Profitable Squab Breeding Part 6

[Ill.u.s.tration: A Flock of Mammoth White Homers in far off Alaska.]

The ill.u.s.trations on this page and succeeding pages show the rapid development of squabs from the egg to the market in four weeks.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Eggs in the Nest.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Squabs One Day Old.]

You Can Almost See Them Grow

[Ill.u.s.tration: Squabs One Week Old.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Squabs Two Weeks Old.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Squabs Three Weeks Old.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Squabs Four Weeks Old. Just Prime for Market.]

CHAPTER VII

DISEASES OF PIGEONS

The very best way to escape trouble from diseases among pigeons is to prevent them by always keeping the lofts and flies in first-cla.s.s condition. Carelessness is the worst disease that affects pigeons, and this is always manifest in the owner before it has any effect on the birds.

If the lofts are kept clean, the feed supplied is sound and sweet, the water pure and the feeding regular, the birds themselves will not often be troubled with diseases of any kind.

However, with all possible care, diseases will appear at times, and it is well to know what to do to prevent them from spreading and causing serious loss.

Epidemic diseases will never appear in a flock which has been properly cared for, unless they are brought in through putting newly purchased birds among the healthy ones.

It is just as well to use caution when introducing new birds even if there is not the least suspicion that they are not perfectly healthy.

When new stock is bought it should be kept by itself for a week to determine if it is free from disease. Not once in a hundred times will birds bought of a reliable breeder be found unhealthy, but prevention is better than cure any time, so precautions should be taken. In such cases it is much better to be over cautious than to have losses occur through lack of precaution.

GOING LIGHT

"Going Light" is the common name for tuberculosis in pigeons. It is brought on by drinking impure water, eating unsound feed, lack of good supply of grit, or from natural lack of vitality. This disease never attacks healthy and vigorous birds, but takes for its victims those which have become weak from any reason. If it is not taken in hand at once, the bird wastes away and becomes nothing but "skin and bones" and dies. The first symptoms are usually diarrhoea, the droppings being thin and watery. The bird does not eat, but sits around with its head drawn down and really starves to death because it has no appet.i.te to eat.

If a bird which has started to go light, is taken in hand at once it is very often possible to save it for future usefulness. Give it a dose of castor oil, giving about five or six drops. Put in a coop by itself and the next day give it ten drops of cod liver oil. Repeat the dose of cod liver oil every day until the bird is cured. Give it hempseed every day and be very certain the seed is sound and free from mustiness. A good health grit or tonic is the best preventive to be used.

CANKER

Canker is a disease of the same nature as diphtheria in human beings. It appears occasionally in lofts where it never before has been found, and seems to be contracted from germs which float in the air. It often attacks the birds in one nest and not the one next to it, although if it is not taken in hand it will soon spread to all the birds in the loft.

It no doubt comes from a cold very often and for that reason birds which show symptoms of having caught cold should be carefully watched. The first appearance of this disease shows in little yellowish white blisters on the lining or mucous membrane of the mouth and throat. These rapidly increase in size and spread to other parts of the throat and form a cheesy growth until they show outside around the mouth, and the bird chokes to death.

When canker appears in a squab only and the parent bird shows no sign of it, the best thing to do is to kill the squab, disinfect the loft and stay the disease in this way. It may be cured by using a little patience, unless it has gone too far before it is discovered.

Remove the sick bird from the loft and keep it in some place not adjacent to the pigeon house. Take a small sharp splinter of wood, such as sharpened match, and sc.r.a.pe the cankers off, doing this as gently as possible. This will leave a raw red spot, which should be gently swabbed with a solution of peroxide of hydrogen and water, half and half. The solution will foam as if it were boiling, but it is entirely painless and does not hurt the bird in the least. Repeat the swabbing, putting on plenty of the solution, until it ceases to foam. It does not matter if a little of the solution goes down the throat of the bird, as it is perfectly harmless when swallowed by man, beast or bird, and it is the best germicide known, being non-poisonous and odorless.

Some good authorities recommend painting the cankers with lemon juice and putting a piece of alum in the drinking water, but we prefer the peroxide of hydrogen treatment. Do not return a bird to the loft until it is entirely well, and always disinfect the loft when a case of canker is found in it. Directions for disinfecting are given further on in this chapter.

If the disease does not respond quickly to treatment, it is sometimes best to turn the affected birds out of the fly and let them s.h.i.+ft for themselves without restraint. The open air and scanty supply of food together with whatever they are able to find of nature's remedies will effect a cure in nearly every case. Sometimes a bird will leave and never return but just as well this loss as to kill the bird, or have others in the fly affected. By this method I have often cured young birds just beginning to s.h.i.+ft for themselves and older breeders in the last stages of Canker and when the bird is entirely recovered from the disease it may easily be caught and returned to the loft without endangering the rest.

ROUP

Roup sometimes appears in a loft, especially during damp weather or when the birds have not had proper housing. It is shown by the discharge from the nostrils, which has a very offensive odor. It is highly contagious in its later stages, and if not cured before it takes on the contagious form is incurable. When a bird has reached the last stages it should be killed and burned or buried far from the loft.

If a bird is noticed to have a discharge from the nostrils it should be attended to at once as the disease is very easy to cure at that time.

Put some coal oil in a sewing machine can and squirt some of the oil up each nostril and in the slit in the top of the mouth. This usually effects a cure, but if it is not better in a few hours use camphorated oil in the same way. Any druggist will supply the camphorated oil.

CHOLERA

Cholera is a dreadful disease to contend with, but no pigeon-breeder who keeps his birds properly need fear it, as it is caused by cold, dampness and filth in nine cases out of ten. It is very contagious and it is very hard to cure. Happily, the disease does not worry the careful breeder, but once it gets started in a loft it may kill off every bird in it unless vigorous measures are taken to stop its progress.

When a bird is attacked with cholera it presents a very miserable appearance. Its plumage is ruffled up, its crop fills with water which has a very offensive odor, and diarrhoea appears. The disease runs its course rapidly and soon the victim is dead.

To stop the progress of cholera in a loft, put ten drops of carbolic acid in a gallon of drinking water for two days. Feed only the very best feed. Follow the carbolic acid by putting a tablespoonful of tincture of gentian in each gallon of drinking water for ten days. Disinfect the house thoroughly twice a week until the disease disappears.

VERTIGO

Vertigo is a brain affection which is incurable, although it does not usually kill quickly. It is characterized by turning the head over the shoulder and convulsions. These convulsions often occur when anyone enters the loft, while at other times the bird is quiet. There is no cure and it is best to kill the bird to put it out of its misery, as it will never again be of any use as a breeder.

EGG-BOUND

Young hens are often affected by becoming egg-bound; that is; they are unable to force the pa.s.sage of the egg from the ovary to the nest.

When a hen shows signs of distress, catch her and carefully feel of her abdomen. If she is egg-bound, the egg can be felt. Anoint the pa.s.sage with vaseline and introduce the finger as far as possible, being careful not to break the egg. Then hold the hen over steam as hot as can be borne without scalding, until the parts are thoroughly steamed and relaxed. After this, carefully put the hen on the nest and usually she will be able to pa.s.s the egg.

PIGEON POX

Sometimes a disease similar to small pox in human beings and chicken-pox in poultry appears in a loft. This is known by small sores which appear about the head and face.

When this disease appears, wash the sores with a solution of copper sulphate or a solution of peroxide of hydrogen and water, equal parts.

Either of these solutions will cure the disease in a short time.

SUDDEN COLDS