320 



APPENDIX G 



FLYTNG PEN WITH BOB WIRES. 

 The small holes guarded l)y the bobs can be seen at the top of the flying pen. 

 The pigeons cannot get'"6ut, unless the bobs are raised. They can enter when- 

 ever they please by pushing back the bobs. 



TWIGS ARE GOOD FOR I^JSTING 

 MATERIAL, by James Y. Egbert. I have 

 tried hay, straw, pine needles, leaves and 

 twigs for nesting material. The birds will use 

 twigs in preference to any other material, 

 buildhig a neat, compact nest lined with a few 

 wisps of hay or straw. ' I cut the twigs into 

 five or six-inch lengths and place them in a 

 berry crate, then after the squabs are taken 

 from the nest I clean the twigs and replace 

 them in the crate. In this way, liie pigeons 

 use the twigs over and over again and the 

 breeder does not have to supply so much new 

 nesting material. 



I suppose t-hit on the seashore, where 

 Homer pigeoiis originated, they used twigs 

 lined with dry grass in their nest building. 



I find it is a , good idea, in preparing my 

 garden, to plant a few rows of sunflowers, arid 

 in the odd comers or along the border 

 scattered seeds mav be sown. In this way 

 a squab raiser can have all the sunflower 

 seeds he needs for hi" pigeons at a trifling cost.. 

 Pigeons axe very forid of these seeds and if 

 a breeder raises his own the feed bill is cut 

 down just so much. Sunflowers require 

 little cultivation and will grow and thrive in 

 almost any location. 



Question: Are squabs ever scalded before 

 plucking? Answer: Yes, but it is not neces- 

 sary, nor do the dealers want them scalded. 

 They should be dry-picked. 



SEVEN XEARS' PROF- 

 ITABLE EXPERIENCE, 

 by P. A. Heiermann, 1 

 have been raising squabs 

 for nearly seven years and 

 have found it a good pay- 

 ing business. I started with 

 one pair of common pig- 

 60IK. After having them 

 a few months and learning 

 their habits, I bought ten 

 pairs of good Homers. 

 Their squabs were much 

 larger than the common 

 pigeon squabs, I then be- 

 gan to save all of the largest 

 squabs and banded them 

 so as not to inbreed, and 

 numbered the bands and 

 kept a record of them. At 

 present I am getting from 

 $3 to $5 a dozen Kir my 

 Homer squabs dressed, 

 according to size, but at 

 wholesale I get S3.50 a 

 dozen straight throiigh. 



I sell most of my squabs 

 at retail, and then cannot 

 supply all my orders. 



The city in which I live 

 has a population of about 

 sixty thousand and I have 

 a home market- for all the 

 squabs I wish to put out. 

 My squab plant is on the 

 car line and can be reached 

 from all parts of the city. 

 I never have donated any squabs to get 

 customers, but at first when I had no market 

 for them;r|elephoned parties whom I thought 

 would want;them and I soon found places to 

 sell. When I got a new customer I always 

 gave him a few of my cards, and by so doing I 

 soon built up a large trade, as a satisfied cus- 

 tomer is the best advertisement. 



I feed wheat, cracked com, peas, kaffir 

 com, millet, hempseed and other different 

 kinds of grain, but I always keep changing so 

 as not to feed one kind too long. I feed three 

 times a day in long troughs, and do not use 

 any self-feeders, but in the moulting season I 

 do not feed so much. I alwajra keep plenty 

 of fresh water before them at all times, also 

 grit, oyster shells, charcoal and rock salt. 



It costs me about SI. 25 a year to feed a pair 

 of breeding Homers. 



Question: Can you tell me how it corner 

 that one of the pairs of blue checkers has 

 an almost white-feathered squab? Answer: 

 Colored Homers do not breed true to color. 

 Blue checkers may breed blue bars, or blue 

 checkers, or any other color. A white young- 

 ster from colored-plumaged birds is rare, like 

 a white calf from a black bull and black cow, 

 and is generally called a throw-back, or re- 

 version to one of several constituent types. 

 ThR white Homers breed true to color as a 

 rule. 



