74 National Standard Squab Book. 
No. The heat from a flock of pigeons in a well-built house is consider- 
able. You will get more squabs from your pigeons in the winter time if 
you do heat your house slightly, not enough to cause much expense, but 
just enough to take the chill off. Do not let your birds out of the squab 
house on bitter cold days. : 
Question. I live in Texas and I think in this climate your squab house 
would be too warm and stuffy. Answer. You are right. Adapt the con- 
struction to your locality. The poultry houses in Texas as compared to 
those in the North are much less expensive and more open to the air, 
aud your squab house should be built on the same principle. 
Question. Suppose I cool the squabs as you direct and pack them into 
a box for shipment. Shall 1 use ice? Is there any danger that the meat 
will be discolored when they arrive at market? Answer. Ice is not neces- 
sary in the fall, winter and spring. In the summer time you should use 
ice, although if the shipment is for a short distance, ice may not be neces- 
sary. in hot weather the squabs should not be killed until the night 
before shipping. In the cool months you may keep them at home longer. 
{f the squabs are cooled by hanging them from studding as we describe, 
there is no danger that the meat will be discolored. The object of hang- 
ing them from stndding is to cool the carcasses properly so that the meat 
will not be discolored by contact. 
Question. How shall I pack the killed squabs when I send them to 
market? Answer. Lay them into the box layer on layer, in an orderly 
fashion. Do not throw them in helter skelter. 
Question. Can I hang the squabs to cool from studding suspended in 
the barn, in the summer time. Answer. It is better to use the cellar of 
the house, or the coolest roum in the house. 
Question. I do not like your idea of keeping the birds wired in. They 
are free by nature and it strikes me that they should have a chance to 
get exercise by long flights. Answer. You must keep them wired in, or 
they may leave you. Remember that the Homer is attached to the place 
where it is bred, that is the Homer instinct. If you buy birds of us and 
on epening the crate let them fly anywhere they choose, trusting to luck 
1o have them come back to you, you may be disappointed and lose some 
of the birds. You must keep them wired in all the time. 
Question. You say your Homers are fine flyers. What is the use of 
my buying them of you to fly in races or to sell again as flyers, if they 
may desert me when I let them out into the open air? Answer. The 
squabs which you breed from our birds will know no home but yours, and 
they will not fly away from you. You can send them away, when they 
are old enough, and time their flight back to your house, their home. 
When you sell these trained flyers to others, you do not expect that they 
will try to fly them, but that they will use them for breeders. 
Question. How large are the mating coops? Answer. A convenient 
size is (wo feet long, two feet wide and two feet high. 
