A popular dish as far back as the Middle Ages, pigeon has also enjoyed stints as a domestic animal, a racing bird and a courier. In the empires of Egypt and Ancient Rome, it was contrary to laws of the period for a common man to own pigeons, so elevated was their status as ‘carriers’, delivering messages to and from the miltary in dangerous and remote situations.
Squab, juvenile pigeon processed before the formation of their flight feathers, is a delicacy increasing in popularity in restaurants the world over. Squab is prized for its rich and tender breast meat – at its most plump and flavoursome only before the birds can fly; once flight is possible the meat becomes tough and body fat is lost through exercise. Other indicators of quality in squab are an unblemished skin, a deep, gamey aroma and burgundy-coloured breast meat.
The town of Wycheproof in north-west Victoria is home to Glenloth Game, owned and operated by Ian and Rhonda Milburn. The couple farm squab and free-range chicken, and process them on-site. Their processing centre also caters for guinea fowl, pheasant and rabbit from other farms in the vicinity.
While the Mediterranean conditions in Wycheproof – the long, hot summers and short winters – are ideal for minimising disease in the birds, the accompanying lack of water makes it a tough environment. Milburn’s father was a water diviner and it appears that he has inherited his father’s skill, having found a bore 50 metres below the surface of the land that supplements the farm’s water requirements.
Pigeons cannot be battery-farmed; newly hatched squab must be reared by their parents. Mating pairs stay together for life and produce up to ten chicks annually, from the age of about one to roughly eight or nine years of age. For the first days of their lives, the hatchlings are fed by both parents with a substance known as ‘pigeon milk’. It is high in protein and carbohydrate, and pre-digested in the parents’ stomachs (it cannot be emulated synthetically). After these critical first days, they progress to regurgitated grain from their parents’ beaks.
The most desirable attribute in a squab, aside from its tender breast meat, is weight. Squab don’t grow much heavier than 600 grams (dressed weight – the weight of the bird with feathers and innards removed) and most are around the 350 to 450 gram mark. The heavier the dressed weight of the squab pigeon, the more it will sell for.
Glenloth employ parent stock of White King and Swiss Mondaine pigeon breeds, finding them the most consistent in quality and size. Strict quarantine laws now prevent the importation of squab strains into Australia, so the strains already here are all breeders are able to work with.