90 AMERICAN SQUAB CULTURE 



bread which they will eell at a bargain. One or two cents a 

 loaf is the usual price this bread is sold for, but often it can be 

 contracted for at a cheaper rate. 



If bread can be secured at about that price it can be fed to an 

 advantage along with the regular feed or grains. Pigeons will 

 not eat bread until they become accustomed to it and then only 

 a limited amount. The best way to feed bread is to slice it up 

 and let the birds pick the i^oft centers out of each slice, then 

 gather up the pieces, put them in a pan of some kind and pour 

 a little water on to soften the crusts. Let the pans of bread 

 remain in the lofts for about an hour and then remove them. 

 Throw away the uneaten bread as it will sour if left standing, 

 especially in warm weather. Care should be taken to give the 

 birds no more than they will eat and in this way avoid wasting 

 the bread. 



At first birds will cat but a vcmv little bread, but the amount 

 can be increah^ed by feeding them when hungry. 



If you cannot secure bread for less than grain costs you per 

 pound it is not worth wnile to fe^'d it. A litth* bread however, 

 is not a bad thing and can be given pigeons occasionally as a 

 change from a regular diet anel in this way prove beneficial 

 even though it costs as much as grain. At any rate, birds should 

 be taught to eat bread and thus prepare for occasions when it 

 might be necessary to feed it to them. 



WHAT PIGEON MILK IS 



Young seiuabs luuler three or four days old receive no grain 

 fi'om their parents. Their food consists of what is known as 

 pigeon milk, a gruel substance which forms in the crops of both 

 the male and female, about 15 or 16 days after they start setting. 

 It takes 17 days for pige^on eggs to hatch and by this time both 

 parents are provided with this so-called pigeon milk with which 

 to feed the squabs. Nature provides this pigeon milk for the 

 reason that very young seiuabs are too elelicate to receive solid 

 food. The male accumulates the gruel or pigeon milk in the 

 crops by the little time he sets on the nest in the middle of each 

 day and the female accimiulates it by a longer daily period of 

 retting. When sepiabs begin to get old enough to receive grain 

 tiie i)arents eat smaller grain before feeding their young, and 

 as the sejuabs grow^ the parent l)ird will eat larger grains. 



