PAIRING AND SITTING 



lOI 



sprig or two of chickwced or young dandelion 

 leaves, and have given our birds a taste 

 all round, and next day find some of the 

 hens carrying the bare stalks and roots 

 about the cage. It seems to have infused 

 fresh life into the whole room and into the 

 fancier also. The weather continues open, 

 and another stroll is taken to gather fresh 

 moss, and unless the fancier knows the 

 folly of giving way to this unexpected 

 early snap of fine weather, he gets as 

 restless as the birds, and must be doing 

 something : he cannot help it. The smell 

 of newly-turned earth in a ploughed 

 field through which he has to pass only 

 aggravates the complaint, while the early 

 spring song of the Thrush or Blackbird tells 

 us that "the time of the singing of birds is 

 come, and the voice of the turtle is heard 

 in our land." But one Swallow never 

 made a sunmier, and several fine days do 

 not make spring. The return of inclement 

 weather produces a reaction in ourselves 

 and in the birds too, and we feel glad that 

 we proceeded no further than a general 

 furbishing-up of cages and examination of 

 materiel. " More haste, less speed," should 

 be written over every bird-room door. 

 We have known breeders lose half their 

 hens by disregarding this precept ; deaths 

 from inflammation of the egg-passage, 

 and consequent " egg-binding," being the 

 penalty for rousing the birds into action 

 before the dreary days of winter were 

 fairly past. Our rule is never to put our 

 birds up till they can see to feed at six 

 o'clock in the morning. Thej' retire to 

 roost early in the day, and during the 

 early part of the season the long nights 

 should be made no longer than necessary. 

 From six till six is a long fast, even sup- 

 posing the young ones go to sleep on 

 full crops. The policy of waiting till the 

 spring is fairly advanced will, therefore, 

 be obvious. A safe rule, and one based 

 on common sense and long experience, is 

 to wait at least until the middle of ^larch — 

 even if the weather is open — in southern 

 and south - western districts, and until 

 the beginning of April in the midland and 

 northern districts. 



Where a number of birds have been 



living together through the winter, hens 



in one cage and cocks in 



Preparing another, thev should be 

 the Birds. 



looked over early in the 



spring, and those intended for breeding 

 purposes set apart and kept as quiet and 

 free from excitement as possible. They 

 should be fed on nothing but plain diet, 

 such as canary-seed with a little German 

 rape added two or three times a week, 

 and a small piece of sweet apple, or cold 

 boiled carrot, on the intervening days. 

 Later on, of course, other green foods 

 may be given. The cocks will gradually 

 be growing " fresh," and will require to 

 be caged off into separate compartments, 

 though when they have been kept together 

 in flights for a lengthened period they 

 will remain good friends till one or more 

 of them begin to come into high condition 

 and full song, when the troublesome ones, 

 at least, must be taken out, or constant 

 skirmishes will ensue. But we will assume 

 that things have gone on in an orderly 

 fashion, and that no jealousies have sprung 

 up, and the breeder finds himself landed 

 into ]\Iarch with a nice stock of healthy 

 birds. We should advise him at once to 

 put a match to his gas-stove, or put his 

 hot-water apparatus into action, for, at 

 the loest, ^larch is but a blustering month, 

 and April is not to be relied upon. East 

 winds continue to harass us. and winter 

 does not depart without a struggle. With 

 the quarters thus made comfortable the 

 birds will soon show a desire to pair. 



]\Iany fanciers at this time make a grave 



mistake by feeding their hens ujj too 



freely with egg-food and 



"^Z^*"?^"* neglecting the cocks. Because 

 of CocKs. ^ . , . 



the cocks are m song then- 

 owners are under the impression that they 

 do not require any feeding up, the con- 

 sequence of which is that unfertile eggs 

 follow the mating. Our experience shows 

 that as a rule hens are in breeding 

 condition before the cocks. The cocks, 

 however, should not be overdone with 

 egg-food. A safe rule to follow is to 

 allow them half a teaspoonful twice 



