THE BEST BREEDS FOR SQUAB RAISING--THE KIND TO BUY
In selecting a breed, the beginner is at once struck by the hundreds of
different varieties, each one with some merit, and each one put forward
by breeders of more or less reputation as the one best variety to be
handled. I believe I have thoroughly tried and tested the merits of all
the leading varieties of squab producing pigeons and right here I wish
to caution the beginner against paying fancy prices for highly
advertised cross-bred stock. There is no advantage to be gained by
crossing the blood lines of two or more varieties for breeding purposes.
This is true in pigeons the same as it is true in every other line of
pure bred stock. The best results will always be obtained by using pure
bred birds and in selecting the variety to stock your plant you must
have in mind the investment which you expect to make and the market on
which you will sell your squabs. In all cities the squabs are graded
according to size and quality and the heavier birds will bring a premium
over those of light weight but in some cases the extra heavy birds bring
such a premium that it is worth while to produce squabs of unusual size,
while in the average market the extra heavy birds bring a little more
than those of good weight but not enough to justify the increased
expense in producing them.
After an experience of twenty years in this business I do not hesitate
to say that for the general market under all conditions, the best paying
investment for the beginner is the straight American bred Homer.
Reputable breeders of this variety will furnish stock of good size and
they are the best workers and best feeders and will stand more abuse and
mistreatment than any of the other varieties I have ever handled.
Squabs from the best American bred Homers usually weigh eight and ten
pounds per dozen with occasional lofts that will produce squabs weighing
as heavy as twelve pounds to the dozen.
Inferior stock that has not been properly fed will produce squabs much
smaller than the above, but at the same time you will find their squabs
weighing six or seven pounds to the dozen. If the squabs are plump and
of good quality, they will bring a fair price.
The Homers are the fastest workers and the best feeders and they will
produce squabs under unfavorable conditions that would discourage all
other varieties. For a second selection for the experienced squab
breeder who has a market for large squabs of extra quality I would
suggest the Giant Carneaux (pronounced Karno). These birds come to us
from France and Belgium and they are a little larger than the Homers,
fast workers and produce squabs of the whitest meat. Breeding stock in
this variety is higher in price and usually costs two or three times as
much as the Homer stock, and bearing in mind the added cost of
foundation stock it would be noted at once that the returns must be
larger from this variety to justify the increased expenditure. The
Carneaux is a bold appearing, beautiful bird and comes in solid red,
solid yellow, and red and white splashed. The latter color being much
preferred by squab breeders.
The Swiss Mondaine is an extra large variety that has met with
considerable favor in this country, and the squabs from this variety
often weigh as heavy as twenty-four or thirty ounces each. These birds
very much resemble the American bred Homer in appearance except, of
course, they are much larger. They are slower workers and the squabs
require about two weeks longer to mature for market. Breeding stock is
usually quite high in price.
Duchess, Runts and Maltese Hens are all large birds and have some merit
but I have not found them as profitable as the Homers or Carneaux
because they are much slower to mature and do not breed as rapidly,
moreover the stock is much higher in price. There are many Runt-Homers,
Runt-Carneaux and other crosses on the market being widely advertised
and boosted as great squab producers, but the infusion of the blood of
any of the larger varieties is bound to make such birds slower workers
and less prolific.
Taking all of these things into consideration and as a result of many
years in the business and after carefully testing the merits of so many
varieties I must insist that the beginner will do the best with straight
American Bred Homers of the right quality, or the Giant Carneaux.
BUYING THE STOCK
Always buy of a reputable breeder whose word may be taken for the
quality of his birds. The reputable breeder sells in the hope of
selling again and sells only such birds as he can recommend and knows
will give satisfaction.
If the reputable breeder says the pair he sells are mated it may be
depended upon that there are an equal number of each sex in a purchase
and that these pairs are already mated and ready to go to work almost as
soon as they are in their new homes.
The beginner must not be impatient if the birds after shipment are a
little slow in going to work, for he must remember that many of these
birds have been taken from their nests and their young and shipped many
miles with indifferent care en-route and some of the matings may have
been more or less broken up. Many beginners fuss too much with their
birds and disturb them until the birds have little chance to settle down
in their new homes and go to work. If you provide clean fresh water and
feed as directed in this book and leave the birds to themselves they
will soon be working.
Some very reputable breeders sell young birds with the understanding
that they are sold just as they come from the nests, the buyer knowing
when he buys these birds that they are not mated and that he must wait
until the birds have arrived at mating age and get ready to mate
themselves.
When birds are bought just as they come from the nests, there are always
more cocks than hens among them, as about nine times in ten when only
one bird is reared in a nest that bird is a cock; but there is nothing
unfair in this sort of sale, as the buyer gets his birds at a lower
price than he would have to pay for mated pairs ready to go to work.
If it should be found when the birds are settled to work in their new
home that some mistake has been made in selecting mated pairs and odd
birds are found in the loft any reputable breeder will furnish birds of
the opposite sex to mate with these odd birds at a reduced price, so the
purchaser will have nothing but mated and working pairs for his money.
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.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: Fig. 2. Showing a Well Arranged Squab Plant of Moderate
Size With Colony Coop for Poultry in the Foreground.]