The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1906-02-21
Success With Homers.
Florida.

of the beginner at squad Dreed1ng
are very clearly set forth in an article
in Poultry. 1t will be seen that it is
not all profit at the start, like every
other business, it has to be learned
and experience is often dear school.
We would like to thank you for your
Practical SQUAD Book. 1t has pulled
us out of a veritable Slough of De
spOnd i'm the matter Of squad breeding.
In early June 1908 we ordered twen-
ty-four pairs of guaranteed mated
Homers'' from a squad company that
may as well be nameleSS; and paid a
good price for them, thinking that we
were getting the best. We were told
i'm an accompanying book of directions
to put in a standing supply of feed,
and, if we could not see to the
birds every day they would see to
themselves, and various other things
of like sort.
However, we never did leave the
birds without daily attention; and the
Feather, which we were taking in the
interest of our poultry, helped us out
greatly.
We received fOrty-siX birds instead
of forty weight, and when we reported
the deficiency we were told that the
company "wOuld send the missing pair
with our next order;" our next order
has never been sent, it never will be,
so we have never had the other pair
for which we paid full price. We
lost four birds, from canker and going
light Immediately upon arrival, but
did not lay that up, as it might have
happened anywhere; but what we did
object to was, that out of the remain
ing fOrty-twO pigeons, there were just
four mated pairs, and just four they
remained all summer by the next fall
we managed to learn a little about
mating, and by January we had six
teen mated pairs, but the remaining
minated ones broke up the nests and
played havoc generally, and we could
not tell minated from mated as many
were alike, and all were so wild that
not one would remain on the nests
when we entered the house, and so it
went on until July 1904 we saw
notice of your book, and procured it.
Being gifted with logged determine
ton not to be wOrSted by those pig
cons, We set to work to study the book
and then the birds 1--WE asked pigeon
expert to come and look at the Homers
when we first bought them, and he
told us they were good HOmers, but
that very few of them seemed to be
matedD; we thought if they were truly
HOmers we might do something with
them.
By this time we had gentled them,
and after a pair had raised a set Of
squads, and nested again, we caught
each one i'm turn from the nest and
banded them in pairs; and when we
had so banded all that were nesting
we caught all the remaining ones and
put them i'm another house; as we had
marked all squads we had raised it
was easy to tell the pigeons we had
bought; and there were twenty nine
cocks and thirteen hens in the forty
two birds that had been sold as
guaranteed mated HOmers,' and one
apparently mated pair, proved barren.
By saving squads in that spring, and
selling all the remainder of the year,
at the present time of writing we have
fOrty-five mated pairs, and forty-seven
grown squads, with thirty-siX others
about half grown; for six months they
we're dead loss, for six more they
scarcely paid expenses, but in the last
year they have paid back the loss of
the first six months, fed themselves,
and still have omothino fO thair credit