MOULTING ON COLOUR-FOOD 



165 



pepper, is supplied by vendors of colour- 

 feeds imder various names, such as " Pure 

 Tasteless Red Pepper," " Royal Red Pep- 

 per," "Sweet Tasteless Red Pepper,"' etc., 

 but the)' are all one and the same thing. 

 Some breeders use the cold red pepper 

 alone with the egg food ; but we have 

 always obtained better I'csults by adding 

 a little " hot Natal " in the proportion 

 advised, and we know hundreds of 

 other breeders of long experience who 

 are of like opinion. This small fillip 

 of hot pepper apjiarently assists to 

 maintain heat in the body, and thus 

 encourages a quick moult 



We are well aware that there are 

 other foods in use as adjuncts to the 

 ordinary ca])sicum, for the Fancy still 

 has its little secrets, which may or 

 may not be of value ; but, thanks to 

 the Fancy Press, lectures before 

 societies, and the many handbooks 

 published, knowledge of essentials is 

 now widely diffused. The thoughtful 

 breeder can still investigate tlie rela- 

 tion between cause and eifect for him- 

 self, and great discoveries have been 

 made by chance ; but earnest research 

 tells in the long run and is a source 

 of pleasure as well. 



The present system of feeding may as 

 yet be only in its infancy ; but the rule is 

 that the brightest and rich- 

 Dangers of est -coloured pepper usuallv 

 Colour=food. jii-oduccs the best results. 

 Rut it must be a genuinely 

 rich-coloured pepper and not a faked one. In 

 the old days, through ignorance, the birds 

 were forced to eat as nuich colour-food 

 as possible ; their seed was removed, and 

 they were only allowed a very little at 

 intervals, and some, indeed, got practic- 

 ally none. This practice was a mistake, 

 and any bad effects from colour feeding 

 then were probably rather owing to the 

 removal of the birds' seed than to the 

 pepper. Even now there are obstinate 

 birds from whom it is necessary to remove 

 the seed for a short time each day until 

 they have had a feed or two of colour-food 

 and become accustomed to it, after wliich 



they will take it quite freely even when 

 seed is present. Such cases will rarely 

 occur if the colour is added to the egg- 

 food in small quantities at first, gradually 

 bringing it u]) to the full strength. To 

 compel birds to consume the colour-food 

 in excess is, we think, unnatural and waste- 

 ful. It hinders the healthy action of the 

 various organs without any gain in colour 

 of plumage, for the surplus passes through 



TASTELESS PEPPER. 



Capsicum Antiuutii Givssrim (Cold), 



the bird's system, and the colour-food is 

 blamed for causing the disorder, whilst in 

 reality it is the foolish system of adminis- 

 tration which is at faidt. 



It does not follow that because the bird 

 is fond of the capsicum, and eats it greedily, 

 that it can live on it, any more than we 

 ourselves could live and thrive ujion mus- 

 tard, horseradish, and pickles, without a 

 reasonable share of beef. We have seen 

 very poor residts obtained from over- 

 feeding, and we have seen most satisfac- 

 tory ones from the use of barely a tithe 

 of the colour-food wasted in the other 

 case. A judicious use of colour-food is 

 becoming more common every day, and 

 we are happy to say that the process is 

 now carried on in a more rational way 

 and with less harmful effects than ever 

 before. 



To iDegia with, we recommend one hard- 



