THE UNIT HOUSE 39 



apart. The finished nest will be eleven inches from front to 

 back, ten inches from top to bottom, and about ten inches 

 from one partition to the other (or whatever distance the 

 proper distribution of your nests in pairs permits) . 



We have found five-eighths-inch boxing to be the best 

 suited. Build the nest boxes up from floor to roof perfectly 

 plain, just as the pigeon-holes of a desk run.- 



The nest boxes should be perfectly plain, made of simple 

 boxing in the manner described. Do not build up a piece of 

 boxing at the front part of the nest to prevent the nest bowl 

 from being pushed out. Early in our experience we built 

 nests in this way, but soon changed them over to the simpler 

 form, on account of the difficulty of keeping them clean. The 

 droppings bank up at the front of such a nest box. 



Pigeons, especially a new flock in a new home, breed best 

 in a house which is somewhat dark, and not too glaring with 

 light. If your window is situated so. as to let in a flood of 

 light, you will get better and quicker results by shading it so 

 that the interior will be dim. Some breeders advocate that 

 the nest boxes have fronts of wood (removable) so that the 

 nest box will be darkened. The same result will be accom- 

 plished if the window of the house is shaded so as to temper 

 the light and prevent it from streaming into the nest boxes. 



The dimensions of this unit squab house are as follows: 

 Length, sixteen feet; width, twelve feet; length of flying pen 

 from end of house to end of yard, twenty feet; distance from 

 floor of squab house to ridgepole, twelve feet; two windows 

 in south wall of squab house, each two feet two inches wide 

 and three feet ten inches high. One window in north wall of 

 Squab house, fwo feet two inches wide and three feet ten 

 inches high. There is a passageway on the north side of the 

 squab house three feet wide, separating the north wall from 

 the vertical row of nest boxes. The door of the squab house 

 opens into this passageway so that you can enter the house 

 without being seen by the birds, and without disturbing them. 



If you wish, you can set up rows of nest boxes on the 

 east and west walls of the squab house and accommodate more 

 pairs. You cannot have a passageway behind these nest 

 boxes on the east and west walls, but will approach them 

 from the front by entering the interior of the squab house 

 through a wire door which leads from the passageway. 



