130 AMERICAN SQUAB CULTURE 



FEEDING WEAK OR SICK PIGEONS 



As a rule when a pigeon gets so sick or weak that it will not 

 eat the regular feed provided for well birds there is not much 

 use trying to do anything for it unless one has plenty of time 

 or has a special bird he wants to save. Young birds just after 

 the parent bird has stopped feeding them are the most likely 

 to need special feed, or females that have been driven too hard 

 by the male bird. If either is cared for in time all that is nec- 

 essary is to put them in a pen by themselves or with other such 

 birds and see that they get plenty of good rich feed including 

 a little hemp, plenty of peas and such grain as millet, buck- 

 wheat, lentils, vetch, etc. Any of these grains will be eaten by 

 sick bii-ds when they will not eat the more common grains. 



Thp.sc grains are generally more expensive than regular feed 

 so they must be fed sparingly. 



If a bird is so sick or weak that it will not eat, then feed 

 must be forced down its throat. (See article on "Feeding Squabs 

 liy Hand.") A bird that is so far gone that it will not eat of its 

 own accord, especially when it is given special grain, is as a rule 

 past doing anything with. 



In such cases a mixture of two parts wheat bran and three 

 parts corn meal with about a spoonful of ground red pepper to 

 a cup of bran and meal is about the best thing to give them, 

 this mixture should be made wet enough with water to make 

 it easy to force down the bird's throat or it can be given in 

 capsules. This is an especially good way to give most any kind 

 of medicine or feed to sick birds. Cotton seed meal or peanut 

 meal is a good thing to mix with bran and corn meal. About 

 one part to five parts of bran and corn meal. 



Small cubes of toasted bread is also excellent feed for sick 

 birds. 



FEEDING SQUABS BY HAND 



Motherless squabs can often be successfully raised by hand if 

 one has patience and will take the time to do so. If you have 

 never fed a squab by hand, you will find the work very tedious 

 at the start, but a little practice will enable you to show &. marked 

 improvement, 



