CHAPTER IV 



FEEDING 



Special Altpntion to Feeding" — Grains Eaten by Pigeons — Feeding- 

 Qualities of the Various Grains — Adx-iee to tlie Beginner to Buy 

 Manut'aeturefl Feeds — Names of Treading Brands of Pigeon Feeds. 

 — Anal.\-sis of Feedstuffs — Tabl.> Sliowing ( '<.niiiosit ion of Feed- 

 stutts — Three Feed Formulae with Description Showing He.w they 

 Are Worked Out — (^hanging Fals to Nitrogen Free lOxtracts — 

 Health Grits — Health Grit Formula. 



Pigeons, ill confiiioiiicnt, leciiiiro special attention as regards 

 tlieir lei'd. In tiieir wild state tlie>- selci-t and eonsiiine a great 

 variety of grain. Tliey are not i-ariiivoroiis or tlesli eating 

 l.iirds liiit li\'e only li>' eating grain and green foods. Therefore, 

 we must i)r(i\ide tliein witli tliis same variety of grain when 

 we eoiitinc^ them. Main novices in hreeding pigeons have 

 failed solely liecanse they did not know the necessity of properly 

 feeding their hirds. One thin.g to lie rememhered aliovc all 

 others is that pigeons, like ])onltry, mnst lie given a h.:ilaneed 

 ration lor without this tli(>y will onh live and cannot prodnce 

 lilnmp S(piahs nor man> of ihein hecanse they are not receiving 

 that which goes toward making eggs, etc. 



Tlie grains vised in feeding pigeons trre whole corn, Canada 

 peas, cow peas, mixed field peas, wheat, rice, millet, kalir corn, 

 hemp, buckwheat, sunflower seed, peanuts, milo maize, fetcrila., 

 etc. However, none of these grains should he fed hy itself 

 for any lengtli of time for that grain, no matter wliich one we 

 may select, it will not contain the correct amount of the coit- 

 stitnents which go toward making a balanced ration and there- 

 fore is by itself not a balanced ration. Moreover, as stated 

 before, pigeons need a variety of grain. These are the two 



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