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.”