MAKING A MARKET--PREPARING SQUABS FOR MARKET
We make one of the sub-heads of this chapter, "Making a Market,"
although the market for squabs is already established, and the demand
for them in the larger cities is constantly increasing.
Notwithstanding this, the enterprising squab-breeder will make his own
market and get better prices than he can get if he sends his squabs to
the larger cities.
In the beginning he may be obliged to ship to the cities, but he can
build up a home trade among those who like to have the best the market
affords and by degrees his home demand will grow until he will find a
ready sale nearby and will be saved freight and commission charges as
well as the cost and trouble of packing and icing for the longer
shipments.
We know of numerous cases where squab-breeders have built up a home
demand which takes all the squabs and brings them high prices the year
around.
Very often the enterprising beginner will turn his attention to raising
squabs to sell to others for breeding purposes, and finds this very
profitable, although a good market for squabs is about the same as a
good demand for breeding stock. Other squab breeders arrange to sell
their young stock to those who do breed pigeons to sell as breeding
stock and thus have a regular and constant demand for their young birds.
All these ways of disposing of the increase of the loft are open to the
beginner, but the food market is the one that should be cultivated. We
know of a case where a beginner started in with a view of selling
breeding stock only, as he thought he was not so located that he would
have any demand for his squabs in the handiest market, a small interior
city, where squabs had never been put on sale.
After he got started he found that he could sell a few pairs of squabs
to one or two restaurants and the best hotel in the town. He began
supplying orders from these places and others began to call on him for
squabs for special occasions, such as local banquets, receptions and
other social functions.
He started with fifty pairs of breeders. He selected his best squabs to
keep for the purpose of increasing his flock and sold the others in his
nearest market.
At the end of a year he had saved another fifty pairs for breeding and
found he had sold squabs enough to pay for a new house and all of the
feed he had bought during this time.
Then he concluded to begin advertising squabs for sale as breeders. He
received quite a number of orders, but the demand for squabs for the
market became so strong that he gave up the breeding part of the
business and began to sell in the market only. At last so many were sold
in the town that a prominent provision firm came to him and made him a
flat offer of $4.00 a dozen for all the squabs he would raise. He
refused this offer, as he was getting more than this for a good many of
his squabs and did not think he could afford to make a binding contract
on a market where the price was increasing all the time. This same
breeder now has a thousand pairs of breeding pigeons and hires a man to
take care of them, while he attends to his own business, and makes about
$1,000.00 clear money from his pigeons every year.
Another way to build up a private trade is to introduce nicely dressed
squabs among the wealthiest families of a town. This can be done by
presenting them with two or three pairs, nicely put up in a box, and
asking them to try them. One breeder who started out in this way now
sells all his squabs at $1.00 a pair. He dresses them neatly, puts a
pair in a nice white box with a colored bit of "baby ribbon." He has a
demand for all he can get at $1 a pair, although he lives near a large
city where the price is often lower than this.
The enterprising squab breeder will be able to find a market for the
product of his loft, no matter where he lives. The express companies
carry squabs at the regular dressed-poultry rates, and in many places
there are fast freight lines which take butter and eggs to distant
markets in the shortest possible time.
The Parcel Post now brings a large field of customers right to your
door, for dressed squabs may be sent many miles for a few cents and the
package will be promptly delivered in good order to your customer. This
new branch of the Postal service opens up greater possibilities for the
squab producer and the live breeder who first takes advantage of this
service will reap the rewards.
Squabs properly packed may be sent 1,000 miles to market and yet be
profitable, but there is hardly a place in this country where a good
market can not be found within 200 or 300 miles, and even a thousand
miles is not a long distance for an express train.
The trouble will not be so much where to find a market as how to produce
squabs enough, once the breeder has been in the business long enough to
make a name for himself.
If any breeder sends squabs of good size and color and keeps up the
quality regularly, it will not be long before there will be a call for
his particular brand of squabs, and after that it will be a question of
meeting the demand, for this will grow all the time.
DRESSING AND PACKING SQUABS
Squabs are usually ready to send to the market when four weeks old. Some
well-fed ones, or those bred from the best parents, will come to market
condition a few days earlier and some a few days later. As a rule, it
will be about four weeks from the time they are hatched until they are
ready to send to market.
They should be dressed just about the time they are ready to leave the
nest, for they are heavier and fatter at that time than they ever will
be again.
They should be dressed at the time all the pin feathers are out. They
then have a solid feeling about the abdomen and the breast is plump and
full. It is very easy to learn the exact time that squabs should be sent
to market, and anyone can learn it at once.
Go over the nests in the evening and select the squabs which are to be
dressed the next day. These should be put in a coop by themselves, where
they can not get anything to eat, so their crops will be empty when they
are dressed. If they are sent to market with full crops, the contents of
the crop will sour and ferment and spoil the squabs for food purposes in
a short time. When dressed with the crops empty and properly iced in
warm weather, they will remain fresh until they can be sold in the
market.
