112 NATIONAL STANDARD SQUAB BOOK 
birds follow their eggs and accept change of nest from floor to 
nest bowl? Answer. No; you must leave the eggs where 
they lay them. You can handle a nest and change eggs from 
one nest bowl to another, if you wish, but you cannot move 
eggs from one place in the squab house to another and expect 
the birds to find them and go on with their laying. 
Question. Do all squab breeders heat their houses in the 
winter time; I mean those who do a large business like your- 
self. Answer. No; some breeders of many years’ experience 
believe that a warm house is detrimental to the health of the 
birds, on account of the sudden change of temperature from 
a warm house to a cold flying pen. The object should be 
merely to take the damp winter chill off the air. If you have 
a warm, tight squab house which you will close when night 
comes, you will need no heat. 
Question. In the case of a long house, say four units long, 
should there be wire netting partitions between the units, so 
as to separate the birds into four flocks? Answer. Such an 
arrangement is more practical than one long house. It is 
better to keep track of four small flocks than one large flock. 
You can keep account of the birds both on paper, and with 
your eyes, with more precision. 
Question. How would a cement floor for the squab house 
do? Answer. Do not use cement. See page 43 again. 
Question. How is salt cat made? Answer. Take sixteen 
quarts of sand, eight quarts of slaked lime, four quarts of 
ground oyster shells, one pint of salt, one pint of caraway 
seeds and mix with water into a stiff mud. Form into bricks 
and set away to dry. The water with which you mix should 
have a tablespoonful of sulphate of iron and a tablespoonful 
of sulphuric acid for tonic and disinfectant. The birds peck 
at this mixture and it is believed to have a tonic and strength- 
ening effect on them. , 
Question. Shall I crowd one of the units with nest boxes, 
or would it be better to have a smaller number of nest boxes 
and build another unit to accommodate the new birds which 
I am going to buy? Answer. Better enlarge your squab 
house. In case of doubt, you will be on the safer side if you 
do not crowd the birds. 
(See following pages for points which may occur to you and 
which are not covered in these questions and answers.) 
