Making Pigeons Pay - A Manual of Practical Information on the Management, Selection, Breeding, Feeding, and Marketing of Pigeons
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Making Pigeons Pay - A Manual of Practical Information on the Management, Selection, Breeding, Feeding, and Marketing of Pigeons - Wendell Mitchell Levi
Chapter I
SQUABS AS A FOOD
IN ANTIQUITY
THE YOUNG of pigeons has been recognized as a delicious and nourishing food for many centuries. As far back as we can trace recorded history, we find the young pigeon a preferred article of diet among many peoples of antiquity. An Egyptian bill of fare about five thousand years old records their use at that time. Among the ancient Hebrews their desirability as a choice article of food was well recognized. They called them young pigeons
and not squabs,
for the word squab
has been used in English speaking countries only for the past couple of centuries. Abraham, about 1913 B.C., was ordered to use a young pigeon as a sacrifice to God (Gen. 15:9). The subsequent Mosaic laws were very strict in approving various foods and especially so because of the existing hot weather and consequent quick spoilage. Doves (actually small pigeons) and young pigeons are the only fowl suitable, under the law of Moses, to be used as sacrifices. Chickens, ducks, and geese, though raised at that time, were not acceptable (Lev. 1:14; 12:6; 14:21-22). Thus we have written proof from our own Old Testament of the superiority of the flesh of the young pigeon over that of all other fowl.
The ancient Greeks and Romans also were fully cognizant of its superior food value. We find in their early writings many references to raising pigeons as a food. Socrates discusses their breeding. Aristotle discourses on their characteristics and habits and actually describes five distinct breeds of domestic pigeons. In Rome about two thousand years ago (300 B.C. to 100 A.D.) pigeons were in a high state of cultivation and Roman writers described pigeon raising for food purposes in great detail. Varro, Cato the Elder, Pliny, Juvenal, and Columella write upon pigeon raising as a source of food in the most surprising of minute detail.
On the European Continent
We find that young pigeons or squabs have been used as a choice article of food for many centuries on the European continent. In Spain and in Italy much thought and time were devoted to their cultivation, especially in breeding the parent birds larger and larger. As a result of the work of these early Spanish and Italian breeders, we have the Runt today, the very largest of all domestic pigeons. The French desired a larger breed and they created the Mondain. Belgium and Holland also strove to breed a larger bird. In France and England, especially during feudal days, conditions were adverse to the raising of squabs generally among the people. This was the time of large manorial estates. Many of the lords of the manors were very selfish. They desired squabs in plentiful supply but only for their own personal use. They did not want their subjects to raise them. As a consequence, many laws were passed forbidding anyone but the rulers to raise pigeons. In England the rulers’ birds were kept in large pigeon houses called dovecotes.
Built soundly and often very expensively, many of these fine dovecotes still stand today. The masters fed their pigeons little. They found their food by ranging over the crops of the feudal tenants and the law did not allow these poor people to complain. Since for many centuries England had no crop with which to support cattle through the winter months, squabs were especially relished during the cold weather as a highly prized dish among the English nobility. It was only with the introduction of the turnip and other green winter crops that cattle could be kept the year around.
In the United States
It is uncertain just when the first domestic pigeons were imported to this country. The probabilities are that the early colonists brought them along with other domestic animals and fowl. Certain it is that on many old South Carolina plantations there stood pigeon houses of venerable age. General Greene, in 1785, wrote that his Mulberry Plantation (near Savannah, Georgia) had a pigeon house for a thousand birds. As a boy, about 1900, I saw numbers of four-poster
houses, holding two hundred to three hundred pigeons, on farms and even behind our City Hall and on our railroad right-of-way. Apparently, throughout the nineteenth century, many raised pigeons for their own and their friends’ use. The commercial industry of squab raising had not developed. This was probably because of the abundance of wild game birds, grouse, prairie hen, quail, and others which were on the bill of fare of the better hotels. When inroads on our wild life became apparent, game laws were passed which prevented their commercial sale, and squabs rapidly gained high favor as a worthy substitute. The phrase, hot bird and cold bottle
of the earlier part of this century is epigrammatic of its popularity. From about 1900 they consistently grew in public favor until today they, with filet mignon, have become the choicest of meats, especially for formal dinners, both in hotels and private homes. Nearly all leading hotels, town and country clubs, and hospitals feature them. Steamship lines and railroad dining coaches also use many, especially when the price is low. Even now, however, there are many people who are unacquainted with the fine flavor and nourishing qualities of squab meat. For these reasons the future of commercial squab raising in this country is most promising.
