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THE RURAL NEW-VOEKER 
:: Growing Pigeons For Profit :: 
A Work For Women 
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Starting In Business. —There are 
thousands of persons, especially girls and 
women, who are anxiously watching for 
an opportunity to earn a living without 
leaving home. If you live on a farm 
there will likely be but little work or ex¬ 
pense in fitting up a loft for pigeon breed¬ 
ing; even if you live in town and have 
but a small building that you could use 
for this purpose you can make quite a 
creditable beginning in this industry. 
There are about 300 breeds of pigeons, 
many of them being fancy birds kept only 
for show purposes. None of these fancy 
types will be considered in this article, 
which will deal exclusively with Antwerp 
Homers, the most popular breed at pres¬ 
ent for squab production 
Procuring Stock. —If you decide that 
it shall be pigeons, first of all find some 
reliable breeder, get his catalogue, ask 
him questions and study the subject from 
every point, until you feel that you have 
a pretty good idea of the business. Then 
send for your birds. Be moderate 
in your beginning and watch the finan¬ 
cial side of your venture as faithfully as 
the man who has his thousands invested 
in some mercantile enterprise. As a 
matter of fact but few readers of this 
page have been in a pigeon loft, and to 
them the whole thing is Greek. The pos¬ 
sibilities of this industry will come to 
them its a revelation. On looking around 
the premises they will most probably dis¬ 
cover that they have the proper condi¬ 
tions for a start with pigeons. This may 
be only a shed or barn loft that with the 
necessary equipment, costing only a few 
dollars and a few days’ time, will answer 
the purpose as well as the most costly 
production of the carpenter’s art. You 
must look out for results first and style 
afterward. 
Mated Birds. —Now start right by 
getting only mated pairs. If you buy in¬ 
discriminately you may get pairs that will 
never mate. You might get a dozen pig¬ 
eons—six pairs—and have more males 
than females, or vice versa. Pigeons are 
peculiar in their mating habits—each 
male mates with hut one female, and this 
is for life unless they are separated by 
causes which they cannot control. 
Feeding.—A s these birds are never lib¬ 
erated it is plain that they must be prop¬ 
erly fed. You may not be able to formu¬ 
late a balanced ration, but you will get 
the best results obtainable if you follow 
these directions: For the main food use 
coarse cracked corn and red wheat in 
equal mixture. It is best to have this 
grain placed in an automatic feeder, or 
protected in some way. so it will not be 
fouled by the birds. At all times have Can¬ 
ada peas, Kaffir coin. German millet and 
a sprinkling of hempseed within their 
reach. Besides this there must be plenty 
of grit, ashes, charcoal, salt and oyster- 
shells where they can obtain it at will. 
A large shallow pan for bathing, and a 
drinking fountain will be necessary. 
Nests. —There must be two nests for 
every working pair of pigeons, for this 
reason, the mother bird often begins lay¬ 
ing again before the last pair of squabs 
is out of the nest. In this case she turns 
the squabs over to the father bird, who 
furnishes them with food till they can fly 
and take care of themselves. In the 
meantime the mother bird is occupying 
the other nest, and probably has hatched 
another pair of squabs before the first 
ones are fully fledged. The nests are 
made by putting tiers of shelves across 
tin* sides of the loft, or squab house, and 
dividing these shelves into one foot spaces. 
Most pigeon breeders advocate the use of 
the nest bowl, a wooden or fiber bowl to 
be placed in each “pigeon-hole” of the 
shelving. The probability is that these 
howls are useful only in adding to the ex¬ 
pense account, though it may be they are 
considered a convenience by those who 
use them. If you should choose to do 
without the nest howl be sure to keep 
plenty of straw, cut grass and tobacco 
stems in the loft from which they can 
obtain nest material. 
Other Requirements. —Another thing 
they must have is a flying pen. This is 
constructed of a strong framework cov¬ 
ered with wire netting, connected with 
the loft so the pigeons can spend as much 
time as they like out in the open. Pro¬ 
vide one bath pan for every dozen pairs 
of birds. This pan should be about four 
inches deep and 20 inches in diameter. 
