MANAGEMENT OF PIGEONS 261 



Ventilation and cleanliness. The ventilation of a pigeon 

 house is managed in the same way as that of a poultry house, 

 by adjusting the openings in the front. Most kinds of pigeons are 

 very rugged and, when fully feathered, can stand a great deal 

 of cold. When a house is open in winter, some of the young, 

 unfledged squabs may be chilled and die from exposure, but 

 breeders agree that, on the whole, it is better to keep the win- 

 dows or other openings for ventilation partly open at all times. 

 While this causes some loss of the weaker squabs, it keeps the 

 old birds in much better condition than when the house is 

 tightly closed. 



To keep the loft 

 looking clean and 

 neat the droppings 

 should be removed 

 from the floor, and 

 from all shelves that 



Can be cleaned with- FlG> 2I2> Constant water supply for pigeons 



out disturbing breed- 

 ing birds, at least once a week. Many pigec^ keepers clean the 

 houses oftener than that, but if the ventilati ^s good and the 

 droppings are dry and firm, a house may e uncleaned for 

 weeks or months without detriment to the birds. It is cus- 

 tomary to keep the floor of the pigeon loft thinly covered with 

 fine gravel, coarse sand, sawdust, or chaff. To prevent the' wind 

 from the pigeons' wings from blowing this from the middle to 

 the sides of the floor, a small box is placed in the middle of 

 the floor. Whenever it is possible, the bath pan is placed out- 

 doors, because in taking a bath pigeons splash the water a great 

 deal, and if they are given the bath indoors, they will make a 

 nasty mess of the house floor unless it is perfectly clean. The 

 bath need not be given oftener than once or twice a week. In 

 bad weather it is better to let them go without a bath than to 

 have them take one and get chilled before their feathers dry. 



