NATIONAL CITY, CALIFORNIA 43 



Clear drinking water, grit, broken oyster shell, and charcoal should 

 be kept before the pigeons all the time. Salt is fed to pigeons in various 

 forms, and a supply of this material is generally considered essential. 

 Pigeons not accustomed to eating fine salt are apt to eat too much if 

 given a large quantity at one time, altho fine salt is used with good suc- 

 cess by many careful feeders. Salt may be fed in a lump form, such as 

 rock salt or as fine salt moistened and baked into a hard lump, without 

 danger of the pigeons eating too much. Salt may also be fed mixed with 

 grit, charcoal, and oyster shell. 



MARKETING 



Squabs are fed by their parents until they are marketed, which is 

 usually at from three and one-half to four and one-half weeks of age. They 

 must be sold about this age, as the period during which they are ready for 

 market rarely exceeds one week. Squabs are in good market condition when 

 fully feathered under the wings, which is usually about the time they begin 

 to leave their nests, and if not killed at this time they soon lose their baby 

 fat and their flesh begins to get hard. 



.Catch the squabs to be marketed in the morning before they are fed 

 by their parents, so that their crops will be empty. Squabs are usually 

 killed in the same manner as poultry by cutting the arteries in the back 

 part of the roof of the mouth and piercing the brain, but if sent to market 

 without plucking they are usually killed by wringing or breaking the neck. 

 The latter is done by pressing the thumb against the place where the bones 

 of the neck join the head, until the head is dislocated. In sticking, the 

 squabs are hung by their legs on nails or hooks, with their wings double- 

 locked. After they are stuck the feathers are immediately plucked clean 

 with the exception of the head, and the birds are cooled either by placing 

 them in cold water or by hanging them in a cool place. The crop should 

 be cut open and thoroly cleaned if it contains any feed. 



Squabs should be graded according to size and quality, as dark-colored 

 and small squabs tend to lower the price paid for an entire shipment of 

 mixed squabs. They are usually packed for shipment in a good supply of 

 cracked ice, breasts up, with paraffin paper between each layer of ice and 

 squabs. As the period at which a squab is right for market is not over 

 one week, it is necessary to have a good-sized flock to have over one dozen 

 squabs ready for market at one time. A local market which will take any 

 number of squabs is a great aid to the small producer. Where one has a 

 small flock it usually pays best to build it up until it is large enough to make 

 good-sized shipments of squabs. This, however, requires a constant out- 

 lay without any return for some time. 



The production of squabs from each pair of breeders varies from one 

 or two to as high as ten or eleven pairs a year, but an average of from six 

 to seven pairs is a fair estimate, altho some squab breeders do better than 

 this. Squabs usually sell at the highest prices during cold weather, as 

 pigeons do not breed as freely during the winter as during the spring. 



MANURE 



Dry pigeon manure may be sold to tanneries in some sections at from 

 thirty to fifty cents a bushel, if it is kept free from any foreign matter such 

 as sand and nesting material, but the demand for this purpose appears to 

 be very small. It has considerable value as a fertilizer and should be 

 mixed with dry dirt or some filling material if used for this purpose, as it 

 is quite rich. 



DISEASES AND PARASITES 



The pens and yards where pigeons are confined must be kept clean. 

 There is very little chance of making money from squabs unless the pigeons 

 can be kept comparatively free from diseases and insect parasites. If 

 healthy breeding stock is secured, the houses and yards kept clean, and 



