Badger Squab Yards -- Raising Pigeons "Back In The Day"

          Back in the day when my dad was a teenager he started his own business supplying squabs to food suppliers as well as other farmers.   In an addition to the family personal mail box, he created a sign for his business which has now come to me.  Their home, Spring Brook Farm, was just a couple of miles outside of Kendall, Wisconsin (near Tomah or Sparta or further yet to La Crosse -- if you know your way around Wisconsin!).

In 1996, four years before he died, I was able to corral my dad and got him to dictate memories of life on the farm.  One afternoon he discussed his foray into breeding and selling pigeons.

          "When I began high school I started myself another project.  I started raising White King pigeons and selling breeding stock and marketable squabs.  I continued with pigeon raising until after I graduated from high school (about a total of four years).
         "I started out raising pigeons with four pair, bought from a pigeon raiser in Melrose, Massachusetts.  I bred the flock up until I had about 38 mated pairs, plus pairs that I had sold.  I had one big male pigeon that I hand fed when he was pushed out of his nest when he was little.  Normally pigeons lay two eggs at a time, but somehow this pair laid three.  They kept feeding two of them but just left this one aside, so I took him in and started hand-feeding him by chewing up grain and stuff and feeding him with my lips.  While he started out small, he became one of the biggest pigeons in my loft, weighing almost two pounds.  The average male pigeon weighs about 1 and 1/4 lb.  Toby and I became real close.  He liked to ride around on my shoulder or sometimes on the top of my head.  When he would ride on my head I would like to run fast to see if he would get airborne.  I liked to run with him with his wings outstretched.  Sometimes I could do it, get him airborne.
         "Toby was generally a good -natured bird.  My parents raised Silver-Laced Wyandotte chickens, which are rather large, probably averaging about 12-13 pounds for hens and 14 to 16 pounds. for roosters.  Sometimes when we would feed the chickens, Toby would decide, “Hey, there’s a free meal.  I’ll have some too.”  He would saunter up to the long feeding trough and commence to eat with the chickens.  Now if the chickens treated him right and didn’t make any bad moves toward him, he would just eat with them.  But let one chicken forget its manners and peck at that pigeon, and Toby would clear all the chickens away from the feeding trough by just slapping them with his wings.

         "He had powerful wings.  He knocked some of those chickens silly, they’d stagger around the yard because he always hit them in the head.  After he had finished all he wanted, then they could go back and eat.  It didn’t take the chickens long to learn not to make a bad pass at Toby.  That pigeon could really hit hard with his wings.  One time I happened to reach toward one of the chickens when he swung at the chicken and he accidentally hit my hand instead.  It raised a welt on my hand."

My father introduced my mother to his favorite pigeon, Toby and they also became friends. 

Here is mom with Toby at the family's farm and it looks like one of the apparently oft-abused chickens is loitering in the background.

        

About 25 years later we enjoyed feeding the pigeons in Trafalgar Square in London -- this photo of my father and brother is one of my favorites!  And it always starts in my mind the full orchestration of the sound track "Feed The Birds" from the Mary Poppins movie whenever I see it.

 

And even a few decades further, my daughter raised pigeons for a little while and we all had a very fun time with them.  She also hand raised a chick she named Amber.  The pigeons would fly around the neighborhood during the day and would come home in the evening and settle in for the night.  She became interested in pigeons partly by hearing Grandpa's stories but also by reading the Mysteries Through History chapter book called The Night Fliers.  It seems that none of our family pigeon photos are digital, so none are readily at hand.

Two Grandma's and a Mom, Early Thoughts for Mother's Day

Forty-two years ago this month my maternal grandmother Kathryn, who was born a Vandervort (with roots back to very  early New Amsterdam), passed away.  She died on April 4, 1973 at 70 years of age.  After being notified, my paternal grandmother Susan twelve days later began to pen a letter to my mother.  She was reaching out to comfort her, but it is obvious she was at a loss for words, as all of us are at a time like that.  I enjoy the letter not only for its intent, but also for the descriptions of daily life in the transition months from winter to spring in Wisconsin -- on the old family farm.

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee:  because He trusteth in Thee.”  Isa. 26:3.  “The God of all Comfort:  Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any need, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” II Cor. 1:4

The Old Wisconsin Farm

April 16, 1973

South Porch

Temperature 60 degrees F – Calm

Cloudy-Misty, 5:45 PM

 Dear Precious Little Daughter and All,
            My thoughts and prayers have been with you much during these days since you telephoned me of your Mother’s passing and, as I said, I have so wished I could take you in my arms and comfort you.  (Breeze is starting up and guess it is going to rain again as it did this morning and all during the church and Sunday School hours – Yes, here it comes so will have to move to east porch as the wind is from the west or south west.  The water is starting to drop off the eaves and the birds are singing spring songs in the rain.)

Here is Grandma, the writer of this missive, in the yard of their farm with the porches she is describing behind her.  This photo was taken many years prior to this letter before Grandpa died, but as all in our family, she had pure white hair very early. in life.  She continues:

 

           Thought to write last Sunday but your newspapers, radio and television have told you of our “spring blizzard” and “winter again” starting last Sunday noon and it kept me busy trying to get food out for the birds and also preparing food for dog, cat and myself as I had to “start at scratch” as the saying is and grind corn and wheat since I had used up most of flour and it takes about an hour to grind enough in my hand grinder for a loaf of “quick bread.”  (It is getting “breezy and cool here on the east porch so will have to go in). 

 

            Temperature 50 degrees F, West Wind, Sunny April 17, 1973

            It is a perfectly lovely, sunny day now at 9:00 but since I have not been up long don’t know whether sun rose under a cloud or in a clear sky, so can’t make any predictions as to the rest of the day.  Am glad it looks to be a good day (except for some roads) as there is a district (or possibly State) Baptist Convention of some kind at the Kendall Federated Church so it will be a busy day for the Woman’s Society who will be serving the meals.  This convention was scheduled for last Tuesday but although it was a lovely sunny day a week ago also, snow drifts were so high, roads closed over most of the state, so that school and everything requiring travel was “at a standstill” not only during the blizzard Monday, but Tuesday as well, as the snow was so wet and heavy and packed so that the snow plows had trouble getting through and it was  harder than usual to push out of the road.

            Well, if the telephone rings many more times this letter won’t get off today either.  It rang several times during the paragraph above.  Anyhow I can not give the excuse of going to sleep today even though that has been a big part of the reason the last twenty four hours before this morning. One of the calls was from some one who knew I was having trouble getting some Social Security information necessary to apply for “Homestead Tax Relief” for low income elderly people.  Had saved a little over $100 last year and should receive a little less this year since taxes are less this year, but so far have not been able to make application because of not receiving answer from Soc Sec office concerning one question on the application form. Listened to the program this person told me was on Tomah radio but that did not help me so now it is nearly time for the mail carrier so will have to send this without writing the things which I had hoped to be able to write in this letter.

            The Milton and Janesville Webers will be up after their early church service Easter according to present plans and Selma Hutson has invited me over to her home and have accepted unless something of weather or otherwise interferes.  Big drift in driveway to house here yet but probably will be gone by then.

            Nearly time for carrier – will try to write soon the things I had hoped to send now. So much love and  prayers with you and for you.            

                                                                                         Grandmother-Mother

This letter was written so many years ago to my mother, who  has also been gone now for almost five years, along with both her mother and her mother-in-law.  Looking ahead toward Mother's Day, I am so thankful for Godly grandparents and parents who have passed on their values from one generation to the next.