Chapter VIII. 



o< DISEASES OF PIGEONS. >> 

 General Remarks. 



HE choicest kinds of fancy pigeons are sub- 

 ject to many diseases, no doubt arising 

 in many instances from hereditary causes. 

 Where a large stock is kept, the pens set 

 apart for sick birds will seldom be al- 

 together untenanted, for whether much doctoring be practised 

 on them or not, ailing pigeons will have more chance of 

 recovery when put in hospital than when left among the 

 healthy birds, who often treat them very roughly. The 

 eye of the experienced fancier soon detects a pigeon that 

 is out of sorts ; a disinclination for food or for the bath, 

 a peculiarity in its flight or walk, and many other signs, 

 may proclaim something wrong. As delay can only com- 

 plicate matters, success in the treatment of a sick bird may 

 often be attained by doing what may be done quickly. For 

 my own part, I may say that I never had much success in 

 treating pigeons with medicines, that I have found their 

 action very uncertain, and that about the same number of 

 sick ones recover, in certain illnesses, whether drugged or 



