PIGEONS AND ALI. ABOUT THEM. 



TRAINING COOPS. 



ANOTHER very necessary thinj; just iiuw, is a. lot of 

 tiaiiiiiig coups. It is hard to get along witliont tbem, 

 for not only is it necessary to train birds for the show 

 pen nowadays, bnt in the almost constant handling of ones 

 liirils ill some shape or form, one needs a convenientplace into 

 which to slip them for the time being. They can also be 

 used for mating pens, for hospital use, if one has sick birds, 

 and for solitary coiilhieraeut. For these two latter reasons, 

 if for no other, I keep my training coops in one of the lower 

 lofts away from even the sight of the birds in the loft proper. 



Get any tinner or wire worker (if you are not in a city 

 where exhibition coops can be bought) to make yon a wire 

 front six feet long and eighteen inches high, with top of 

 same dimensions. 



In this he should pnt three wire piartitions eighteen inches 

 square. Make a sliding door, vertical, in each of the four 

 coops, that will drop of its own weight. Tou will then have 

 the front and top of four coops. 



Next, take light poplar or pine nicely smoothed, and make 

 the base and back. Take boards twentj' inches wide and 

 nail them at right ahgles, with a small cross strip to hold 

 them firm. The boards should be six feet long and the ex- 

 tra widtli, especially the bottom board, is to give a ledge on 

 which feed and water cups can be placed. 



By watching the measurement, the tier of four coops will 

 fit in exactly. They weigh little and handle very easily 



Their utility does not stop in the loft, for they make good 

 show pens. The backs, and in fact the entire wood work, 

 should be nicely painted a dark blue. It is astonishing how 

 much travel they will stand if made properly. All that is 

 needed is to fasten the coops down with double pointed tacks. 



Willi tliese coops in place, the fancier is all ready for the 

 seasons breeding. 



