Construction op squab houses 197 



There are several advantages to the southern idea of fly pen 

 running boards. They are less expensive, more easy to construct 

 and the birds like them better. The short flight across the fly 

 pen from one board to another offers good exercise for the birds 

 and they like a flat surface to light on better than 'the edge or 

 corner of a board that they have to light on with the ordinary 

 ladder perches. It is easier to clean a fly pen that has the run- 

 ning boards on the side than where there is a ladder to clean 

 under. 



The western plan of a small, low fly pen is also better than 

 the large, high pen used in the eastern states. The roof of a 

 fly pen should not be over 7 feet high, 6^^ is the best height. It 

 makes the birds wild to have the roof of the fly pen so high that 

 they can fly over your head when you are in the pen. They are 

 much harder to catch and this also makes them wild. As an 

 example, you can put a chicken infa siiiall coop where it cannot 

 get out qf- your reach and you can pick it up at will without it 

 getting frightened, bi^t put" the same chicken out in a big yard 

 and see'h^W/hard itis'to catch. - 



The d^Sr or gate 4o th^ fly pen should be through the squab 

 hous^ dhd there should. be. a door leading direct to eyery pen 

 and no door from one pen 'to another." 



Probably the greatest difference in squab ' house ■ construction 

 is the nest box system u'feeQ by the different br.eeders all over 

 the country. The majority of people starting in the business 

 adopt the old-fashioned foot square, open front boxes and extend 

 them from the ceiling to the floor. This is not a very satisfac- 

 tory method and they set out to improve it and the result is that 

 a lot of different plans have developed, and as most of them are 

 improvements over the original each person is more or less par- 

 tial to his own plan. 



The first noticeable defect to the plain foot square nest system 

 is that there is nothing in front of the nests and birds leaving the 

 nests hurriedly are apt to drag the eggs and even young squabs 

 out of the nests. With a four-inch board across the front of the 

 nests the birds have a protection to build behind which has 

 several advantages. If the birds leave the nests hurriedly they 

 invariably step up on the four-inch board before starting to fly 

 which makes it almost impossible to drag eggs or young out 

 of the nests as they leave it. 



