plan to get a few pairs of mated 
Homers from a different source, as this may afford an excellent means 
of bringing in a different strain of blood. 
Do not buy any cross-bred birds if possible to avoid it, unless you 
know exactly what you are getting. If desirous of increasing the 
flock, when it is impossible to procure straight Homers, the next best 
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