Keep it in the flying pen in the Summer 
and change the water three times a day. 
If you art* not an early riser manage 
this way: About sunset when the birds 
have gone to roost fill the pan with fresh 
water, so it will be ready for their sun¬ 
rise bath the next morning. In the Win¬ 
ter let them bathe once a week in the 
loft, removing the pan after all the birds 
have bathed. One necessary precaution 
is a lock and key. otherwise you may 
wake up some fine morning to find your 
birds have flown (?). You will have to 
keep an eye on the cats that they do not 
get in the loft, and if you think there 
is a rat about the place never rest till 
you have him trapped. Man is not the 
only squab-eating animal. 
Marketing. —Now as to prices: At 
this writing, January 30, New York 
quotations run as follows: Prime white 
squabs. 10 pounds to the dozen, $4.75; 0 
pounds, $4.25; eight pounds. $4.00; sev¬ 
en pounds. $3.75: six pounds, $3.50. 
This is what tin* commission men pay, 
but you inquire at tin 1 first-class hotels, 
clubs, homes of the rich and you will 
find that these middlemen sell at a profit 
of 1000 f c per dozen. What does that sug¬ 
gest to you? Sell direct to the consumer, 
of course. At this same date squabs are 
selling to (lie consumer in Indianapolis 
at 75 cents apiece, and in some other 
cities as high as $12 per dozen for prime 
stock sold to the consumer. A word to 
the wise is generally sufficient but I wish 
to produce a few more figures to set my 
readers to thinking a little further. You 
can work up a squab market in your 
home town and near-by shipping points 
and sell direct to the consumer and make 
a fine profit, or you can keep the squabs 
and establish a market for breeders at 
$2 to $3 per pair. Here is where the 
great possibilities of the business appear. 
If you are resourceful and enterprising, 
with an outfit of well-bred Homers you 
can supply breeders to your home mar¬ 
ket, sell to your neighbors and near rail¬ 
road points, expanding your trade in an 
ever widening circle as the increase of 
your stock will justify. Indeed, there 
need be no limit but space and energy to 
the development of your market. 
Expenses. —It costs on an average 
about GO cents a year to feed a working 
pair of pigeons. One conservative and 
reliable breeder gives this ratio of esti¬ 
mates: It will cost $10 a week to feed 
1000 pairs of pigeons, and they ought to 
produce 10 dozen squabs a week, which 
would average $4 a dozen, sold in mar¬ 
ket. making $40 per week. Deducting the 
$10 expense leaves a weekly income of 
$30 or $1,560 a year, which would be 
double that amount if you had a select 
family trade and got the benefit of the 
prices they pay. It seems incredible, hut 
seeing is believing. 
Keeping I t p Stock. —Following is the 
plan most successful breeders pursue to 
keep up their stock: When the young 
are about two weeks old they are banded 
with seamless metal bands and records 
made in a book kept for the purpose. At 
six weeks of age if they are desirable look¬ 
ing in every way they are removed to the 
mating pen. This pen contains all the 
unmated birds, both young and old. Noth¬ 
ing but trap-nests are used for them to 
build or nest in. When a pair mate and 
go to building a nest they are trapped 
and examined, and, if not nest-pairs and 
seem good in every way they are renum¬ 
bered, a record made of the pair and they 
are put in the proving pen. While in this 
pen they are watched closely. After they 
raise several pairs of young, if they prove 
to be first-class breeders and produce a 
number one squab—that is a squab 
which will weigh not less than 12 ounces, 
and show up with a nice white skin— 
they are again trapped, renumbered, a 
careful record made of them and placed 
in the permanent breeding loft. The 
birds which do not prove to be good 
breeders, good feeders and produce first 
class young are disposed of to people who 
buy them for pets. 
