37. Mating

a. General. Pigeons will keep the same mate for life unless forcibly separated. The desire to mate is a natural instinct. Since pigeons are monogamous their mating can be controlled for breeding purposes. If left to their own inclinations, pigeons will mate between the ages of 4 and 9 months. Mating for breeding purposes, however, should not be permitted until pigeons are at least 9 months of age.

b. Purpose. The aim in mating is to produce youngsters which are equal, if not superior, in ability, to either of the parents. Such youngsters are obtained by selecting breeder stock with pedigree, performance, physical qualities, and temperament which will probably produce youngsters of the required type.

38. Sex

a. Sex of the pigeon is difficult to determine without experience; however, some external characteristics help recognition. Under ordinary circumstances the cock usually has—

(1) Broader skull.

(2) Larger head.

(3) Larger bill and wattle.

(4) Stronger neck.

(5) Broader shoulders.

(6) Closer vent bones.

(7) Larger legs and feet.

b. In some cases, where the physical characteristics of the male and female are similar, it is often necessary to observe their actions when together to determine sex. Some of the common actions of the cock are:

(1) Chasing hen when cooing.

(2) Scraping of the tail when cooing.

(3) Pecking the head of the hen when she shows no desire to mate.

(4) Cock’s coo is deep and full, while hen’s is sharp.

39. Selection of Stock

a. General. Stock for breeding at a loft should be selected with the advice of the pigeon expert in charge of breeding. The pigeoneer who desires to become an expert in the art of breeding pigeons is encouraged to study additional literature on this subject. The pedigree for at least two generations is used to determine probable qualities of future youngsters since it shows family, strain, and kind of flying in which the birds excel, as well as the performance of other youngsters produced by the same parent.

b. Physical qualities. Pigeons selected for breeding should be in good health and as nearly perfect physically as possible. A pigeon which has had a serious injury, or has been very ill, is unsuitable. The following physical qualities are desirable:

(1) Feathers. Feathers should be of good quality. Flights, which are most important, should be heavy and wide, and should overlap when the wing is extended, showing no gaps. Birds with very thin flight should not be bred. Body feathers should be soft and plentiful. Those on neck and chest should be glossy and iridescent.

(2) Eye. The eye is complex and is of great importance. It should never be of a sunken or extended nature, but should completely fill the orbit (bone cavity containing the eye) and be surrounded by a fine white textured cere. The eye should be clear and bright; its color is of no importance. The eye may be best examined with a magnifying glass.

(a) The pupil is approximately one-third the size of the eye. It dilates and contracts according to intensity of light and distance of object being focused. The pupil should be black and brilliant.

(b) A thin visible muscle (often called the scouting sight) should completely encircle the pupil. This muscle dilates and contracts the pupil. A portion of the muscle may be of a darker shade and located either at the front or lower front of the pupil. This muscle should be prominent in at least one of the birds selected for breeding to produce a higher percentage of dependable birds. If pigeons which do not possess this muscle, or which have only a small portion of it visible, are to be used for breeding purposes, they should be mated to pigeons having a muscle which is more prominent even though it may not completely surround the pupil.

(c) The iris determines the color of the eye. It should be well blended and possess the brilliance denoting life and observance. Pigeons possessing faded or weak eyes are not desirable for breeding purposes.

Splashed birds often possess a “bull eye” which has an iris of a solid, dark purplish-brown color. When this color appears only on a part of the iris, the bird has a splashed eye. It is hard to detect the muscle surrounding the pupil when the “bull eye” is present.

The color of the iris may be maroon, ruby-red, rose, pink, walnut, chestnut-brown, orange, yellow-orange, carrot, violet, grayish white, or pearl. When the iris consists of one color only, it will be considered a “full eye.” Two colors may occasionally be present in the iris, such as red and yellow, orange and yellow, and so forth. The two colors should be well blended in any case. “Full eyes” and “two-colored eyes” are both satisfactory for breeding purposes. Mated birds should have irises of similar shades.

The outer part of the iris is normally darkest; the color diminishes toward the center of the eye. This coloring is more pronounced when the birds are in top condition.

(d) The thin line circumscribing the iris should be extremely dark and very distinct.

(e) The remainder of the eyeball should be dark and well covered by the cere. The bird is said to have an “open eye” when the portion of the eyeball which should be covered by the cere is visible. Birds with open eyes are undesirable for breeding.

