Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1912-05-09
AaU1ce
From
The
PonItr-y
Doctor

though the work DOCIOr
en- 10y b ! e and
even fascinating. the latter contained
problems that it was imperative 10
solve. and involved such arduous and
incessant labor that until order was
brought out of chaos the peasurable
interest was almost counterbalanced by
anxiety Six hundred of the two thou
sand pairs were homers imported from
Belgium: the other fourteen hundred
pairs were assembled in small iocks
from numerous sources in this country.
This was about ten years ago. ] am
now firmly convinced that. if | could
have purchased from some reliable
breeder three hundred or four hundred
pairs of birds that were vigorous and
free from disease. even though | had
paid as much money as for the two
thousand pairs, II would have been
more profitable and would have saved
me a great deal of very pu2zlng work
and worry.
In those days few SQUAD ranches were
run with any systematic plan for pro-
ducing reliable breeding birds For
years most of the available pigeons
had been flying round innumerable
barns in the country. and consisted for
the most part OF old. worn out breed
ers and a large excess of male birds
A
gradually increased these birds were
shipped from the country to city deal
ers. who sorted them and sold the best
looking ones to beginners in squab
raising.
Advice for the Novice.
| Needless to say. such ventures us
ually resulted in failure. fos@it Is al
most Impossible to Judge the breeding
qualities of pigeons by their appear
! oil Nv
with pigeons had taught me what
should be expected from good birds and
how to take care of them. but ! had
never before faced the necessity of
culling from two thousand pairs a few
hundred pairs of really good producers.
! If had not loved the work and been
sure that each time / discarded q single
unproductive bird or pair | was inn
proving the flock I should have given
up in disgust. 1t was a slow and te
dious process and TO novice would
have been most bewildering and al
most hopeless.
My advice to a beginner is to start
with few good birds from a reliable
breeder who can guarantee the age,
sex mating and health of the stock. and
who will give a three months trial Of
their breeding qualities Then the be-
glnner should grow into the business
| only in proportion to the success at
tanned. keeping records of the produc-
| ton of each pair and discarding those
that fail in production. From such
starts ! know of many successful de
velopments, but from larger begin
ming the result is almost always fail
ure.
In the early days there was no cas-
lily distinguished colored bands such as
are now used, and If many birds in a
pen were apparently alike coored
strings tapes and the like were fast
ened to the right leg of the male and
the left leg of the female. Each bird
of a pair had the same color but Il
was different color from that Of any
other pair in the pen. Some birds
could be recognized by peculiarities of
| plumage, but the method was cum
bersome and slow.
The bands which are now used have
two strips Of celluloid. reinforced on the
INSIDE with aluminium stiff enough to
hold securely. They can he bent round
a lead pencil opened enough to insert
| a pigeons leg and then pinched shut
again These bands are usually made
in fifty different colors or combina-
tions 70 colors. Each pair of birds is
therefore known by its color; r for red
r for red and blue. w for white
and yellow, and so on A bird can
| be Identified a a glance as Il leaves
| It's NUMBERED nest or dIlgntS on IL.
Usually only twenty or twenty Ave of
the most easily distinguished colors or
combinations OF colors are used, as 1t
IS now generally conceded that for the
highest class of squad production bet
ter results are obtained when only
twenty or twenty five pairs Of pigeons
are confired in one pen.
Pigeons are naturally very hardy and
| prolific and If the owner is careful to
avoid inbreeding and to provide proper
breeding quarters and clean feed and
water it Is not difficult to keep them so.
The best nesting material that | have
found Is tobacco stems cut in lengths OF
from six to eight inches. in most squab
ranches the nesting places are built OF
boards by - inches wide and from
5 IL to 6 feet long. The edges are
fastened 20 the walls about foot apart
and drawer like shelves slide in be-
tween them on cleats. These drawers
have no sides except the long boards
which support them. but have q front
piece about four inches high They
can be easily cleaned by dumping the
contents into wheelbarrow or other
receptacle The tobacco stems are
scattered on one part OF the inside pen
floor so that they may be kept dry
and the pigeons may conveniently help
themselves II. Butcher in Country
Gentleman.