308 



APPENDIX (? 



HOW A FERTILE EGG LOOKS AFTER SIX DAYS. 

 The nucleus with the veins radiating from it may be 

 clearly seen at this time. The white space at the end 

 of the egg is the air space. Around the egg inside 

 may be seen the white membrane lining. 



HATCH ONLY EGGS OF THE LARGEST 

 BIRDS, by M. C. Martin. Many buyers of 

 limited means who wish to start with six or a 

 dozen pairs of Homers, demand the very 

 choicest*birds to breed their flock from, i.e. 

 they insist that all be the very best or "top." 



As a matter of fact birds are not all the 

 same size and weight. Just like buying 

 apples. You have to take them as they come. 

 They are already " sorted " and the merchant 

 will not pick them for you. So with birds. 



The writer desired to breed up a flock of 

 the very finest Homers and Carneaux and this 

 is how he did it. 



In a dozen pair about half of them will be 

 exceptionally fine and the rest only ordinary. 

 Whenever one of the smaller birds la>'s, you 

 will find that at least one of the largest hens 

 has done the same. Throw away the eggs of 

 the smaller bird and substitute for them the 

 eggs of the larger bird. The smaller pair will 

 hatch out the eggs of the large pair of Homers. 



In about ten days or two weeks the large 

 hen will lay again. Repeat the process three 

 or four times and then let the large hen set and 

 hatch out her own eggs. When she lays 

 again rob her nest and so on as before. 



If you cannot find enough small birds to 

 hatch the large ones continuously, of coiorse 

 do the next best thing. Always make the 

 smaller pairs hatch the eggs of the large ones 

 and never their own. 



In this way you will get almost as many 

 birds in a year from the very largest, as in the 

 natural way you would have raised from lar^e 

 and small both. This would hardly pay m 

 raising squabs for market, but it assuredly 

 pays when increasing your flock of birds. 



The same plan may be used with the Car- 

 neaux or any other high-priced birds. Use 

 the small Homers to do the work of setting 

 for your Carneaux and it is amazing how 

 iT.pidlv the large birds will multiply. 



In changing the eggs from one nest to 



another, vou must be sure that the birds have 

 laid about the same time (not over three days' 

 difference) or the one setting will either have 

 no bird milk in her crop or, if she has set too 

 long, the milk will be so thick the little squab 

 cannot take it. 



This is the only precaution necessary, the 

 birds will do the rest. All eggs look alike 

 to them, but unlike the chicken very few will 

 set longer than nineteen or twenty days. 



Some might object to this method as being 

 cruel and contrary to nature, but a study of 

 the case shows that it is not. A pigeon has a 

 short memory and a very strong nesting in- 

 stinct. Rob the nest one day and the birds 

 will many times go to nesting the very next 

 day, showing that they are not very much 

 " upset " and are willing to try again right 

 away. Fifteen or more pairs of squabs may 

 be raised from one pair of birds in this way 

 without affecting the health of the old birds 

 in the least, and the young are strong and 

 healthy. 



A complete explanation of this method of 

 forced breeding is found in Rice's manual, the 

 National Standard Squab Book (see page 231) 

 and the writer can testify to its verity, as he 

 has tested it thoroughly and boasts of one of 

 the finest flocks of Homers and Carneaux in 

 the West, obtained by this method of forced 

 breeding. 



After the eggs have been sat on for four of 

 five days, hold them up between yourself and 

 the sun, and if they are fertilized, you will 

 clearly see a nucleus with a network of veins 

 clustered about it. It looks just like the one- 

 celled animal in the lowest scale of animal life, 

 such as the amoeba. 



If eggs are not fertile , they will appear trans- 

 parent with only a small patch of red coloring 

 matter within. Shake the eggs and they will 

 be found to be spoiled. Throw them away 

 and the birds will lay again in a week or ten 

 days. If only one egg is fertile, look for more 

 " bad " eggs, and many times you will find 

 several nests with one good and one bad egg. 

 By holding them before you in the sun or be- 

 fore a lamp, you can with a little practice, by 

 the appearance of the nucleus (if during the 

 first week of incubation), match up the eggs 

 just as well as to wait until each pair of birds 

 hatches and then arrange the young two in a 

 nest. 



Two or three weeks' time may be saved on a 

 pair of birds by this method. My motto is: 

 After five dajrs, always have two fertile eggs in 

 each nest. 



NINE OF TEN SQUABS FEMALES, by 

 Dr. H. N. Kingsford. I bought a pair of Car- 

 neaux in January, 1908. This has turned out 

 to be a peculiar pair, in regard to the sex of 

 the young which they have bred, as I have 

 raised five pairs of young from them, nine of 

 which were females, the remaining one a male. 

 The first four pairs were eight females. I 

 have four hundred pairs of birds. I use a 

 great many pigeons in my work in teaching - 

 I make them pay. 