HISTORY OF THE SQUAB INDUSTRY IN THE U. S. A.
As we have just seen, commercial squab breeding in this country began only with this century. This makes this an industry still in its infancy, with plenty of opportunity for those who master it.
In 1901, Elmer C. Rice first published his Manual on the Breeding of Squabs by the Robinson Method. The publication of this booklet year after year for over fifty years, together with well written advertisements in leading periodicals, did much to bring the possibilities in the business to public notice. In 1902, Johnson’s Pigeon Ranch (near Los Angeles, Calif.) contained thousands of birds and brought its owner much publicity in this and other countries.
Photo courtesy of Oakwood Farm, Irving, Texas.
WHITE KING SQUABS
These squabs are not quite old enough for killing.
Contemporary literature in 1904 states that there were three thousand men and women in southern New Jersey engaged in raising squabs. The number was probably exaggerated but they were so numerous that the Jersey Squab
gained a reputation for its high qualities. Prices then ranged from $1.50 to $5.00 per dozen.
About this time another manual, Money in Squabs, was written by Long and Brinton. In 1906, Orange Judd Publishing Company, Inc. (then of New York City) published a small book, Squabs for Profit, by Rice and Cox. These several publications did much to popularize squab raising. By 1907 there were hundreds of commercial lofts scattered throughout the country. Bridgeton, New Jersey, was a noted center of squab culture. Many squabs from southern New Jersey were shipped to Philadelphia and, from this, the term, Philadelphia Squab
arose. Many prominent squab raisers of that period can be recalled: William E. Rice, George H. Hughes, Alexander McGraw, Arthur H. Cushman, Eugene G. Giroux (popularizer of the commercial White King), Howard Butcher, G. M. Hubbell, C. R. King, and others.
In these early days only Homers, Duchess, Antwerps, Dragoons, and other small breeds were raised and the commercial squab was, therefore, small, the largest being about ten pounds to the dozen. Then came the importation of the Carneau from France and Belgium, the creation of the White King, the Swiss Mondaine, and the Giant Homer. Squab sizes were increased from three-quarters of a pound to one pound and over, dressed weight, and its popularity as a food increased as its size was increased.
Through the years hundreds of people throughout the states raised squabs successfully. Today three squab farms, all in business over thirty years, are the largest in the country. They are Dyer and Davis, at Newfield, New Jersey, Geo. W. Middleton and Sons, Norristown, Pa. and Palmetto Pigeon Plant, Sumter, S. C. (the latter two—no breeding stock for sale). Palmetto Pigeon Plant is now the largest in this country and thought to be the largest in the world. There are some not so large but well run, like Carpenter Squab Ranch, La Canada, Calif., J. W. and Alice Sieverling, Oakwood Farm, Irving, Texas, James W. Lorio, Magnolia Pigeon Plant, Lakeland, La., J. Holland Webster, Afton Farms, Elizabeth City, N. C., and many others.
A visit to any of these farms and an interview with the owner will convince one that squab raising is a healthy, outdoor pursuit, with good possibilities for the future. The product produced is a superior one and the industry is not yet crowded or overdone.
