Profitable Squab Breeding Part 8

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 pa.s.ses.

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 gla.s.s, 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 gla.s.s 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 sh.e.l.l 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 princ.i.p.al 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Six Mammoth Homer Squabs weighing full six pounds when dressed for the market.]