A "killing rack" should be made before dressing begins. This consists of
a frame not quite shoulder high, a 2x4 scantling making a good
cross-piece for the top. In the side of this cross-piece drive ten-penny
nails about six inches apart, leaving half the length of the nail
protruding.
[Illustration: Fig. 11. Showing the Arrangement of a Small Plant on a
Back Lot.]
Make a loop of stout cord, looping it over both feet of the squab, and
by this string hang it on one of the nails. Then cross the wings over
the back in such a way that they are locked. This prevents fluttering
and is painless. To lock the wings, turn the pigeon with the back to you
and cross the hands. Then take a wing in each hand and pass one under
the other in such a position that the "elbows" lock together.
With the small blade of a pen-knife in the right hand take the head of
the squab in the left hand in such a way that the thumb and forefinger
may be used to hold the mouth open. If held in the right way, the
shoulders of the birds will be in the palm of the hand.
Run the blade of the knife up through the top of the mouth into the
brain and immediately pass to another squab, letting the one just killed
bleed, as it is necessary for the bird to be free from blood to prevent
red spots from appearing along its back after it has been killed a few
hours. These red spots are called "blisters" and injure the selling
qualities of a squab which shows them.
After the birds are thoroughly bled, carefully pick the feathers from
them, being careful not to tear the skin in any place, as this also
lowers the value in the market.
The English method of killing is rapidly gaining in favor in this
country and is superior in many ways to the use of the knife. By this
method the operator grasps the bird firmly in the left hand with the
thumb and fingers about the neck and the breast and wing, butts held
securely in the hand. The bird's head is caught in the right hand with
the thumb over and at the back of the head and the first and second
fingers at the throat. Then with a firm pull, the neck is dislocated and
the jugular vein is ruptured so the bird is killed instantly and
thoroughly bled, all of the blood however remaining inside the skin of
the neck.
A little practice will enable anyone to learn this method and it is much
faster, neater and cleaner than the old method.
When a squab is plucked clean, throw it into a tub of water from a
spring or well from thirty minutes to an hour. Then it should be thrown
into a tub of ice-cold water to further cool and solidify the flesh, for
all the animal heat must be chilled out before a squab is packed or it
will not keep well, arriving in the market soft and unattractive in
appearance.
Be very careful to have the second chilling water almost cold enough to
freeze the birds. In cold weather they soon cool out in water which has
been exposed to the air, but at any time in the year first cool them in
well or spring water of normal temperature.
After the squabs are picked and cooled, pack them in ice in barrels or
boxes. We prefer rather small boxes, say about the size of soap-boxes,
but many thousand pairs are sent to market in clean barrels. Empty apple
barrels or cracker barrels may be used.
In the bottom of the packet put a good layer of cracked ice. A good many
times the ice is not cracked as small as it should be. It should be
broken into pieces about the size of a hickory nut, so the pieces will
work down through the space between the birds. After the bottom is
covered with ice, put in a layer of squabs, pack down and so the
carcasses are closely packed but not squeezed together. Over these put
another layer of ice and again a layer of birds until within two or
three inches of the top. Fill the remaining space with cracked ice and
fasten the package.
Be liberal about using ice, for it is necessary that the birds should be
kept cool and the express companies make allowance for the weight of the
ice in weighing squabs packed this way.
If any grain has been found in the crop of a squab as it is being
dressed, it should be removed. Cut a very small slit in the breast over
the crop and wash out the grain. A small hose with light pressure from a
tank or water system is very handy for this purpose.
Before packing the birds, carefully wash all the blood from them and
wash the feet and legs until they are bright and red.
If there is a shade of difference in the quality of squabs, select the
best for the top of the package and take pains that the top layer is
very carefully laid in so that it will look nice when the package is
opened.
If there happens to be a number of dark-fleshed or rather light-weight
squabs in a killing, these should be packed by themselves and sent on in
anticipation of receiving a low price for them. Nothing is gained by
putting some poor squabs among a number of good ones, for they will
reduce the price of the whole package. If fine ones are put by
themselves and marked "Firsts" and the poorer ones sent without any
particular mark the prices obtained for the whole shipment will be
larger than it would have been if good and poor had been packed
together.
It is best to kill on a certain day in the week, the day depending on
the distance to market. In South Jersey they kill on Monday or Tuesday
and send the squabs to New York and usually get a check for them by
Saturday. Some kill Thursday in order to catch the Saturday markets, but
as a rule it is best to reach the market Friday morning, so as to give
the commission merchant two days in which to sell the birds. Often an
early shipment gets the best price.
At the same time the squabs are sent to market, mail a letter to the
commission man, advising him of the number of birds you sent to him and
by what express company or freight line. Give him any particulars which
may help him to make a good sale, if you think of anything that might
interest him.
