I do not intend to deal fully with the subject of feeding, I will therefore be content, insofar as this article is concerned, to touch only on a few points connected with feeding which apply specifically to Africans.
If maple peas are included in the mixture they must be small, otherwise there is a danger of a bird, or birds, being choked. Because of this risk some fanciers do not use maples; instead they increase the proportion of tares. At Fairfield, however, we have always been able to obtain peas sufficiently small and we have never excluded this valuable grain from the menu.
I would not at any time feed Africans on the floor – always in pots of hoppers. Whilst the system of throwing on the ground just as much corn as the birds can consume at one meal time is all right for some of the long-faced breeds, it will not do for Owls. Owing to the formation of the beak our birds vary in their ability to pick up grain, and unless there is provided more than a sufficiency of food for each meal those who can eat easily will satisfy themselves, whilst the others will be inadequately fed. Some Owls, whilst they can eat with ease from a pot, cannot do so from the floor.
If you do not hopper feed, then I advise my readers to adopt that compromise between hopper and ground feeding which I describe in ‘Pigeons of Today’ in the following words:
Pots are provided, a supply of corn is put into each, they are left for an hour or two, then any corn remaining is emptied into a bucket – or the pots are covered – and the birds have no further opportunity of securing feed until the next meal time.
Grit is more important than many fanciers realise. It is absolutely essential, in my opinion, that it should contain a high percentage of calcium.
Those who read my articles on ‘Feeding’, will appreciate the fact that I have developed some somewhat revolutionary ideas on this subject, which I shall certainly put into operation in my own lofts if ever, in the years t o come, I have once more the pleasure o owning a stud of pigeons.
Here is a tip I can give you with my blessing attached to it: Once weekly put ammoniated citrate of iron into the drinking water just sufficient to colour it to a medium shade. This is a splendid tonic.
I need not stress the importance of strict cleanliness and meticulous attention to all details in the management of a stud of African Owls and the correct execution of the duties and the application of the principles of good management which are described elsewhere.
W Watmough
Read the other parts of this series in Feathered World