MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION--CATCHING MATED PAIRS
When it is desired to catch mated pairs, take the catching net into the
fly with you. Drive all the pigeons out in the fly and shut them out of
the house. Then take another person with you and go into the fly. Watch
until a cock begins to drive a hen and trap him in the net, while your
helper watches the hen. Take the cock out of the net and hand it to your
helper, who will catch the hen. Then band the two, putting the band on
the right leg of the cock and on the left leg of the hen. If squabs are
banded in the nest, nearly all of them will be found banded correctly if
the band has been put on the right leg of the squab first hatched and on
the left leg of the one hatched later.
STARTING A LOFT
Buy from ten to fifty mated pairs, according to the amount with which
you decide to begin. Keep all the best squabs hatched during the year,
so cross-mating them as not to have nest mates mated up for breeding.
Dispose of all under-sized squabs, and when the birds have grown up sell
all those which prove inferior. In this way you will learn to manage
your loft and get your breeding stock at the lowest possible cost.
THE PRICE OF BREEDING STOCK
It does not pay to start with poor breeding stock. Buy of a reliable
breeder and pay a fair price. No one can afford to sell first-class
breeding stock except in certain seasons at less than $1.50 a pair in
large numbers or less than $2.00 a pair when from ten to twenty-five
pairs are sold in a lot. It is poor economy to buy common pigeons as
squab-breeders at any price and just as bad management to buy cheap
Homers and run the risk of getting old and worn out birds.
BEST WEIGHT FOR SQUABS
Squabs that weigh less than eight pounds to the dozen are not desirable,
as they sell at a price which drops rapidly as they run below eight
pounds to the dozen. It costs just as much to raise a dark-fleshed and
light-weight squab as it does to raise a big plump bird with white
flesh; and a pair of pigeons which produce dark squabs of light weights
should be disposed of. Select all the time for heavy weights in your
squabs and get the top of the market.
LENGTH OF BREEDING PERIOD
Pigeons will breed regularly for seven or eight years, so it is to the
interest of the breeders to keep only the best in his lofts. The good
breeder watches what kind of squabs each pair produces and keeps
selecting the best from time to time until he has a loft full which may
be depended upon.
DON'T OVERCROWD
Don't overcrowd your lofts. It is better to waste a little room than to
have too many birds together. Give each fifty pairs a room eight by ten
feet and a fly at least ten by twenty-four feet.
SQUAB HOMERS
Health and vigor are the foundation on which success must be built. The
well-bred squab Homer carries its head erect, its plumage is smooth and
sleek, and its neck carries the colors of the rain-bow. When it stands
still, it seems on wires and when you go in to your loft in the morning
and look over the flock any bird which does not in turn give you a
looking over is not fit for a breeder. The eye is the index of health of
pigeons. If the eye is dull or the bird sits winking in a listless
manner, there is something wrong about it. Sickly birds shun society and
mope in dark corners. The droppings should be noticed. If the birds are
healthy, there should be a fair proportion of pure white in them, and
they should be rather firm. The squab Homer in health is a beautiful
bird, alive every moment and noticing keenly everything that passes.
INCREASING PRICES
Squabs have constantly increased in price in the larger markets for
several years, and hundreds of new towns have come in with a call for
good squabs. Everyone who begins to raise squabs for the market makes
the demand for them larger. There is no danger of overdoing the business
and it will continue to grow larger as game birds decrease in numbers.
Many restaurants now serve squab when there is an order for quail on
toast, and those who like good things usually go back and want some more
of that same kind of "quail." Good restaurants now keep squabs on hand
and put them on their tables under their proper name, having learned
that it pays to do so.
THE SOUTH JERSEY SQUAB DISTRICT
The great business of raising squabs which is carried on in South Jersey
started with one man and has spread out until almost every one in the
country for miles around Bridgeton keeps pigeons and sells squabs. About
7,000 squabs are sent out of this district every week, equal to 365,000
in a year, and there is never a time but these squabs sell as soon as
they reach the market at prices which make it very profitable to produce
them. Men, women and children raise squabs in this district, nearly
every one of them being sold in New York City.
THE PROFESSION OF SQUAB BREEDING
Only a few years ago the man who spent his time breeding pigeons was
thought to be engaged in a small business. Now it has become a
profession and is followed by all sorts of men as a profitable way of
putting in spare time. The professional man raises squabs as a
diversion, the clerk or shop operative keeps a loft to help out on his
income, young men pay their way through college on the profits of the
squab business, old men who have got beyond the harder work of life make
a good living from squabs; and still the insistent food markets call for
more squabs at better prices. There is no risk in going into the squab
business, if the birds are properly cared for.
