APPENDIX G 



341 



DO NOT HELP SQUABS OUT OF THE 

 SHELL, by M. C. Martin. I have xeqeived 

 inqtiiries about squabs dying in the shell. 

 Some have said that they had helped dozens 

 of young out of the shells and that many of 

 them had died in the shells, and many that 

 they helped out died later. 



I had the same experience several years ago. 

 I used to become impatient after the eggs were 

 "pipped," and have killed many a squab by 

 helping it out of the shell before it was ready. 

 Some young break the shell slightly two or 

 three days before they get out, others come out 

 quicker, but for pity's sake let the eggs alone 

 and do not try to get the squabs out ahead of 

 time. A little one that cannot get out of the 

 shell itself is not worth helping out, for it is 

 not healthy and will very likely die anyway, 

 but the harm is this: You kill so many good 

 young by pulling them out before they are 

 ready. One writer stated that the young 

 seemed stuck fast to the shell and she had to 

 pull them out. The young were very likely all 

 right had she just left the eggs alone and let 

 the young run their own business, viz., getting 

 out of the shell. " Care killed a cat,'* and it 

 has killed many a pigeon as well. 



There are two kinds of squab breeders, those 

 who are too stingy to feed a sufficient amount 

 of the higher priced foods or luxuries, and the 

 other class who treat their birds like pet 

 canaries, and feed too much of the rich foods. 



Don't help the young out of the shell. Let 

 nature attend to this. 



Don't give baths excepting on warm days in 

 winter weather. 



Don't be stingy, but *' treat ** your birds to 

 the luxuries as several writers have indicated 

 in the piagazine columns in their bills of fare 

 for feeding. 



Don't treat'* the birds all the time to . 

 luxuries or they will become like candy-fed 

 children, disordered and sickly. 



Don't jump at conclusions about your birds 

 and their habits. " Make haste slowly," and 

 study the birds. 



My plant now consists of twelve units, and 

 the structure is fourteen feet wide and 120 

 feet long. Three years ago I started with 

 five pairs of Plymouth Rock Homers, having 

 no intention of increasing my flock this soon, 

 and now I have 400 pairs of birds. I am now 

 building another structure containing six units, 

 sixty feet long and fourteen feet wide. — ^Frank 

 Hiicht, Kansas. 



My Homer squabs weigh alive as I sell them, 

 nine or ten pounds to the dozen. The Car- 

 neaux or Carhomes weigh at four weeks old, 

 while yet on the nest, one pound each, or. about 

 twelve pounds to the dozen, average. I got 

 my first pigeons in 1906, Plymouth Rock Extra 

 Homers. In 1908 I got Cameaux same place. 

 ^-Graham Roys, Michigan. 



The stmny squab breeders are the successful 

 ones. Follow the failures home and you find 

 debt, gloom and snarling. 



REASON WHY SQUABS DIE IN THE 

 SHELL, by Ehner C. Rice. Squabs dying in 

 the shell have puzzled many. In all such 

 cases, I formerly gave these causes: a damp 

 loft andlack of vitality due to improper feeding. 

 The second is rather indefinite, being a result 

 rather than a cause. I have no doubts now 

 that the two causes, and the only two causes 

 are: dampness andlack of ventilation. 



^ r have been keeping track of letters of this 

 kind and have watched to see the results of 

 advice. The average case of squabs dying in 

 the shell is mild, affecting only a few. Be- 

 ginning over a year ago, however, Alfred 

 Karker, a Wisconsin correspondent, had an 

 adventure which he tells as follows: "Last 

 year I wrote you asking what caused the squabs 

 to die in the shell, and you told me it was 

 either a damp loft, lack of vitality, improper 

 feeding. Last spring I lost at least sixty to 

 seventy squabs this way, and this spring I am 

 having the same trouble. I have been feeding 

 only the best grains and as you direct in your 

 Manual. My loft is in the hay-loft of my 

 bam directly 'overhead the horses, and I think ^ 

 the steam from the horses goes through the 

 ceiling and condenses in the hay-loft and 

 causes this dampness. In cold weather the 

 rafters in the hay-loft are all covered with 

 white frost which shows that the moisture must 

 come- from the horses below. What would 

 you advise me to do, and how can I arrange 

 it to overcome this trouble without changing 

 the location of the loft? I am a subscriber 

 to the magazine and think it the best published. 

 Thank you for any information you can give 

 me." 



I replied as follows, February 25, 1910: 

 *' That trouble is surely caused by dampness 

 If you can see the white frost on the timbers. 

 You can dry off this dampness by letting more 

 fresh air into the lofts. You should arrange 

 a ventilator so as to get plenty of fresh air. Do 

 not be afraid of the cold. The fresh air will 

 dry off your loft." 



April 21, 1910, Mr. Karker again wrote: 

 •* Received your letter of February 25, and wish 

 to thank you for the advice you gave in regard 

 to dampness ifi my loft. Since I tried your 

 plan I have had no more trouble." 



In other words, to use language easily remem- 

 bered, .squabs in the shell may be drowned 

 by too much water, or suffocated by bad air. 

 I find that pigeon breeders able to tell damp- 

 ness when they see it are as scarce as those able 

 to judge grain. In case of doubt, no matter 

 where you Uve, summer or winter, take out 

 your windows entirely and stretch cotton cloth. 

 ITiere are absolutely no sick pigeons or squabs 

 housed in dry, open-front houses and fed on 

 a variety of sweet, sound, old grain and grit. 

 Ability, or lack of it, to control health, as well 

 as profits, is in tKe caretaker. 



The birds you sent me in October, 1908, are 

 doing fine work, also those shipped to me last 

 August. I have one red checked cock raised 

 from your No. 1 Homers that weighed nineteen 

 ounces at four weeks. — Jerry F. Kaftan^ Ohio. 