(f) The upper and lower lids are a part of the eye cere. A third lid which is a transparent membrane frees the eye from foreign material. The blinking of the third lid can scarcely be detected when the pigeons are in perfect health.

(3) Size and temperament. Medium-sized pigeons are most desirable and birds should be mated to attain this uniform size. Birds being mated to breed stock for pigeon communication should be calm and easy going, not high-strung. Nervous or excitable birds should never be mated.

40. Line Breeding

The aim of breeding from pigeons of the same or closely related parentage is to reproduce the qualities of the old birds in their young, amplifying the good qualities and minimizing the bad. Line breeding requires the services of an experienced pigeoneer. Only champions which are physically perfect should be mated. Except for line breeding, inbreeding should not be practiced.

41. Nests

a. Bowl PG-75 is an expendable item made of pressed wood pulp and is used as a nesting place for pigeons. It is advisable to replace the bowls occasionally to avoid vermin. Cocks display a keen desire to use the same nest compartment each time they are mated or, if moved to a different loft, the nest compartment in the same relative position as the one occupied previously. If not permitted to do this, the cock will fight the occupant of the compartment. Therefore, consult previous breeding records carefully in assigning nest compartments. Hens do not show this trait, but accept a change in compartments and follow their mates.

b. Keep a supply of tobacco stems for nest material in a rack on the floor of the loft. Allow the pigeons to arrange this material to suit their fancy. Put a handful of sawdust or wood shavings in the nest bowl to prevent breaking of eggs.

42. Control of Breeding

The method of control given below is simple, natural, and successful; it requires minimum handling of the birds.

a. Time. Since best youngsters are obtained when birds are mated during February, March, and April, whenever possible, arrange all breeding for the year during these months. Eggs which should not be hatched should be replaced with EGG PG-50 (glass).

b. Mating. To begin breeding, place each pair to be mated in its nest, and confine for approximately 1 day. Open one of the nests and allow the pair to leave and return at will. The pair may be considered mated after it returns to the nest several times. Close the nest compartment and proceed in the same manner with the next pair, and so on until each pair is mated.

c. After mating. To minimize the danger of birds entering the wrong nest and fighting, open only alternate nest compartments for the first few days after mating.

d. Following season. Any pair producing outstanding youngsters should be mated the same way each year. Mated pairs producing unsatisfactory youngsters should be separated and each pigeon remated. Destroy breeder pigeons which produce unsatisfactory youngsters subsequently.

43. Laying

The first egg is usually laid during late afternoon from 7 to 10 days after nesting has been started. The second egg is laid approximately 44 hours later. As a rule, parent birds do not hover the first egg until the second egg has been laid. This usually enables the youngsters to hatch within 1 hour of each other, and gives each one an equal chance. The youngster from the first egg will be much larger than the other if the parent birds start to hover at the time the first egg is laid. Fertility is indicated if the egg becomes a light bluish color after 10 days, or if it shows blood lines after 5 days when held up to the sun’s rays. Do not destroy the first pair of eggs as it is generally believed that they often produce the best youngsters of that year.

44. Hatching and Feeding

a. The incubation period is from 17 to 18 days long. The hen pigeon usually sits from 1600 of one day to 1000 the following morning; the male pigeon sits the remainder of that day.

b. The young pigeons are fed by both parents. Their first feed is a thick, creamy-white excretion produced in the crop of both female and male (pigeon milk or pap). Pigeons are the only birds both sexes of which produce milk for their young. The young pigeon places it’s bill down the throat of either parent, and the parent in return forces the food into the young one’s throat. This method of feeding is known as “regurgitation.”

45. Identification

The identification record of the pigeon is started when the hen lays the egg. Until the time that the youngster leaves the nest compartment, this record is kept on a breeding card (par. 27). For identification purposes, each pigeon is banded when approximately 8 days of age (par. 28).

46. Culling

It is necessary to cull (destroy) severely to keep the stock in a loft up to standard. Cull birds which do not meet physical requirements for breeding unless all birds are needed. In addition, destroy those which show a definite lack of intelligence, or which do not perform up to the average. About 30 percent of the young bred in any one season are normally under the physical standard and should be culled to keep the stock from degenerating. In addition to losses sustained through culling, 20 to 30 percent of the remaining stock may be expected to be lost during training flights, as result of disease and injury, or through additional culling because of substandard performance.