Pigeons.
IF you are not already provided, the best time to furnish
yourself with pigeons is in the month of May or August, be-
cause at those times they are young, and in fine condition. There
are various sorts of pigeons, such as carriers, pouters,
runts, tumblers, &c. but the two principal are, the tame and
dovecote. The former of these is no less valued for its beauty
than the largeness of its body; but the latter, which is the
kind usually kept in dovecotes, and thence receives its name, is
smaller, and less beautiful.
Tame pigeons generally produce but two young ones at a
brood; but they make some amends for the smallness of the
number, by the frequency of their hatching; for, if well fed
and looked after, they will have young ones twelve or thirteen
times in the year. In chusing them the beauty is generally
most regarded; but care should be taking to pair them well,
because, in this case, they will be the more firmly attached to
each other.
Particular care must be taken to keep them clean, for they
dislike dirt, though they make a great deal of it. Their best
food is tares, or white pease, and they should have some gravel
scattered about their house, and clean water set in different
places. A great deal of care must be taken to preserve them
from vermin, and their nests from the starlings and other birds,
as the latter will suck their eggs, and the former entirely de-
stroy them.
The common, or dovecote pigeon, is a sort that not only
demands, but deserves very great attention; and of this breed
is properest that which is called the common blue pigeon. This
has the advantage of many other kinds, in that it is hardier,
and will live in the most severe weather. But if the breed
should be too small, it may be mended, by putting in a few
tame pigeons of the most common kind, and the least con-
spicuous in their colours, that the rest may the better take to
them from their being more like themselves.
The ringdove has been introduced into the dovecote, by fet-
ting the eggs under a common pigeon; they will in this case
live, and take their chance among the others; and they have
two advantages over them, the one in their largeness, and the
other in their hardiness; for they will live on any food, and
endure the most severe weather.
A proper proportion of the sexes should be observed among
pigeons; for there is nothing so hurtful as having too many
cocks, especially if you keep the larger or tame kind. An
abundance of cocks will thin the dovecote, for they will grow
quarrelsome, and beat others away; till, by degrees, a very
thriving dovecote shall be, by this single mistake, reduced to a
very poor condition.
The best and most easy method of making a dovecote is, to
build the wall with clay mixed with straw: they may be made
four feet or more in thickness; and while they are wet, it is
easy to cut holes in them with a chisel or other instrument.
But of whatever materials the cote is created, it should be
white washed frequently on the outside. Pigeons, as we have
already observed, are cleanly birds; they love the appearance
of neatness; and, besides this, the colour renders the building
more conspicuous.
With respect to the food for pigeons, exclusive of the peas
and tares already mentioned, barley is very proper, as it not
only strengthens them, but promotes their laying: buck-wheat
will likewise have the same effects. In general, however, the
common pigeons in a dovecote take care of themselves, and
need little food from their keeper.
Pigeons are very fond of salt, and therefore they should
have a large heap of clay laid near the dovecote, and let the
brine drain with in the same, be frequently beaten among it;
or you may make a kind of mortar with lime, sands, clay, and
salt, which they will peck with great satisfaction. When it is
thus made on purpose for them, it is best to make it thin, and
keep it so by often mixing brine with it.
The use of salt is of much more advantage to pigeons than
merely the pleasing them; for nothing will recover them so
readily from sickness; a mixture of bay-salt and cummin-seed
being with them an universal remedy for most diseases.
Various methods have been used to make pigeons love their
habitation. Some have recommended the use of assafoetida,
and others of cummin-seed for this purpose; but the best
method is, to keep up constantly the salted clay as before de-
scribed; for it is what they love, and they will therefore stay
where they can have it in plenty.
Pigeons are sometimes apt to be scabby on the backs and
breasts, which distemper will kill the young, and make the old
ones so faint, that they cannot take their flights. In order to
cure this distemper, take a quarter of bay-salt, and as much
common-salt, a pound of fennel-seed, a pound of dill-seed, as
much cummin-seed, and an ounce or two of assafoetida, mix
all these together with a little wheat-flour, and some fine
worked clay; when it is well beaten together, put it into two
pots, and take them in an oven. When they are cold, lay
them longways on the stand or table in the dovehouse, and the
pigeons, by pecking it, will be soon cured.