WHAT IS MEANT BY MATED PAIRS
When we say mated pairs, we do not mean simply an equal number of birds of each sex. We mean pairs which have mated and married and are ready to go to work and rear squabs without further waiting after they have been received. Pigeons mate in pairs and remain constant to each other for life, as a rule. Matings are some times broken by the birds themselves especially when some accident has befallen the young in the nest, or when the birds are being disturbed by rats or mice, or when cooped and shipped with a number of other birds in small shipping coops.
Pure White Maltese Hen Pigeon.
When a pair have gone through the courting stage and have mated ready to build a nest and hatch young, they remain true to each other as long as they live, or as long as they are allowed to remain together. If a mating is broken by death or separation, the birds will mate with other birds. This rule of constancy is rarely broken and may generally be depended upon.
Some pigeon books say that a beginner can do as well with the common pigeons that fly about the streets as with the straight Homers. This statement is absurd on the face of it. The common pigeon has bred indiscriminately and inbred until the squab produced by it is thin, light in weight, skinny and dark fleshed to such a degree that they sell for about $1.50 a dozen in the markets. Most people would willingly pay three times that for the plump, meaty squabs from straight American bred Homers.
The beginner who secures the right kind of stock has made the first long step toward success as a squab-breeder and he should not hesitate to pay the price which good breeding stock is worth, for poor breeding stock means failure and loss in the end.
Your success depends upon the stock you buy. It is much better to buy good stock at a fair price than it is to get poor stock for nothing. No man can tell by looking at a lot of breeding pigeons whether they are good breeders or not. No man can tell whether they will produce squabs with white flesh or dark, squabs that will weigh ten pounds to the dozen or six pounds. No one can even guess at the age of a pair of pigeons and those which are old and worn out look just as nice as those which are only a year old.
The whole future of the beginner depends upon getting stock which is right in every way. Imported birds are usually of all ages and qualities. American-bred birds, if bought of a reputable breeder, may be depended upon to produce a large proportion of heavy, light-fleshed squabs and properly selected and mated pairs will go to work and breed regularly as soon as they have become accustomed to their new home. For these reasons I would not advise the purchase of imported birds except on rare occasions after carefully investigating the stock and the circumstances of their importation.