Evening star., 1915-12-26
CARE MEANS SUCCESS
IN SQUAD BUSINESS
Advisable to Start With Small Plant
Unless Big Capital Is
Available.
Many Failures Due to Poor Selection
of Stock-Buy Good Birds and
Feed Properly.
BY WILLIAM E. RICE.
Copyright. 1s15.)

Ihe pigeon business is a fever. It at
tacks one like germ and Is hard to
get out of the system. When the fever
strlkes you there Is but one OF two
thlngs to do. Either get 1t wholly out
Oh your system and talk pigs to keep
your mind off pigeons, or surrender to
the 1ever, treat the case seriously and
make the condition healthy one.
Assemble your plant according to the
capital. The house must be equipped
properly. and If the investment Is not
| great enough for large houses, then the
complete plant must be a small one.
Locations are matter of Importance,
but that can be decided without en-
dangering your purse
Avoid Cheap Stock.
Having the plant, there arises the
most important problem that will con-
front you-the selection of your birds.
The 81 pair birds are the most ex
pensive that you can buy. They are
not worth a dollar or you would not
| be able to get them for that money.
One-dollar birds are the kind that
never give you much promise, the kind
that no one will guarantee in writing
When you buy birds for less than 81 or
! you are simply throwing your money
: away.
| You will not have been in the busi-
ness great while before you will
, homers are hard to get. Just read over
| the big advertisements of the many
| bargains that are offered in birds, ad-
vertisements that tell you that these
one-do1lar birds are bred with homers,
and all such misleading facts, and then
Snpnd
Homers Give Best Results.
Buy homers. There are none better.
They are vigorous, healthy birds, and
always give results that are satisfac-
| tory. Buy from a dealer that will give
you a written guarantee upon every
pair of birds.
Assuming that you have secured the
right birds, you must give undivided
attention to the development of your
plant and care for your stock. No sue
cess can be attained by haphaZard
work. If the birds are not properly
looked after. not properly watered. fed
and house cleaned, not protected from
mice. vermin and the many kindred
ills that pigeons are heir to, you will
not get sufficient income to pay your
feed bill.
Saving Young Breeders.
Save young birds for breeders, May.
June and July, the best three months
in the year. In saving young birds
you want only the best; save only from
your best breeders and good feeders
that give you the largest squads.
After the squads are about four
weeks old they begin to go out of the
nest. Leave them in the house with
the old birds about three weeks more.
rhnv, r. fhnr f1nxy cti
for themselves.
Put them in a coop by themselves and
don't let them out of doors for two or
three days, then let them out in the fly
or aviary. AT night see that they are
all in the house.
The reason many amateurs lose so
many young breeders is because they
DOM watch them carefully enough.
They let them stay out in the fly at
night and sometimes get soaking wet
by the rain.
Always give them all they can eat;
keep feed by them at all times and feed
plenty of hemp and millet seed while
they are growing.
Any one having a flock of SQUAD
breeders should put in new stock every
year. Then they win not in-breed. If
you have fifty pair of young birds for
breeders send to some good reliable
breeder and get fifty pair of his good
breeders, youngsters, to cross in with
your young birds.
Mating Young Birds With New Stock
Take your twenty-five young cock
birds and put them in coop by them
selves, also twenty-five hens from your
stock. Now put twenty-five hen birds
that you have bought from some breed
er and put your twenty-fv cock birds
in with them.
When these birds begin to mate up
they should be watched and caught in
pairs fast as they mate. They should
then be banded and put in coops by
themselves.
Two can catch pair of birds mating
up easier than one. Always catch the
cock bird first, then the hen bird. 1t is
a good idea to band the cock bird on
the left leg and the hen bird on the
right leg.
Present Conditions Not Good.
During the last eighteen months
prices of grain have scared to such a
figure that 1t is almost impossible to
pay feed bills. Many have been forced
to sell their squads at great sacri-
fce; they could not afford to carry
them over through the winter months
owing to the price of grains and be-
cause there is little demand for squads.
The writer knows of many breeders
in a radius of twenty-five miles who
have sold out their plants to dealers
who buy up all kinds of birds. Some
of - these plants have sold as low as
II cents per pair and the dealers have
put the same birds on the market for
81 pair.
plants this year that 1t will make busi-
ness better for those who are carrying
on the business and for those going
into the business.
yho
and has a good plant and carries his
birds through this winter and pays
his feed bill will come out all righ4
next year.
deaths in Christmas Celebration.