158 AMERICAN SQUAB CULTURE 



to its nest after you have put the squab in. If they are going 

 to fight the squabs at all, they will do so at once. 



By a little planning and manipulation, extra squabs can be 

 placed around in a loft to an advantage, and so that they will 

 be cared for by the old ones. A three weeks' old squab, for 

 instance, can be doubled up with the larger bird in a two weeks' 

 old nest, and the smaller bird of that nest doubled up with the 

 squabs in a week or ten days' old nest. 



Parent birds will not feed their squabs in any other nest but 

 their own, unless squabs are around four weeks old and then 

 they will feed them if on the floor, or if they are shut up together, 

 but they would not go into a strange nest and feed their own 

 squabs even at that age. 



Eggs that are found on the floor or in a fly pen should be 

 gathered up and put in a nest with other freshly laid eggs, or 

 such eggs can be saved some time before setting, and handled 

 the same as you would hen eggs, by turning them over every 

 day or so. A pigeon will not set in any other place except the 

 nest where they laid their eggs, and only then immediately 

 after the eggs are laid. 



WHEN BOTH SQUABS DIE BEFORE THREE DAYS OLD 



If squabs die in hatching, get trampled to death or die before 

 three days old, it is a good plan to give the old birds a squab 

 from another nest for a day or two in order that they can feed 

 out the pigeon milk that has accumulated in their crops. In 

 doing this it is all right, if necessary, to give them a young one 

 a few days older than the ones they lose, as they will feed the 

 larger bird just the same and even if it is old enough to receive 

 grain, pigeon milk will not hurt it 



The only precaution to take in such a case is to see that the 

 old birds do not fight the strange squab, which they might do 

 if there is too much difference in size. 



If the young die in hatcliing, a young squab can be put in the 

 nest along with an egg or two and the parent birds will accept 

 it as their own. Just before night is the best time to make such 

 transfer and always before the old birds have abandoned the 

 nest, which they will do in a day or so after eggs fail to hatch 

 or almost immediately after squabs die in hatching. 



The transferred or loaned squab should be left in the nest 



