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The RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
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Squabs and Guinea Fowls 
I am very much interested in raising 
pigeons for squabs. I have purchased 
some White Kings, and would like to hear 
about their care; also like some informa¬ 
tion about guinea fowls. I have one male 
and one female. How many eggs do they 
lay? Do they make their own nests, or 
do they lay in nest boxes, and what kind 
of feed do they need? c. D. E. 
Barrington, R. I. 
A person who contemplates going into 
the pigeon business in a commercial way, 
producing squabs for the New York mar¬ 
ket, should realize, first of all that, while 
this is a most interesting and fascinating 
line of endeavor, a very small percentage 
of those who undertake the business on a 
large scale are able to make it a financial 
success. There is a market for good 
squabs in New York City, but this mar¬ 
ket is limited, and prices rule compara¬ 
tively low during the natural season of 
greatest production, because squabs are 
sold in direct competition with broilers 
of all kinds and descriptions, which flood 
the market during this time. This is not 
because the broilers are produced and sold 
at a profit, as most of them are sold for 
less than the cost of production ; but be¬ 
cause they are a surplus product from the 
hatching operations carried on for the 
purpose of producing pullets for egg pro¬ 
duction on the thousands of farms all 
over the country. This competition of 
broilers holds the price of squabs down, 
so that it takes very close figuring lo 
show a profit on the average squab plant. 
However, some people want to keep a few 
pairs for pleasure and for home use, 
without regard to the financial profit or 
loss. Under all conditions it is advisable 
to start with only a few pairs and in¬ 
crease gradually as your experience war¬ 
rants. The White Kings are a good va¬ 
riety to start with, as they are quite large 
and fairly prolific. 
Almost any house that is well built, 
something like a poultry-house, is suitable 
for pigeons. Each pair should be provid¬ 
ed with a double nest, arranged so as to 
be easily cleaned. Fresh water, prefer¬ 
ably running water, should be easily ac¬ 
cessible, and their feed should be sup¬ 
plied in self-feeding hoppers. Grit, salt 
and charcoal are part of a pigeon’s diet 
which must receive attention, as they are 
just as important as feed. One of the 
best mixtures that I have ever used for 
feeding pigeons consists of 200 lbs. each 
of whole corn, Canada peas, red wheat 
and kaffir corn, with 30 lbs. of golden mil¬ 
let and 20 lbs. of hemp seed added. Don’t 
use white wheat under any conditions. 
It takes 18 days for pigeon eggs to 
hatch, and the mother feeds the young, 
which are usually ready for market at 
four weeks of age, or when full feathered 
on under side of wings. By subscribing 
to one or two good pigeon journals and 
reading some good books on the subject, 
along with your practical experience, you 
will soon become fairly proficient in the 
work. 
Guinea fowls usually start laying in 
the Spring, about April, and lay more or 
less until August. Of course some of 
them are better layers than others, and 
they naturally want to sit after laying 12 
to IS eggs. They are very persistent sit¬ 
ters and make fairly good mothers. 
Guineas are often hatched and raised 
with common hens when the old guineas 
are required for continued egg produc¬ 
tion. Owing to their wild nature, guineas 
do not take readily to nests prepared for 
their use in the house, but prefer to hide 
their nests out among the weeds on the 
ground, or in some other secluded spot, 
whether they are difficult to find. There 
are two kinds of guineas, white and pearl; 
the latter appear to be a little more har¬ 
dy and prolific. They are usually fed 
about the same as common fowls. 
