GETTING THE BIRDS READY
Early in January the birds should have their nails trimmed, if overlong, to prevent punctured eggs or accidental harm to the nestlings. Allow the hen as much flying exercise as possible. If you have no flight cage, the added exercise she will get in the breeding cage, with the partitions removed, will be helpful.
In early February the regular seed diet should be supplemented with egg food. This is prepared by sieving a 30-minute boiled egg and mixing with toasted bread crumbs etc., to a crumbly consistency. See “[Egg Food]” in “[General Care]” section. A little poppy seed sprinkled over the portion given each bird is beneficial. A daily teaspoonful of this mixture for each bird is sufficient until the early part of March. About once a week scatter a little ground oyster shell on the cage floor with the gravel, and keep a cuttle bone in the cage at all times. A few tender dandelion leaves, when procurable, are relished once a week. Some breeders like to use freshly sprouted seed at the stage when the sprout is a quarter of an inch long or less and also greens they raise themselves from the regular bird seed mixture. The early part of January is a good time to practice raising these greens. Just be sure that there is no evidence of mold growth on the sprouted seed when it is fed.
Small diameter perches for the chicks just weaned can be secured in advance. A visit to your shrubs or grape arbor will easily provide a handful of suitable length perches of moderately rough surface, from ¼″ to ⅜″ in diameter. Starting about the first of March a little niger seed should be given the hen in a treat cup two or three times weekly. This oily seed should help prevent egg binding. At this time both the solid and wire partitions can be put back in the breeding cage, and the cock changed to his half of the cage.