98 AMERICAN SQUAB CULTURE 



Remember that plenty of good fresh water is one of the nec- 

 essary things in pigeon raising, and a little time spent in ar- 

 ranging a watering and bathing system will save hours of 

 time in the long run and assure better success. 



BATHING 



Pigeons of all kinds require a bath once or twice a week. In 

 extremely cold weather they will not bathe except on bright 

 and sunshine days. In spring and fall they should have a bath 

 once a week and during the hottest weather twice or three times 

 a week, depending on the condition of the weather. Pigeons 

 like to bathe on dry, sunny days so they can dry their feathers 

 easily. 



Some people say that pigeons bathe every day, but upon 

 investigation they will find that the same bird will not bathe 

 every day, but some birds will bathe one day and others another, 

 and it might seem, therefore, that the majority of the birds in 

 a pen would bathe every day, but such is not the case. To 

 supply a daily bath is not necessary. 



Bathing water should not stand before the birds very long 

 after they bathe in it for it will become too foul to drink, and as 

 birds like to drink out in the fly pen or wherever they happen 

 to be, they will drink the foul water which is apt to make 

 them sick. Warm water is also not good for the birds to drink 

 in hot weather, as it is likely to cause sour craw. Warm water 

 in the winter time, however, is good for them. Bath water 

 should be provided regularly once or twice a week according 

 to the season of the year. Between 12 and 2 o'clock are good 

 hours for bathing, provided the sun shines. It is never advisable 

 to supply pigeons with a bath late in the day as they will not 

 have time to dry their feathers before night and are apt to catch 

 cold if they go to roost with wet feathers. 



Bathing Troughs 



I have found that the average squab raiser loses considerable 

 time carrying water and arranging for baths for birds. The 

 most common plan is to have a bath pan 12 to 16 inches across 

 and four or five inches deep which they set inside of the fly 

 pen and carry water by hand to fill. The pan is invariably not 