C. S. GREENE. 
Care of Turkeys 
Would you give proper care for tur¬ 
keys? I have one tom, nine months old, 
and four hens, averaging from seven to 
eight months old; they are all Bronze 
turkeys. I have a large house for them, 
with a roost 3*4 ft. from floor; half is 
caged in where I keep them during the 
night and on rainy days, but otherwise I 
leave them out from 7 in the morning un¬ 
til 4 :30 or 5 o’clock, when I drive them 
in. I feed them cracked corn and whole 
wheat, equal parts, with oyster shell and 
grit; one mangel beet, with plenty of 
mash, and good fresh water. The house 
is clean, aii-y and plenty of sunshine, 
have six small houses for them to lay in 
and hatch their young. The houses are 3 
ft. long, 3 ft. wide, 3 ft. high. We have 
a range of 3 y 2 acres for them to roam as 
they will. I would like advice as to dis¬ 
ease. c. c. F. 
Vineland, N. J. 
You are treating these turkeys very 
well as it is, and I have few suggestions 
to give you. It is better to let them have 
their liberty as far as possible, but a well- 
opened shed makes a good place for them 
to roost. If they had their choice, how¬ 
ever, I have no doubt they would go to 
the tops of the highest trees. You are 
feeding them well; let them have what 
corn and wheat they want, but do not 
try to make them eat more. A mash is 
not needed now. It is a fine plan to make 
friends of them, for then they will not be 
afraid of you when you want to take 
some special care of them, and besides, a 
turkey is a very sociable bird and worth 
being on the best of terms with. I am 
afraid that you may not be able to induce 
these turkeys to lay in the little houses 
that you have made for them ; they prefer 
a more wild and natural location. Most 
folks place a barrel on one side and cover 
it with a little brush, making a nest of 
dry grass or similar material in it and 
leaving it in some good place where the 
turkeys wander. Often they are left to 
make their own nests in the fields and 
Avatched to learn where these are. A nest 
egg should be left in, but the others should 
be gathered daily and kept in a cool cel¬ 
lar until used for hatching, being turned 
daily. Perhaps, however, your turkeys 
will accept the quarters that you offer, 
and, at any rate, these will make good 
coops in which to confine the young tim 
keys during their babyhood. 
Young turkeys are fed very much as 
chicks are; you will find this talked about 
in these columns as Spring approaches 
and people get ready to raise turkeys and 
chickens. There is no known best way, 
each turkey raiser usually has his own 
ideas and all have more or less success 
with their own methods. 
As to diseases of turkeys, unfortunate¬ 
ly, these are too common and serious to be 
ignored. There are two, known as black¬ 
head and coccidiosis, that are very fatal 
in young turkeys, and very hard to avoid. 
The causes of these diseases are found in 
the food and drink that turkeys pick up, 
and it is practically imposible to prevent 
the young from being infected. These dis¬ 
eases have made it very difficult to raise 
turkeys where they or other fowls have 
been kept, and the only -way to bring any 
to maturity seems to be to allow the flock 
to roam, give it good care and trust to 
good fortune to bring a part of it through. 
This need not discourage you, for you 
may be able to save the greater part of 
all you hatch. It is certainly well worth 
while to try. I have a little scheme of 
my own for next Spring. I haven’t a big 
range for fowls and I expect to hatch or 
buy about six young turkeys and try to 
raise them in confinement, using coops 
and small, movable runs. I probably 
shall not succeed, but I shall have the 
fun of trying, and, if one or two out of 
six live, there will be the Thanksgiving 
and Christmas dinners provided for, only, 
I always have this trouble; after I have 
raised a young animal of any kind, I can’t 
bear to kill and eat it. The pet lamb 
always gets away to someone’s flock in 
the Fall, and even the pig, when there is 
one, has to be killed and dressed by some¬ 
one else. My idea of an ideal place to 
live is upon a farm where all the young 
things born can be raised and never killed 
or sold. After the calf becomes a cow, it 
belongs to the place, and selling it is like 
seeing one of the family go ; but you asked 
about turkeys, didn’t you? m. b. d. 
The Magnate (to hard-up suitor) : 
“Young man, d’yer know how I made my 
money?”' The Young Man: “Yes—but 
I can’t permit that to stand in tEe way 
of Muriel’s happiness !” — London Hu¬ 
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