Profitable Squab Breeding Part 3

Canary seed is too costly to use as a regular feed, but birds relish a small feed once in a while. In some parts of this country canary seed might be grown very easily and it would find a large sale if enough of it were produced to meet the demand which would soon grow up.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 8. Showing End View of House No. 2.]

OTHER FOOD REQUISITES

Pigeons require, besides the grain they eat, salt, grit, and charcoal.

These should be kept in the lofts constantly, so that the birds can get at them at any time.

GRIT

Pigeons must have grit and plenty of it at all times. Moreover this grit should contain some tonic mixture and other essentials to keep the birds in the best of working order. Many breeders fail to supply their birds with grit of the right sort and for that reason do not get the best results from their birds.

There are many so-called "Health Grits" on the market and many of them with more or less merit but grits are heavy and freight and express charges are high so it is usually best for the breeder to secure clean sharp sand and mix the grit at home. There is great saving in this and at the same time better results are obtained.

SALT

Salt is absolutely necessary to the health of the pigeons. It should never be given them in the form of table salt, because they will eat too much of it. If rock salt can be secured, it is the best form in which to give salt to the pigeons. If this is not procurable, buy a five-pound bag of table salt and wet it. Then put it in the oven and dry it, when it will become almost as hard as the original rock salt. Put a bag in each loft and let the pigeons pick out the salt through the bag.

CHARCOAL

Charcoal keeps the birds in good condition and a cigar box full of charcoal, broken into bits about the size of wheat grains, should constantly be kept before the birds. This crushed charcoal is to be found in poultry supply stores. If none of these are within reach, the pigeon-breeder may make his own charcoal by burning wood to a coal and then extinguishing the fire with water. Corn cobs, charred in this way, make an excellent charcoal for pigeons.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Swiss Mondaine. Very large but usually slow workers.]

HOW TO FEED

It is usually best to feed pigeons by hand. They should be fed twice every day. In summer, feed at 7:30 a. m., and at winter 4:30 p. m. In winter, feed an hour later in the morning and an hour earlier in the evening. Of course, these hours may be varied but the feeding should be done at the same hour every day, morning and evening, as the birds soon become accustomed to the feeding hours and if not fed on time become very restless. Many successful breeders feed their birds in hoppers thereby greatly reducing the labor of feeding. This method is successful unless the birds get to picking out only certain grains and then more or less trouble will be met. It is always necessary to construct hoppers in such form that the birds cannot get into them and foul the grain, but this is a very simple matter as shown by the ill.u.s.tration on next page.

Mixed grains sufficient for several days feeding may be placed in these hoppers and the birds will eat only what they need for each meal.

FEED TROUGHS

Feed troughs should be ten inches wide, six feet long and three inches deep. These are easily made and are much better than any of the automatic hoppers on the market. Where the feed is given in hoppers the birds will eat the kind they like best and waste much of the rest of the feed.

MIXTURES RECOMMENDED

For the morning mix equal parts of wheat, cracked corn and Canada peas.

Give three quarts of this mixture to each fifty pairs of birds. For the evening feed kaffir corn, cracked corn, millet and Canada peas, equal parts. Give three quarts to each fifty pairs of birds.

Every third day, subst.i.tute hemp seed for millet, or feed a little less of the regular ration and throw a handful or two of hemp seed on the floor as recommended above. If broken rice can be bought cheaply a small feed of this may be subst.i.tuted for one of the feeds of hemp seed each week. Peanuts may be subst.i.tuted for Canada peas wherever it will mean a saving in cost.

ALWAYS FEED INDOORS

Never feed pigeons out of doors, as any feed left over is likely to be damaged by the weather; and in bad weather they must be fed indoors, so it is best to feed them indoors at all times.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 9. Showing Construction of Feeding Hoppers.

