CHAPTER XVII. 



Miscellaneous Items 



Bird hospitals. — In the general purpose room we 

 make provision for sick birds or any birds needing 

 special attention. Our hospital has seven cells or 

 divisions. It is made with a slatted front ; i. e., a front 

 composed of slats, with the door sliding up and down. 

 This furnishes comfortable quarters and an easy ar- 

 rangement for treating, all sick birds. 



Cost of feeding. — The price of grains suitable for 

 pigeons and squabs fluctuates according to the chang- 

 ing market conditions. The cost of feeding a pair of 

 birds a year is about $1.04, when food supplies can be 

 bought at the following prices : Wheat, 80 cents per 

 bushel ; sifted cracked corn, $1 per hundred pounds ; 

 Kafir corn, 90 cents per bushel ; millet, 90 cents ; hemp, 

 $1.30; and peas, $1.10 per bushel. 



Utility of barren birds. — We have a hen whose 

 eggs never hatch. She is mated, however. This pair 

 is used as foster parents. They duly accept and 

 take good care of any squabs entrusted to their keep- 

 ing. They reach nearer a record of 12 pairs of squabs 

 a year than any pair we have ever known. 



Transferring squabs. — Sometimes a bird dies thus 

 breaking the mating. Frequently in such cases young 

 squabs are left in the nest. At other times three 

 eggs will be found in a nest, the extra one probably 

 being from a hen other than the regular occupant of 

 the nest. Other nests may contain but one squab. In 

 such cases squabs may be transferred. Care should be 

 taken to have squabs of about the same age in the 



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