40 
The Illustrated Book of Pigeons. 
caution is very necessary, viz. : not to shift to old birds which have hatched before the young ones 
it is desired to rear. Should this be done the young will in all probability perish, through the food 
now supplied being too “ hard,” or too far advanced for them, in conformity with what we have 
already explained as to the gradual change in its character, by increasing mixture with grain, which 
the young cannot digest till the proper age. On the contrary, should the feeders have hatched 
three or four days after the breeding-birds it will be all the better, and do the young a great deal 
of good, since nothing brings on a young pigeon so well as this extra allowance of soft food ; and 
if the fancier has an extra good pair of birds, but rather small and weakly, he can adopt no better 
plan for increasing the size of the young than by arranging for a shift to birds that have hatched 
a full week later, and which will thus give the young an extra week of infant diet. 
Another caution may be necessary. We have seen how easily, in the case of most pigeons, 
the young ones may be “shifted ” at almost any time desired within a fortnight ; and pigeons will 
also readily take to and sit upon other eggs than their own : but it will not answer to give to any 
pair eggs partly hatched, unless laid at the same time as their own, and therefore due to hatch 
at the same date. The reason is obvious ; the eggs hatching before the ordinary time of incubation 
is expired, there is no soft food ready for the young, and they must therefore perish. One day or 
perhaps two does not matter ; but success when the shifted eggs have been sat upon more than 
this is very doubtful. 
If the shift takes place within ten days or a fortnight of hatching, it is well to give the common 
squeakers to the old birds whose young have been removed. Being of a hardier nature, they will 
often live, although the food is “ by rights ” too hard for them ; but even should they only live a 
few days, it will greatly assist the old birds in thoroughly feeding off the contents of their 
crops. If there is only a few days difference in age, they will often be reared till large enough 
to come in useful for pies ; if not, they may be killed or otherwise disposed of. 
If there are, however, no feeders ready to take the young ones when required, and they 
evidently need better feeding than their parents can give them, they may generally be saved by 
the following plan : — With one of the small coffee-mills grind into meal a mixture of Indian-corn, 
grey peas, and tares, which mix up with boiling milk and leave to soak all night. Supposing the 
natural food to have failed, as is probably the case, at about a fortnight old, feed the young ones 
upon this, warm, for a week or ten days, by means of a kind of spoon going off at the tip into a 
sort of tube, and which is easily made with a bit of “tea-lead or still better, from a small india- 
rubber syringe with an ivory nozzle, which is the most perfect implement of any. At the end of that 
time soak grey peas and small beans all night in water, and feed on these three times a day, always 
soaking them for a little while in warm water before feeding, in order not to be so cold, which is 
often found to disagree with the young birds. This will seem a great deal of trouble to some, but 
a very enthusiastic fancier cares for nothing if he can only rear a fine bird ; and some of the very 
finest Carriers we have ever seen were reared in this manner from a fortnight old. Not that 
anything can quite equal the natural food of the parents; but it may be useful to know, that even 
should their food fail, and no feeders be ready to take their place, the young may still be reared 
to become fine birds if only the parents continue to sit upon them and give them warmth. If they 
fail in this also, refusing to sit upon them as well as failing to feed them, then it is useless to make 
the attempt, unless the fancier can contrive some kind of “ artificial mother,” such as is used for 
chicks. We have never tried this in the case of pigeons ; but can see no reason why it should not 
succeed, in case of necessity, in saving the life of a good bird. However this may be, warmth 
somehow is as necessary as food, and without it it is useless to try. 
Artificial feeding to a less extent is often necessary, or at least very beneficial, on other 
