OBIENTAL FRILL PIGEONS. 



breeding point of view and a health point of view, 

 especially with the hens. If you get your hens 

 too fat, you get egg-bound trouble in the early 

 spring, and, I think, from the same cause a good 

 many of their eggs, although fertile right up to 

 the chipping stage, fail to hatch out. You can 

 afford to be rather more generous with the cocks 

 in the matter of food, but even with them I would 

 warn my young friends against overfeeding. 

 Judicious feeding comes by experience. My 

 advice is — leave off when you think they would 

 like a little more. 



An important matter to look for, especially 

 when feeding on the floor, is for any bird that is 

 not picking up properly. Some short-beaked 

 Pigeons are apt to starve themselves, if not 

 watched carefully . See that all are getting their 

 proper quantity of food. Oriental Frills are no 

 exception. I like feeding my birds broadcast 

 on the floor, but if I find a bird that dodges his 

 corn, so to speak, and makes three or four 

 attempts to pick a grain up, I either put corn in a 

 feeding trough or use a hopper. The only ob- 

 jection I have to feeding from hoppers is that 

 some birds are apt to gorge themselves, which, 

 of course, is not good for them. 



DRESSING THE BIRDS' BEAKS. 



Another important matter, hardly necessary 

 to mention, is that clean water vessels and 



72 



