Birds & Nature Magazine 



31 



Raising Squabs 



By H. B. BLAGKMAN 



ANEW industry in the Middle 

 West is the raising of squabs for 

 market. A few years ago there 

 was but one large squab-raising "plant" in 

 Iowa. The owner guarded the methods 

 carefully and kept all mention of his in- 

 dustry out of the newspapers and maga- 

 zines, apparently hoping to keep others out 

 of the business. Notwithstanding, other 

 large plants have sprung up all over the 

 state of Iowa. Nobody can monopolize a 

 business with so few drawbacks as squab 

 raising. 



Only a few general rules must be ob- 

 served. The breeding pigeons must have 

 nesting houses free from dampness and 

 draughts, and the yards must be safe from 

 cats and poultry-killing animals. They are 

 strictly grain-eating birds, and must be 

 well supplied with sharp grit, and should 

 have access to shallow water, for they are 

 hard drinkers and good bathers. It is not 

 necessary that their building be large or 

 handsome. 



In more thickly settled communities it 

 is advisable to keep them confined within 

 a w^ire enclosure ; for where they are kept 

 in large numbers they are a nuisance to 

 farmers, and would be shot by every wan- 

 dering hunter. Some idea of the amount of 

 grain consumed by the birds is given by 

 the statement that forty bushels are fed 

 every day to 30,000 pigeons on a California 

 pigeon ranch. 



Squabs from these countless thousands of 

 pigeons find ready sale in the Coast cities 

 at good prices. At the age of four wrecks 

 squabs are nearly full-feathered, and as the 

 old birds are still feeding them, are fatter 

 and plumper than they would be two weeks 

 later. Most of the birds are white. Some 

 people imagine that white feathers make 

 white flesh, but such is not the case. The 

 flesh of some dark-feathered birds is as 

 white as that of white birds. 



In the warm climate of California, which 

 is perfectly adapted to squab raising, out- 

 door nests are suitable, but where the mer- 

 cury goes down to twenty degrees below 

 zero and tarries there for three days, in- 

 door nests must be provided in a warm 

 building. These nests should be made in 

 pairs, a six or seven-inch board dividing 

 them, for when one pair of nestlings is 

 about two weeks old, the mother bird will 

 lay two more eggs in the adjoining nest 

 and begin incubating them. The male bird 

 is very devoted, feeding the young and 

 taking his turn on the nest. The change 

 is usually made about ten o'clock in the 

 morning and five o'clock in the afternoon, 

 the male bird sitting during the day. The 

 habits of pigeons are a very interesting 

 study. 



A person engaging in the squab-raising 

 business should have capital enough to en- 

 able him to stand a few losses uncomplain- 

 ingly, for some birds will die with the best 

 of care and precautions. And, again, some 

 commission man may dampen the breeder's 

 ardor by notifying him that his squabs 

 were heated, or too thin, or were not fitted 

 as the market required, but all these diffi- 

 culties can be overcome with patience and 

 experience. 



The Best Canary 



The best singers, among canaries, are 

 found in the strain known as St. Andreas- 

 berg. These are selected, while young, 

 with reference to their vocal abilities, all 

 ordinary birds being rejected. The "chosen 

 few" are given special training by men 

 skilled in this business. Their song, is 

 wonderfully soft and sweet and includes 

 trills, runs, and what are called "water 

 bubble" notes, in great variety. American 

 dealers import them in November. One 

 never tires of these birds, whose song is as 

 superior to that of the ordinary canary as 

 that of the mocking-bird is to the chatter 

 of an English sparrow. 



