CHAPTER VI. 



Daily Routine of Management 



The following description of the care which pigeons 

 need daily is such as we have practiced day after day 

 for several years. The first thing in the morning, the 

 water fountains, construct^ of glazed earthenware, 

 holding 2 gallons each, are collected and taken to the 

 hydrant. Each one is thoroughly cleaned with a 

 small brush to enter the mouth and scrubbed inside 

 as far as possible. They are then shaken, rinsed 

 out and placed on a bench until all are finished. 

 They are filled with a hose, as seen in Fig. i8. One 

 fountain is placed in each pen. During cold weather, 

 watering in the morning is a sufficient daily supply, 

 but when warmer days come and especially during the 

 . hot season, we carry water to the pens at noon and re- 

 plenish the fountains. 



Details about feeding. — After the fountains are all 

 placed the feed is given. This is mixed by filling a 

 grocer's tin scoop, having a capacity of three pints, 

 with each kind of grain in turn, and emptying each 

 scoop ful in a tin pail holding about i6 quarts. After 

 unlocking the door of the first house we pass along 

 the alley to the extreme end. Two scoopfuls of the 

 mixture are placed in the trough in each pen. Each of 

 the five pens is thus fed on the ration. This method 

 of feeding does not disturb the birds, as would be 

 the case if the opposite order was observed. In coming 

 back from the end of the alley, if we began feeding as 

 we entered, many of the birds would fly away from the 

 feed trough and miss the opportunity of getting their 



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