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:

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.