SQUABS PAY 19 



pen and removed to breeding quarters only after they have 

 gone to work. The chief difficulty with a beginner is the 

 matter of sex. The male and the female pigeon have no 

 marks to distinguish them, and the beginner must determine 

 their -sex by observation. ,He must study his birds and come 

 to know them. Some beginners will not equip themselves by 

 study and observation to make a success and may breed in a 

 hap-hazard fashion for a year or more without kn.owing the 

 sex of the birds they raise. Birds which you raise will go to 

 work more quickly, look better and breed better than any birds 

 you can buy, because that is the temperament of the Homer, 

 to be attached to his home, to love it, and to try to reach it if 

 he can. Anybody who has doubts as to his ability to raise 

 squabs should start with a small flock and breed up until he 

 has acquired skill and experience. 



As part of this Manual, in the supplement and appendices, 

 we print many letters from customers who started with small 

 flocks and won striking successes. It is not necessary to get 

 a fancy price for the squabs to make the business a success. 

 In confirmation of this we have in mind the work of two of 

 our customers, young men named Lunn, who have received 

 only two dollars to three dollars a dozen for their squabs, 

 selling to dealers who retail them for four dollars to six 

 dollars a dozen. These brothers have told their story in one 

 of the poultry papers as follows : 



" In February, 1905, we got the idea of going into the squab 

 business. We spent some time looking around and in March, 

 1905, we bought what we thought was the best stock, namely, 

 the Extra Plymouth Rock Homers. We bought twelve 

 pairs. The birds arrived on March 22, 1905, and were as 

 fine a looking lot of birds as we had seen anywhere. We now 

 (December, 1906) have th^ee hundred pairs. One hundred and 

 fifty pairs are well mated and working. The other one 

 hundred and fifty pairs are all young birds. We raised all 

 our young birds up until September, 1906, and since then have 

 been selling squabs weighing from nine and one-quarter to 

 ten and one-half pounds and receive twenty-^three and 

 twenty-five cents each. We feed the best of grain, using 

 cracked com, kaffir com, red wheat, buckwheat and peas and 

 a little hemp. We also give a little rice once or twice a week. 

 During the moulting season we added barley to regular 



