THE REALITIES ABOUT POULTRY The Modern Farm - The Realities About Poultry_Seco | Page 21

Pigeons
Pigeons are scavengers (not fed any supplementary feed) in most countries, living on the roofs of
houses and treated as “pets” that do not need to be fed. They appear to prefer homestead
compounds to fields. In some countries, they are eaten only for ritual
itual purposes. They normally lay
two eggs in a clutch, and the young birds (squabs) hatch after
af ter 16 to 17 days. The growing squabs are
fed by their mothers on crop milk, produced in the mother’s crop (first stomach). This enables
young squabs to grow very rapidly. They reach maturity
matur ity in three to five months at a body weight of
200 to 300 g for males, and 150 g for females.
females Adult pigeons are monogamous for life.
Turkeys
These birds are native to Latin America. The breeds kept by rural producers in the trop
tropics usually
have black feathers, as distinct from the white-feathered
white feathered breeds that are raised intensively. Where
there are no geese and ostriches, they are the largest birds in the farming system. Body weight ranges
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