INCREASING THE FLOCK--SELECTING FUTURE BREEDERS BANDING--MATING
Almost everyone who raises squabs finds that he must constantly increase
the number of breeding pigeons in his lofts in order to keep pace with
the increasing demand for squabs.
The most economical way to increase a flock is to save the best squabs
from the first breeding stock bought; and to do this it is necessary to
select squabs for this purpose as they are hatched, the object being to
improve the quality of the flock by keeping only the best of the squabs.
Where a flock is being increased, it is a good plan to buy some new
stock which has been banded and mate the cocks which have been bought
with home-raised hens and the hens which have been bought with some
home-raised cocks. This saves inbreeding.
Close inbreeding soon runs down the vitality of a flock and should be
avoided. This matter will be taken up further on.
As we have said, the first pigeon to hatch in the nest is almost
invariably a cock and the last one a hen. This rule is so constant that
it may be depended upon.
In selecting squabs for breeding stock, always select those from the
nests of pairs which produce squabs most regularly. Such squabs are more
likely to be good producers themselves.
Select the squabs which grow most rapidly and weigh the most at the time
they are ready for the market. Such squabs are from pairs which are good
feeders and will be most likely to become good feeders themselves.
Be sure to select squabs which have light-colored flesh, as these will
produce squabs like themselves and light flesh brings the highest price
in the market, unless they are sent in too soon.
When we say the light color in flesh of a squab denotes that it will
produce light-fleshed squabs, it is to be understood that this will be
the case if the parents are properly fed according to directions given
in a previous chapter. Pigeons which are kept confined and properly fed
always produce more and better squabs than those allowed to run at
large.
Having selected the squabs which are to be retained for breeding
purposes, band them at once. Open pigeon bands can be bought at about a
cent each. The best plan is to band the cocks right leg and the hens on
the left, using consecutive numbers for each pair.
Thus, 111 might be a cock and 112 hen. In making matings, the owner
would know at once that these two were not to be allowed to mate
together, as they would be brother and sister. If, in any case, nest
mates show inclination to mate together, they should be shut away from
each other, and forced to mate with non-related birds.
A forced mating is made by using a mating pen. This is a cage with two
compartments in it, separated by a wire screen, such as two-inch mesh
poultry netting. Put the cock in one side and the hen with which you
want him to mate in another, and leave them in the pen until they are
acquainted with each other. Then shut them in the same compartment and
usually they will mate up with each other all right.
Squabs which are to be kept for breeding should be taken away from the
older birds as soon as they have learned to eat for themselves. Feed
them well all the time, and at the age of about six months they will
begin to mate and then require regular attention, as they should be kept
under close supervision at this time.
As soon as a male bird is seen "driving" a female, both should be caught
and their bands examined. If they are nest mates they should be
separated as recommended in the beginning of this chapter and forced to
mate with other birds. It will only be necessary to remove the cock
bird, substituting another cock in his place.
If the cock and the hen he is driving are not nest mates, their band
numbers should be recorded in a book kept for this purpose. Such a
record gives the owner an opportunity to keep account of the number of
squabs a given pair produces and to pick squabs for breeding in the
future, knowing what the parents have done.
The record should give the number of the cock and hen and a brief
description of each. The following form is recommended: Cock 111--Red
Check, Hen 222--Blue Bar.
Each pair should have a space in which to keep account with it. After
the number and description may be a ruled space in which to keep account
of the number of squabs the pair produces month after month. If they
regularly produce and raise two squabs of good size and light color,
they are valuable as the parents of breeding stock and should be kept.
If a pair does not produce squabs, the chances are then the hen is
barren and she would be sold for what she will bring in the market and
the cock mated with another bird. If the eggs are infertile, the trouble
is likely with the cock and the matings should be broken and two birds
tried again. If the eggs still are infertile, the cock should be sold in
the market.
Usually there are more cocks than hens in a given lot of squabs and it
is easier to give a hen which lays infertile eggs a new mate and sell
the cock without experimenting further.
Barren hens and impotent cocks are not common in well bred birds, and
very little trouble may be anticipated from such causes.
When one of a pair of squabs dies, the chances are about nine out of ten
that the female of the pair dies. This is because she is two days
younger than her brother and has less chance to get a start. Thus it
happens that every loft produces more cocks than hens, a circumstance
which has led some of the hucksters who sell pigeons as squab-raisers to
send out lots of birds in which there were many more cocks than hens.
This is why we have insisted that the buyer should buy from a reliable
breeder and buy mated pairs.
In a loft containing fifty young cocks and fifty young hens it almost
always happens that the matings are not all made up, as some birds
refuse to mate with certain other ones, and there may be a few birds
which have not mated. In this case the odd birds may be put among other
young birds and so find mates that suit them.
In catching pairs at the time they are being recorded, or when they are
to be sold as breeders, two people should do the work. A catching net,
which is a netted bag the mouth of which is fastened to a hoop with a
long handle, is used. The pigeon breeder soon gets so expert that he can
trap a pigeon in such net without fail and without disturbing the other
birds in the loft.
When a couple of pigeons is found driving, the one who does the catching
traps one of them with the net while his helper keeps watch on the other
one of the pair. The captured pigeon is examined and its band number put
on the record. Then the helper takes the net and catches the one he has
been watching and the band number is taken, always remembering that a
bird with a band on the right leg is a cock and one with a band on the
left is a hen.
If the method here recommended is followed, the pigeon-keeper will be
able to know just what each pair of birds is doing and keep a pedigree
of every bird in his flock by a simple method of bookkeeping as follows:
When the squabs that are to be kept as breeders are being banded the
band numbers of the parent birds should be taken and set down in this
way:
Squab numbers Parent numbers
Cock 111 84-67
Hen 112 84-67
In making this record the number under the head "Parent numbers" is
always set down in the same way, the name of the father first and the
mother next.
It is but very little trouble to keep such records and the value of them
is very great, for the pigeon-keeper can refer to his records at any
time and find how any bird that was hatched in his lofts has been bred.
This enables him to select the best producers and feeders and improve
his stock all the time, selling off its inferior ones and keeping up a
high standard, which will in time give him a reputation for squabs or
breeding stock that will be valuable to him, as he will get higher
prices than he could get for ordinary stock.
On a large plant this method means an endless amount of bookkeeping work
so it has not been attempted. The largest breeders do not bother to band
their birds or keep a record of squab production for each individual
pair but usually have a pen of select breeders that have proven their
worth and from these are raised the new breeders to replenish or
increase the flocks.
When a bird dies out of the working flock it is dissected to determine
the sex and another of the same sex is placed in the fly to mate with
the odd bird. These two soon get together and the fly is once more
filled with mated, contented workers.