VAi.ufe Of Selection. —Just about 
now you will begin to understand the 
value of the word “selection.” You ought 
to paint it in letters a foot high in your 
pigeon loft, and let it be your motto in 
March 27, 
all your working in the enterprise. Prop¬ 
er selection in mating, proper selection 
of birds for your breeding loft, means 
everything to you. By selecting those 
birds that are the most prolific breeders 
you can increase your squab product ful¬ 
ly one-fourtli. It is stated that some of 
the most highly prized Homers have pro¬ 
duced 12 pairs of squabs in a year, and 
the average well-bred and properly se¬ 
lected pair will hatch eight or nine pairs 
of young in a year. 
Steady Work. —Don’t fancy there will 
be nothing to do; there will be just so 
much work to be performed each morn¬ 
ing. For a small flock, 15 minutes each 
day will suffice, but on “cleaning-up" 
days a loft of a few hundred birds will 
take all day to put things in proper or¬ 
der. Beside the work there will be about 
so much time to he spent each day in 
watching the birds to see which are com¬ 
ing up to the standard and which are 
drones. 
Fifteen years ago the best squabs 
weighed seven pounds to the dozen. At 
that time the poultry press in general 
asserted that Homers able to increase 
this weight one pound per dozen did not 
exist. Now the average weight is 10 
pounds to the dozen from well-bred, high- 
class Homers. This gain of three pounds 
to the dozen was accomplished in 10 
years’ time, which will compare favor¬ 
ably with the advancement of any class 
of poultry in that space of time. 
Pigeon Breeding. —Is a legitimate 
branch of the poultry industry, and just 
as attractive premiums are offered at the 
State and county fairs as for any other 
kind of poultry. If the pigeon breeder 
has only enough capital invested to grow 
birds for his own table it is that much ad¬ 
ded to his income. There is no greater 
delicacy than pigeon pie, and squabs, how¬ 
ever they may be served, are still higher 
in the scale of delectables. Thoge of us 
who remember the wild pigeons can tan¬ 
talize the present day epicures with a 
dish that never more can be equalled. 
More’s the pity, too. since the only known 
Passenger pigeon died last September in 
captivity. Undreamed of possibilities 
may have been lost with their extermi¬ 
nation. IDA M. JACKSON. 
R. N.-Y.—We caution our readers not 
to plunge too heavily on squab growing. 
Mrs. Jackson’s article is fair, but we 
have seen the wrecks of dozens of squab 
farms go floating down the stream. If 
you try it begin in a small way and study 
carefully before you invest much money. 
There is no bonanza or get-rich-quick 
scheme about it. 
The School Teacher’s Reverie—and 
Orchard. 
The north windows are wet outside 
with tears from the sky, but no weeping 
going on inside I can assure you. Here 
I have a nice fire and an attractive room, 
and here I can finish some work long left 
undone, and here I can practice “Cutting 
Tommy’s Hair” to bo given at the Grange 
Friday evening—not forgetting school 
work to be done. Yet as I look out of 
these tear-stained windows I see a dim 
outline of our old orchard and my peace 
of mind is disturbed. What shall I do with 
it? It is about 38 years old, badly neglect¬ 
ed, that is as trees are now cared for. 
With a limited amount of money would it 
pay to give it a scientific overhauling? 
I think there are at least 100 trees. 
Three years ago it was plowed and cul¬ 
tivated up to July, no cover crop plowed 
uuder. The dry seasons we believe have 
greatly affected it. There were nearly 100 
barrels in the orchard last year, and we 
received $22 for them. How much money 
could I afford to lay out at that rate? 
N. Y. * c. E. F. 
That means 22 cents a barrel, which 
is about the limit. We doubt if there will 
ever be any more profit in growing poor 
apples—if there ever was any. If you 
must hire all the work of pruning, spray¬ 
ing and picking done, it is doubt¬ 
ful if the work will pay. Your only 
chance is to produce the finest fruit pos¬ 
sible and sell it to advantage, and that 
is hard unless you have a large amount 
of it or are near some fine market. It 
will cost at least $100 to put such trees 
into shope and market the fruit. Tin- 
way things look now we doubt if a school 
teacher in your position, hiring all labor, 
could expect to make much from these 
100 trees. 