REGULARITY
Have a certain time to do all the work and work to the schedule you have
prepared. Clean the house on a certain day in the week, kill the squabs
on the day which best suits your market. Feed as nearly at the same time
every day as possible, for the birds soon learn to know when feeding
time comes, and the squabs even learn to know when to look for the
parents to feed them. Keep everything going like clock work, and the
work will be properly done and the birds thrive better for the regular
habits they learn.
GO QUIETLY
There will always be a number of birds sitting, others will be feeding
the young, and quick motions or loud noises disturb them and cause them
to stop feeding or to leave their nests. Keep the birds tame by going
among them but go quietly.
THE BEST AGE
A pair of pigeons begin to breed at about six months of age, but young
birds are not very profitable as breeders. After they are one year old
they are in full working condition and for the next seven or eight years
may be depended on to produce regularly, if they are the right kind of
stock.
DON'T KILL TOO YOUNG
Do not kill your squabs too young. They should be killed just before
they are ready to leave the nest, but not before their flesh has become
firm and solid. A squab which is killed too young never brings a good
price, as the buyers in the cities know one immediately they have felt
of it, and a few squabs which have been killed too soon decrease the
price of the whole package. Remember that the price paid for squabs in a
given package is made on the basis of all of them being as poor as the
poorest in the package.
MICE IN NESTS
If you find some of your squabs smashed flat in the nests, look out for
mice. These little pests like to nest with a pair of pigeons, and
particularly in cold weather have a fashion of crawling between the
parent bird and the squab. This causes the parent to move about and kill
the young. To kill the mice, take a large cigar box--or any box of about
that size--and cut a small hole in one end. Put under this box a
mouse-trap baited with bits of toasted cheese and on top of the box put
a heavy weight so the pigeons can not get at the trap. Set a few traps
around the feed bin also, and it will not be long until the last mouse
is caught, as they like cheese better than the grain which has brought
them to the pigeon house at first. A good cat kept around the feed room
is often a good investment, but do not forget that a cat likes squabs
very much and must be carefully kept outside the breeding lofts.
FEED A VARIETY
In the proper place we have given directions for mixing feed. We refer
to it in this place to emphasize the necessity of feeding a variety of
grains and the mixtures we recommend on previous pages will be found
such as will produce results. Never feed one grain for the reason that
it is cheaper than the other. It does not pay to economize in this way.
True economy in feeding is to feed the proper kinds and just as much as
the birds will eat without wasting. They always pick out the kind they
like the best first, but they should be compelled to eat the whole of
the feed each time and should be fed just as much as they will clean up
from one feeding to another.
VENTILATION
Most pigeon-breeders keep their houses closed too tight during the
winter. If cloth is used in the windows instead of glass, there will be
good ventilation all the time as the muslin used for the windows allows
the air to get in and keeps it pure inside; but where glass is used, the
fly holes should be left open nearly every night during the winter or
the air will become so impure that it will be likely to breed disease.
Pigeons when they are not breeding, do not mind cold weather, but
breeding birds should have a tight house on account of the squabs. See
to it that the ventilation is attended to.
TESTING PIGEON EGGS
If you want to know whether an egg is going to hatch after the hen has
been sitting for some time look through it, if it is clear it will not
hatch and might as well be thrown away. If it is partly clouded, the egg
will hatch but not for several days. If it is dark all over except at
the large end, the young bird will hatch in three or four days, or it
has died. To find if it is alive, put some water in a pan having it as
warm as the hand can be held in it without burning. Set the pan down and
put the egg in the water, little end down and let it float. If the bird
is alive it will struggle in the egg and cause it to bob around in the
water. Testing eggs is not necessary unless it is noticed that a certain
pair have set for a suspiciously long time.
SELECTING A SITE
In selecting a site for the pigeon house as much care and judgment
should be exercised as in choosing the location of one's own home. An
unhealthy location for man would most likely prove unhealthy for the
birds. A damp place, or one exposed to extremes of heat, cold or wind,
is to be rejected. The spot selected should be well drained, should be
facing the south or east, should be free from obstructions which shut
out the rays of the morning sun and be sheltered either by trees or
buildings from the north and west winds. Such a place, with a shallow
stream of pure running water for drinking and bathing--so essential to
the health of pigeons--will be an ideal site, and will require a minimum
of expense and daily work in caring for the stock. Of course, such sites
can only be obtained in the country.
