The Feather's Practical Pigeon Book 



calculations in that direction come to naught, for unless 

 properly and regularly fed the young birds can not live. 



Some varieties are notably poor feeders, such as Car- 

 riers, Pouters, Short-faced Tumblers, Barbs, and some 

 of the other short-billed varieties, and while they may 

 for the first few days do very well, after this they be- 

 come negligent and the young suffer accordingly. Many 

 fanciers, after learning the failings of their breeders, 

 guard against it by providing foster-parents from some 

 of the better feeding varieties, and as soon as the young 

 are hatched transfer them to the nest of the foster-par- 

 ents, having previously arranged that the two pairs shall 

 hatch about the same time. The young of the foster- 

 pair being substituted for those of the fancy pair, 

 enables the poor feeders fo feed off their "soft feed," as 

 it is termed, otherwise they would sicken and perhaps 

 die. At any rate, it would affect them to such an extent 

 as to prevent their laying again for some time, while by 

 feeding off this "soft feed" it keeps the system in a 

 healthy condition and Nature is not interrupted in her 

 actions. 



Sometimes the best-laid schemes, like those of "mice 

 and men," miscarry, and the supposed poor nurses raise 

 their mongrel pair, while the reliable pair neglect their 

 charges, and the hoped-for good results come to noth- 

 ing. But this does not often occur where you know 

 your feeders. But the best of them are erratic, and 

 often by their irregular attentions spoil one's calcula- 

 tions, so that breeding after all becomes a matter of 

 luck. For feeders you can use common pigeons, Ant- 

 werps or Tumblers, in fact any pair that experience tells 

 you attend carefully to their young. I have found that 

 varieties such as Carriers, Pouters, and Barbs, that are 

 notoriously bad nurses when kept in confinement, fre- 



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