In the eastern market squabs are graded by weight and quality. They are
called 10-pound, 9-pound, 8-pound, 7-pound and 6-1/2 pound, and the prices
range accordingly. When 10-pound squabs are worth $6.00 a dozen, those
weighing 6-1/2 pounds will sell for from $1.50 to $2.75 a dozen, according
to the state of the market, the high-priced ones always selling first,
unless a buyer has a special reason for securing a lot of light-weights.
When breeding straight Homers, one can reasonably expect 80 or 90 per
cent which will run 8 pounds or over to the dozen. About two-thirds of
the remainder will run close to 8 pounds to the dozen and one-third will
be classed among the lowest quality.
When 10-pound squabs are selling for $6 a dozen, a lot weighing more
than 10 pounds to the dozen will bring a premium of from 50 cents a
dozen up; but as a rule the most profitable squabs are the 8- and
10-pounders.
In picking squabs, some leave them hanging where they are killed, while
others take them in the hand. The weight of practice is in favor of
holding them in the hand.
NUMBERS OF SQUABS TO THE PAIR
Some enthusiastic or dishonest sellers of breeding pigeons talk about
their birds producing nine or ten pairs of squabs each year. There are
occasional pairs of very select birds which will do this, but they
cannot be bought at any reasonable price. No pair of birds will raise
two squabs every time they hatch, for accidents will happen, and one
squab or both, in some brooding periods, will die. Occasionally an egg
will be broken, and once in a while an egg will prove infertile. These
accidents, which happen in the best cared-for lofts, come to every
pigeon-breeder.
If a large loft of pigeons average six pairs of pigeons a year, it will
do as much as can be expected of it. More will fall below that than run
above it, because there are more careless pigeon-breeders than careful
ones.
Say, for the sake of a basis from which to arrange, that a loft of a
good strain of Homers, properly housed and fed, will produce an average
of six pairs of squabs each year. As pigeons breed ten months in the
year, this average should be easily made. This would be an even dozen
squabs for each pair of pigeons in the loft. These we will put at the
very low price of $3 a dozen, a price they will bring in a country town
of any size, and we have $3 as the gross returns from a pair of fair
breeding Homers.
Deducting from this the highest estimated prices for the feed of a pair
of pigeons, we have $1.75 left. This will be the returns from which the
pigeon-breeder must get his profits. The manure will pay well for the
labor of feeding the birds, so this item is eliminated from the bill of
cost.
It will not cost more than 25 cents per pair to pay for the other labor
of caring for a loft of pigeons where any number above 100 pairs are
kept. The owner of such a loft could do all the work before working
hours in the morning and after hours in the evening so the birds would
not interfere with his regular work.
The cost of ice, the cost of killing and picking the birds, and the cost
of packages may be put at 25 cents a dozen, which is a very liberal
estimate. This leaves $1.25 clear profit, after paying all expenses and
paying the owner for the time he puts in feeding his birds, this work
having been done when he would otherwise have been idle or not earning
money.
Say, it cost $1.00 for each pair of birds kept in a house and the birds
costs $2.50 a pair. The interest on this investment at 6 per cent a year
would be 21 cents, thus leaving $1.04 as absolutely net profit from a
pair of pigeons in a year, after paying all expenses at a liberal rate
and paying good interest on the investment.
There is no other business open to those who have a small capital which
will give such large returns. For every 100 pairs of pigeons kept, it is
perfectly safe to say that a clean and clear profit of $100 may be made.
Where a large number are kept, it is not uncommon for the owner to
realize $1.50 net profit from a pair of Homers.
The one who begins with ten, twenty-five, or fifty pairs of birds will
get proportionate returns from his investment in the way of increased
number in his flock and will soon be in position to consider himself an
extensive pigeon-breeder, because he may expect to have at least four
pairs of first-class breeders from each pair he started with at the
beginning of any year, having kept only the best and sold the poorest of
the squabs. These estimates are very conservative for it is our
intention in this book to give the beginner only the facts on which he
may rely. If he fails to do much better than these figures after some
experience in the business, he may well feel that he is not gaining the
fullest measure of success.
The business is only in its infancy and those who start in now or any
time soon may expect to reap a rich reward in the way of profits.
[Illustration: A Flock of Mammoth White Homers in far off Alaska.]
The illustrations on this page and succeeding pages show the rapid
development of squabs from the egg to the market in four weeks.
[Illustration: Eggs in the Nest.]
[Illustration: Squabs One Day Old.]
You Can Almost See Them Grow
[Illustration: Squabs One Week Old.]
[Illustration: Squabs Two Weeks Old.]
[Illustration: Squabs Three Weeks Old.]
[Illustration: Squabs Four Weeks Old. Just Prime for Market.]