Fig. A shows end construction of the double hopper from which the birds may feed at both sides and Fig. B shows construction of the single hopper. The style ill.u.s.trated may be made in a few minutes from an old box and will hold about four bushels of grain. This method of feeding saves a great amount of time and labor.]

ECONOMICAL FEEDING

The pigeon breeder should always feed his birds, so that he will know it is properly done. If at any time any of the grain from a previous feed is left in the troughs, the ration should be reduced a little. If the troughs are emptied in a way that shows the birds have not plenty to eat, add a little to the quant.i.ty given them.

Pigeons which are feeding squabs require more feed than those not working, as they must eat enough for the squabs and for themselves also.

Squabs are fed by the parents in a most peculiar way. The old birds, male and female, eat the grain and drink water freely. This is partially digested until it is formed into a milky liquid ma.s.s. Then the squab puts its beak inside that of the parent bird and the parent by a peculiar jerking motion of the head and neck "pumps" this liquid food into the crop of the young bird. This feed is called "pigeon's milk" and is very nutritious, young squabs growing more rapidly than any other kind of young birds.

BREEDING HABITS

The breeding habits of pigeons are peculiar. When a male has selected the female he desires for his mate, there follows a course of true love-making in which the male struts around his favorite, coos to her and evidently tries to show her what a grand bird he is. The female, if attracted by her wooer, becomes friendly with him and the two "bill"

each other very much as if they were exchanging kisses.

The two then select a nesting place and build a nest therein and the c.o.c.k bird becomes very anxious for the hen to begin laying. If she does not promptly attend to her duties, he will drive her about the loft, talking angrily to her and striking her with his wings.

Finally the hen takes to her nest and deposits an egg. Then she misses a day and deposits a second egg, this usually being all that are laid at one time.

As soon as the first egg is laid, brooding begins. The hen occupies the nest from about four in the afternoon until ten the next forenoon. The c.o.c.k then sits while his mate eats and rests. In this order the brooding goes on and at the end of about seventeen days the first laid egg hatches, and in due course the last one hatches if no accidents have happened to it.

In this way it happens that one of the young birds is two days older than the other and almost invariably the first hatched is a male, the latter one being a female.

The old birds now begin to feed the young, and they grow marvelously.

They are kept stuffed full of "pigeon milk" and on this they seem to grow while one watches them.

In a few days the hen is ready to lay again, and if there is a spare nest box the pair makes another nest and the hen lays two eggs, after which the couple are kept very busy brooding one pair of eggs and at the same time feeding a pair of rapidly growing squabs.

When the squabs are about four weeks old they are heavier than they ever will be again in their lives, as they have reached full size and are very fat. It is at this time that they are taken from the nest and sent to the market.

If not taken from the nest about this time, the old birds, desiring to start with another pair of eggs, turn the squabs out and they fall on the floor of the loft so fat they can hardly get about. Here they become lean while learning to eat for themselves, and soon become sleek and trim, instead of being unwieldy with fat.

This doubling up with families shows the necessity of providing at least two nest boxes for each pair of pigeons in a loft. It is even better to have more than two nests for each pair, as this gives them some liberty of choice and often saves quarreling between two couples.

As pigeons mate for life, it is very important that only mated and married pairs are kept together. If an odd c.o.c.k or an odd hen is left in a loft, there are family troubles without end; and the quarrels which arise from this cause result in broken eggs and squabs killed in the fights.

It sometimes happens that a pair will not produce young. This is usually because the hen is barren. In such a case the hen should be disposed of and a new mate for the c.o.c.k furnished. It is best to shut the two in a box with a wire part.i.tion between the two until they become acquainted with each other, after which they will usually mate, although they do not invariably do so.

DETERMINING THE s.e.x.

It is very difficult to determine the s.e.x of pigeons without watching them at work in the fly. Various breeders have methods by which they are sometimes able to distinguish the male from the female but at best, these methods are only a guess and the only safe way is to place the birds in a mating coop or in a fly with others and watch them carefully.