Nature of Squab Meat
An examination of the qualities of squab meat readily discloses why it has been so popular as a food for so many centuries. There is no other domestic bird or animal which reaches market age so quickly. A baby squab hatched today, weighing under an ounce, weighs approximately a pound dressed within three and one-half to four weeks. The growth of a squab is so rapid that it can be readily seen from day to day. Birds in commercial plants feed their young only the cleanest of cereal grains and legumes. As a result of this rapid growth and clean diet, the squab meat is tender beyond description. Even the poorest cook can not, by careless or inefficient cooking, toughen it. The natural flavor is delicious but may be enhanced by good cooking. Of course, human tastes differ but to the average taste, squab meat is superior to most fowl and many meats. The squab does not have the over-richness or gaminess of flavor, which many dislike and which duck and goose do have. Squab meat lacks the dryness of flesh which some complain of in turkey meat. Compared with chicken, probably the most popular of all fowl meats, it is tenderer, has a richer flavor, and does not have the dryness which is often found in chickens unless they are very competently cooked. The meat of very young lamb is quite tender but not as tender as that of squabs and young lamb has a flavor that does not appeal to everyone. About the only meat upon our national market today that seriously competes with squab is filet mignon. A good filet mignon is always tender and has a flavor that quite justifiably appeals to many. The size of the squab fits in exactly with formal serving. No carving at the table is necessary and individual portions are of the exact same size, which is a real asset.
Photo courtesy of Oakwood Farm, Irving, Texas.
DRESSED SQUABS READY FOR MARKET
They appeal to the eye—are delicious to eat.
Again, squab meat lends itself to a great variety of cooking—roasted, with or without stuffing, broiled, fried, smothered, in fact any way that the most enterprising cook may desire. (See recipes, p. 253).
The meat is extremely digestible and anyone who has eaten a squab will verify this fact. Doctors and nurses are acquainted with this characteristic and about the first meat that a convalescing patient is allowed to eat is squab. Squabs are an extremely popular source of diet at better hospitals. Squab broth is high in nutritive value and frequently prescribed by physicians who know.
Chapter II
SHALL I RAISE SQUABS?
SHALL I RAISE squabs? Shall I go into the squab raising business?
Literally tens of thousands of men and women in this country have asked themselves these questions in the past six decades. Thousands more will ask them now and in the years to come. No one can give the correct answer to you as the question is one that you, and you alone, can decide. In this volume the advantages and the pitfalls of the business are placed before you fairly and truthfully. Most of the fundamentals of pigeon raising are noted herein, but in brief and digested form. However, should it be desired to make a more extensive study of the subject it is suggested that the reader consult the author’s THE PIGEON
* a large encyclopedic volume which discusses in detail the principles and practices of scientific pigeon raising.
SQUAB RAISING AS A BUSINESS
Earlier in this present century an unprecedented number of people felt an urge to go into the squab business. There was an allurement seldom seen in similar producing lines, except perhaps in rabbit culture. There was a general impression that, even though one had failed to succeed in other pursuits, here was a business that could not fail—all that one had to do was to buy a hundred pairs of pigeons, toss them a little food each day, see that they had water to drink, and sit back and become rich. This idea of the pigeon business was assisted by extravagant advertisements by numerous pigeon salesmen,
who were not breeders themselves but bought and resold birds. In many cases, the would-be pigeon man commenced without sufficient capital, training, experience, and possibly patience. He either bought a few birds and tired of them before he had a sufficient number to provide an income, or over-invested in breeding stock, not knowing how to purchase them intelligently or how to handle them after he had bought them. Wresting a living from the soil or making a livelihood producing anything is never a soft life.
Photo courtesy of Palmetto Pigeon Plant, Sumter, S. C.
PALMETTO PIGEON PLANT, SUMTER, S. C.
This model plant was started in 1923 with about 80 pigeons. Today it contains 518 pens, which house over 30,000 adult birds. It is thought to be the largest in the world. Photograph taken in 1960. (No breeding stock for sale.)
The raising of pigeons for the commercial sale of their squabs is today, has been for years, and will be in the future, a sound business venture, provided one possesses the necessary ability and requirements to make it a success, namely, that he understands the work, likes it, and is willing to labor. The raising of squabs in the United States has reached the stage where it is no longer an experiment or a game
but an industry. The demand has been created for many years, and the price is usually sufficient to give a good return.
