PIGEON DISEASES AND REMEDIES 129 



for a day or so. If you feed clean grain and keep plenty of 

 charcoal and salt before the birds, they won't be troubled with 

 sour crop. 



Egg Troubles 



Plenty of lime made into a paste and stirred into the grit 

 will keep away the thin-shelled eggs. A small quantity of lime 

 in the drinking water occasionally will also be of benefit. Do 

 not pick a squab out of a hard shelled egg. Cover the egg well 

 with saliva and lay it back in the nest. Your squab will hatch 

 out without any further help. 



Vermin 



When you do your whitewashing, use about one pint of 

 •Cresoline to every 10 gallons of whitewash. It will keep the 

 bugs out of the boards and cracks. If you cannot get this, you 

 can use salt. Mix the lime with a good strong solution of salt 

 brine. Salt brine will kill almost any kind of an insect and so 

 will salty whitewash. 



Spray the ground well with the whitewash; turn it over with 

 a spade and spray it again. Your birds will not have to walk 

 around on foul earth, which looks clean. Remember they are 

 built to walk pretty close to the ground. 



Tonic 



Ten drops tincture of Gentian to each gallon of water is a 

 good tonic. Give it once a week. Ten cents worth of permanga- 

 nate of potash in one-half gallon of water makes a good strong 

 tonic. Color the drinking water to the same strength as you 

 would were you using Germazone, a little Venetian Red mixed 

 into the feed once a week is a good cleanser. 



Feather Rot 



Feather rot in the wings or tail feathers can be cured by 

 using vinegar on them. Apply it with a medium stiff brush. 

 Do not try to make use of all these remedies at one time as 

 there is such a thing as overdoing the doctoring stunt. Give 

 the birds a good clean house, clean feed and water and you will 

 have very little doctoring to do, especially if you take an interest 

 in their everyday welfare, 



