CHAPTER II. 
AN EASY START. 
No Special Form of Building Necessary—Potnts to Remember 
—Shelter Adapted to the Climate—How to Use a Building 
which you Now Have—Squab House and Flying Pen— 
Lining the Squab House with Nests— Use of Egg Crates— 
How to Put up the Perches—Difference between the Nest 
Box, Nest Pan and Nest— How to Tell How Many Pigeons 
can Occupy a Certain Building—A Large Flock of Pigeons 
is Easily Cared for when Split up into Small Flocks— 
How to Use Your Time to Best Advantage. 
Do not get the idea that any special form of building is 
necessary to raise squabs. We will tell you how to put up a 
structure that will make your work easier for you, and enable 
you to handle a big flock fast and accurately, but pigeons 
will work in almost any place, if it is free from rats, darkness 
and the musty dampness which goes with darkness. Any 
building, whether.a woodshed, a corn crib, a barn, an outhouse 
of any description, or even a hog pen, can be made a successful 
home for pigeons with a little work. 
The points to remember are these, first, that the building 
be on fairly level, sunny ground; second, that it be raised 
from the ground so that rats cannot breed under it out of sight 
and reach; third, that it ought to be fairly tight, so as to keep 
out rain and excessive cold. Pigeons ought to have sunlight 
and fresh air, like any other animal, and need protection from 
the elements. 
In practice, therefore, most squab houses are found raised 
on posts a foot or two feet off the ground; they face the 
south (here in New England) because most of our bitter 
weather comes from the north and east. If you live in a 
State, territory or foreign country where conditions are 
different, adapt your squab houses to those conditions. In 
some localities, the fierce weather comes from the south and 
west, in which case your squab house should face the north 
or east. 
Here in New England we build a tight house to withstand 
21 
