The Feather's Practical Pigeon Book 



der and thus surely be out of harm's way. After the 

 house is arranged and your pigeons mated, by confin- 

 ing the pairs in the Httle apartments for a week or so, 

 they will become wonted and be Hkely to stay and live 

 contentedly in their new home. 



A house can be made with quarter pitch roof if one is 

 handy with tools, or a carpenter can be employed to 

 make one that will accommodate six or eight pairs, by 

 making an upper and a lower floor, and dividing each 

 into three or four apartments with entrances apart from 

 each other, that is on each side of the house, and not 

 directly over each other. This can be erected on a pole, 

 and reached when necessary by a ladder. Finished and 

 painted neatly it can be made very ornamental. 



If you have an out-building of any kind, where a 

 commodious room can be arranged, looking to the 

 south, you can arrange more elaborate quarters and be 

 able to enjoy your birds in a greater degree, likewise 

 controlling their actions more directly. This room needs 

 plenty of light, and should be provided with one or two 

 large windows even if you have to place them there 

 yourself. Before arranging the nesting-places, get 

 some old roofing-tin, cut it into strips 2 feet wide, 

 nail this all around the sides where the floor and the 

 walls unite, letting it project 6 or 8 inches over the 

 floor, and the balance up the sides of the walls ; this will 

 render it proof against rats and mice, the bane of pigeon 

 breeders. Cover every weak spot where you think the 

 vermin can get in, with pieces of tin, then give it a 

 thorough coating of whitewash or white paint, as pig- 

 eons are fond of white, and you are ready to place your 

 nesting-boxes and perches. 



First arrange a tier of shelves about 15 inches wide 

 and 12 inches apart; divide these into apartments about 



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