SELECTING BREEDERS.
Selecting squabs for breeding purposes must be done with great care and
understanding. If the right kind of birds are not selected your flock
will gradually deteriorate. With careful selection, although slow, you
will constantly be adding profitable breeders to your stock. This is,
of course, if you start with P. V. Breeders, so as to have the nucleus
of a good flock to start with. Remember, good breeders will breed
plump, white squabs at a fast rate, while poor breeders will grow
small, dark squabs that have not the vitality to ever be first-class
breeders. Even with P. V. breeders you must use care in selecting the
young, and it is wise when starting with a few of our breeders to sell
your squabs for a time and buy more of our breeders until your flock is
large enough to have a good selection to choose from.
The months when squabs should be saved for breeders are, February,
March, April and May. The birds are in the best of condition then and
the squabs will be strong and vigorous. June and July squabs are good,
but are more expensive to raise, as they are at mating age in
September, October and November, when they are subject to moult and are
difficult to mate at this time. I do not recommend saving squabs during
the other months, as I have found from experience that they will breed
well for two or three years, and then, there is a falling off in squabs
and a heavy death rate among the hens.
[Illustration: Figure 6. THE HOME OF P. V. BREEDERS]
When ready to select your squabs for breeders, get some light pigeon
bands. We use a celluloid coil band that wraps around the leg and stays
in position without fastening. By using a different color band every
month, we know at a glance the age of the youngster. Always take your
squabs in pairs and unless there are two good healthy squabs in the
nest do not take them. They do not have to be of unusual size, but they
should both be well fed and weigh eight, nine or ten pounds to the
dozen if dressed. Band one bird on the right leg and the other on the
left and put back in the nest again. This banding is merely to keep
from inbreeding and marking so as not to kill, and has nothing to do
with their being males or females. It is impossible to tell with
certainly the sex of a pigeon without noting its actions. With squabs
it is still harder, and although after becoming experienced, it is
possible to make accurate guesses, one is apt to make a mistake even
with old birds.
The squabs banded should be left with the parent birds till they are
eight weeks' old. Then remove to separate pens. The birds banded on the
right leg should go in one pen and the youngsters banded on the left
leg in a separate pen. This will prevent nest mates going together and
avoid inbreeding.
The feeding and care for these birds should be the same as for old
breeders, except that they should not have large American Corn and only
five per cent. peas. The grit should have a little olive oil mixed with
it once a week. The birds will thrive satisfactorily for about one
month in their new quarters and then care has to be taken to see that
they do not get out in rainy weather, as they undergo a moult and are
very subject to cold. This moulting time lasts for about three weeks,
and when they get past this stage you will see signs of the birds
mating. Do not be in any hurry to mate them, as their first eggs are
usually bad and they sometimes will break their matings when taken out
too young.
The safest way to mate young pigeons is to catch the birds sitting on
eggs. Color band the hen on the left leg, who usually sits in the
morning till around 11 o'clock. The corresponding band should be
fastened somewhere on the nest, and when you see the mate sitting on
the eggs, in the afternoon, you must catch him, and band on the right
leg. Catching pigeons is usually done with a landing net or crab net
with a short handle. The birds should always be caught from behind, if
flying, so as not to injure them. After you have caught the pair, they
should be removed to a separate pen so that they can start to breed
without interference. If the eggs are good that they were sitting on,
they can be placed under other birds that have eggs of about the same
age, and sometimes are raised satisfactorily. Do not make the mistake
of just leaving all your youngsters alone and trusting they will form
even pairs, for if you do, there are sure to be odd cocks that will
interfere seriously with their breeding.
Night mating with a flash light is the quickest method, but requires a
dark night and considerable skill to always pick out the mated pairs.
Mated pairs will often sit together on the front of their nest at night
or the hen on the eggs or squabs and the cock on the front. These birds
can be readily caught but great care must be exercised lest the other
birds fly off their nests and spoil their eggs.
Driving pairs, that is, when one bird continually chases another around
pecking at it, are usually mated but not always, so be careful to watch
them closely if you select mated pairs this way.
As a closing remark I would say, I have found raising squabs is one of
the pleasantest, most interesting, and profitable ways of employing
spare time, and whether you are a man or woman, if you apply this
motto, you can succeed in the squab industry.
Good Breeders, Good Feed, and Good Care,
Then You Will Get
Good Squabs, Good Prices, and Good Profits,
Namely, SUCCESS.