130 AMERICAN SQUAB CULTURE 



FEEDING WEAK OR SICK PIGEONS 



As a rule when a pigeon gets so sick or weak tliat it will not 

 oat the regular feed piovided for well hii'ds there is not much 

 use trying to do anything for it unless one lias })lenty of time 

 or has a special l)ird he wants to save. Young l)irds just after 

 the parent hird lias stopi)ed feeding tliem are the most likely 

 to need special feed, or females that. have been driven too hard 

 by the male bird. If either is cared for in time all that is nec- 

 essary is to put them in a pen by themselves or with other such 

 birds and see that they get plenty of good rich feed including 

 a little liemp, plenty of peas and such grain as millet, buck- 

 wheat, lentils, vetch, etc. Any of these grains will be eaten by 

 sick birds when they will not eat the more common grains. 



These grains are generally more expensive than regular feed 

 so they must be fed sparingly. 



If a bird is so sick or weak that it will not eat, then feed 

 nnist be forced down its throat. (See article on "Feeding S((uabs 

 by Hand.") A bird that is so far gone that it will not eat of its 

 own accord, esi)ecially when it is given special grain, is as a rule 

 past doing anything with. 



In such cases a mixtui-e of t^\() i)arts wheat bran and three 

 parts corn meal with al)out a spoonfvd of ground red pepper to 

 a cup of bran and meal is about the best thing to give them. 

 This mixture should be made wet enough with water to make 

 it easy to force down the bird's throat or it can be given in 

 capsules. This is an especially good way to give most any kind 

 of medicine or feed to sick birds. Cotton seed meal or i)eanut 

 meal is a good thing to mix with bran and corn meal. About 

 one part to five parts of bran and corn meal. 



Small cubes of toasted bi-ead is also excellent feed for sick 

 birds. 



FEEDING SQUABS BY HAND 



Motherless scjuabs can often 1)(> successfully raised by hand if 

 one has patience and will take the time to do so. If you have 

 never fed a squab by hand, you will find the work very tedious 

 at the start, but a little practice will enable you to show a, marked 

 improvement, 