Advantages of the Squab Business
There are numerous advantages in the commercial raising of squabs. In the first place, one is his own master and has his own business. The occupation is pleasant, without the customary nervous tension and moments of strain which accompany many indoor business pursuits. It is healthful, for it keeps one out-of-doors during most of the day. A man who has worked in an office or indoors for most of his life may be much improved physically after a number of years of squab raising. It gives one the feeling that he, himself, is a producer and not a parasite, living off of the production of others. If the prospective pigeoneer likes birds or animals, he is much more apt to succeed than if he does not.
In addition to these general considerations, there are a number of concrete advantages, which, for the sake of emphasis, are numbered below:
1. Pigeons are not so susceptible to plague-like diseases, which are apt to run through an entire flock, as are chickens and other poultry. Squabbing pigeons are kept confined and thus are not as apt to be exposed to the germs of disease as are poultry on range.
Photo courtesy of George W. Middleton and Sons, Norristown, Pa.
WHITEHALL FARMS
The owners of this beautiful pigeon farm originally raised chickens. They experimented with a few pigeons and liked them so much that they gradually converted their business from chickens to pigeons. Today it is one of the most outstanding pigeon farms of this country. (No breeding stock for sale.)
2. A breeding pair of pigeons has an average production life of five and one-half years, and usually may be kept that long before replacement. Laying hens must be replaced every two years and some poultry raisers replace them at the end of one laying year.
3. The parent pigeons incubate their own eggs, and feed, protect, and raise their own young. The baby chick must receive constant attention and be transferred from battery to battery and often from room to room.
Photo courtesy of Dyer and Davis, Newfield, New Jersey.
DYER AND DAVIS
Central building of the Dyer and Davis pigeon plant, Newfield, New Jersey, one of the largest pigeon farms in the United States. Unfortunately, only a small portion of the pens is visible.
4. The squab reaches market age in four weeks from hatching, a speed of growth equalled by no other market bird or animal. There is a quick and constant income from the sale of squabs.
5. The pigeon house protects the pigeons from the ravages of marauding animals and birds, which often take heavy toll of poultry on range.
6. Pigeons can stand excessive heat and cold. They breed well in the tropics. Their resistance to extreme cold is well indicated by our city pigeons, which roost without harm on exposed ledges of city buildings in the coldest weather.
7. Squab prices are usually good and customarily average considerably more than chickens.
8. The squab producer has little competition. The field is uncrowded. If he does not sell his product locally or nearby, it is because he has not properly developed his own market. Most people, once having eaten a squab, desire to eat it again.
9. The houses necessary for squab raising and those for egg (chicken) production cost about the same but producing chickens for market with modern battery-broiler equipment requires expensive buildings, battery equipment, ventilators, heaters, etc., which are not necessary in raising squabs.
Photo courtesy of Dyer and Davis, Newfield, New Jersey.
DYER AND DAVIS
Another view of the Dyer and Davis plant showing some of the long breeding pens.
10. The initial capital investment for pigeons is less than for other kinds of poultry production; the ground space required is far less.
Disadvantages of Squab Raising
So that the foregoing description may not appear entirely too rosy, and that the beginner may see the other side of the picture and give the problem well rounded consideration, there is listed below the features of squab raising which are not so attractive and which are the most disagreeable phases of the work:
Photo courtesy of The Carpenter Squab Ranch, La Canada, Calif.
THE CARPENTER SQUAB RANCH
1. The price of squabs during the summer months is often poor. During the depression they sold in summer as low as thirty cents per pound. There was little, if any, profit in them at this figure. Unless the squab breeder has facilities and capital for freezing his summer output, he is handicapped. At the same time, it is true that most market products have their seasonal lows. Since 1942, summer prices have been fair, but it is questionable whether such conditions will continue.
2. In raising pigeons, the breeder must carry the overhead of feeding the adult pigeons the year around. During the summer months of low prices, the battery-broiler producer can close down, for he has no adult birds to feed, but not so with the squab raiser. He can not shut down.
3. Pigeons require constant year around attention and no vacation is possible, with freedom from worry, unless a competent assistant is at hand. This is felt most keenly while the plant is small, for, when larger, a competent assistant may be hired and trained. This objection may be partly overcome by a running water system and by the rather recent