In no case should a house be built for more than 250 pairs nor more than
50 pairs be kept in each section. It must be so designed as to be well
ventilated and easily kept clean, secure from attacks of mice, rats, and
other animals and not subject to drafts of air.
If feeding hoppers are used they should be of good size and properly
constructed. If you do not provide a liberal supply of mixed grit in a
suitable hopper, you should keep at least a peck of clean sharp sand on
the floor of each pen all the time. Provide salt, charcoal and oyster
shell and keep a clean supply of each before the birds at all times.
It is usually better, however, to procure a good health grit or the
tonic ingredients and mix the grit yourself.
In these receptacles should be kept a generous supply of sifted cracked
corn, Canada peas, wheat, German millet, kaffir corn and hemp. These are
the six principal feeds.
A room 8 by 10 feet will accommodate 50 pairs very comfortably. The fly
should be extended 32 feet if possible.
Pigeons should be fed twice a day--in the summer time at 6:30 a. m., and
4:30 p. m.; in the winter at 7:30 a. m., and 3:00 p. m.
The best kinds of feeds to use are cracked corn, red wheat, kaffir corn,
millet, peas, hemp and rice. In the morning give wheat, cracked corn,
and peas in equal parts; in the afternoon give equal parts of cracked
corn, peas, kaffir corn, and millet. The birds should be fed in the pen
rather than in the fly.
Water the birds every morning before feeding using nothing except fresh
pure water. Always clean out the fountains before filling.
Bathing is very essential to the health of pigeons. In summer they
should have an opportunity to bathe at least every other day. In winter
the bath should be given only on bright, sunny days. It is essential to
clean house every week. After cleaning the nests, put powdered
carbolated lime in all cracks, corners, and damp places. Sprinkle the
floor with lime and sprinkle a bucket of sand evenly over the lime.
[Illustration: Six Mammoth Homer Squabs weighing full six pounds when
dressed for the market.]
INDEX
Page
Banding, 37
Bathing, 22
Best Breeds, 11
Breeding Habits, 26
Breed for Years, 62
Buckwheat, 27
Buying Stock, 11
Canada Peas, 27
Canary Seed, 27
Carneaux, 12
Canker, 54
Catching Mated Pairs, 39-61
Charcoal, 29
Cholera, 55
Cleanliness, 23
Corn, 26
Cost of Feeding, 9-48
Common Pigeons, 15
Cooling the Squabs, 45
Diseases, 53
Disinfecting, 58
Douglas Mixture, 58
Dressing and Packing, 43
Dry Lofts, 22
Duchess, 12
Egg Bound, 56
Feeding, 26-31-64
Feed Troughs, 31
Feed Hoppers, 32
Floors, 23
Fly, How Built, 19
Gentian Tonic, 58
Going Light, 53
Grading for Market, 46-47
Grit, 12
Growth of Squabs, 50-51-52
Hemp Seed, 27
Homers, 11-62
Houses, Cost, 17
Houses, Plans, 24-25
Increasing the Flock, 31
Kaffir Corn, 27
Killing, 45-64
Killing, English Method, 45
Leg Weakness, 57
Lice, 58
Making a Market, 41
Maltese Hens, 12-14
Mated Pairs, 13
Mice, 64
Millet Seed, 27
Mondaines, 12-30
Nappies, 21
Nests, 21-34
Nesting Material, 21
Nesting Material, Crate for, 23
Number of Squabs, 47
Nux Vomica, 59
Over-crowding, 62
Parcel Post, 42
Peanuts, 26
Pox, 56
Prices Increasing, 62
Prices of Breeders, 61
Profits, 61
Profession of Squabbing, 63
Quiet, 63
Record of Breeding, 40
Regularity, 63
Roup, 55
Runts, 12
Salt, 29
Sanitation, 22
Sex, How Determined, 35
Site for Plant, 65
Sound Grain, 26
South Jersey District, 63
Starting a Loft, 61
Sweet Fern Tea, 59
Testing Eggs, 65
Ventilation, 65
Vertigo, 56
Water Fountains, 22
Weight of Squabs, 61
Wheat, 26
Wing Disease, 57
Worms, 57
A. B. MORSE COMPANY, ST. JOSEPH, MICHIGAN