Bad eggs are discernable easily with a little practice. At a week or ten days' old, bad eggs will have almost the appearance of a fresh laid egg, only they are shiny instead of dull on the outside, and are semi-transparent. If eggs like these are shaken gently, you can feel that they are loose and watery inside. On being held to the light and turned, the air space will shift all over. In good eggs, the air space is stationary. An egg, two or three weeks' old, having decided dark lines through it, is a sign that the squab has died in the shell. If uncertain as to an egg, it is best to leave till it develops definite signs of being bad.
Young squabs do not need assistance to get out of shell, but the empty shell can be removed later. The young squabs should not be handled too much and I do not advise any artificial feeding at all, as the old birds will give their young the best care. After eating and drinking, the old birds will fly to the nest and feed the young from their bills, just the right proportions of grain, formed into a substance called pigeon milk. The so-called pigeon milk varies according to the size of squabs and later contains whole grains and water. The squabs should never leave the nest till fully feathered, this takes about four weeks, and at that time the squabs are ready for market. To determine the exact age for marketing, look beneath the wings, as they feather out here last.
The feeding I have not gone into before, as it is contingent on the squabs.
Of course, every locality has peculiarities of its own and certain grains are cheaper in certain places. Your local dealer, no doubt, has a good pigeon feed to start with. Later you can improve and economize by mixing your own feed.
Our formula for winter feeding, is as follows:—
| Argentine Corn | 30% | Kaffir Corn | 25% | |||
| Red Wheat | 10% | Buckwheat | 20% | |||
| Peas | 15% | |||||
Summer feeding is:—
| Argentine Corn | 25% | Red Wheat | 15% | |||
| Kaffir Corn | 30% | Peas | 30% |
Using these two formulas as a basis, you can easily arrange the best formula for yourself. Corn and buckwheat are very heatening, and the latter can be entirely dispensed with in warm localities. The corn should either be Argentine Corn or small American Corn with a part cracked corn. The amount of cracked corn is determined by the quality. If you can get a good recleaned steel-cut cracked corn, fairly free from loose fibre, it is all right to use half-and-half with the whole American Corn. Otherwise use 25% cracked to 75% whole corn.
All grains must be reasonably cured and dried. Do not buy new crops of grains until well seasoned. Inferior grains like heated corn, or wheat that has sprouted, are all to be avoided. Scratch feed is not to be recommended as a steady diet, but will serve for a while. Most scratch feeds contain rye, barley and oats, all three of which I do not recommend as pigeon feed. Scratch feed also lacks peas, and these are the finest fattening and strengthening food that squabs can get.