PHEASANTS IN COVERT AND AVIARY 



get them mixed, and when put in the incubator they should 

 be marked, so that each separate lot will be known, and no 

 complications result. When hens are hatching off it is very 

 seldom that all the chicks come out together, and some may 

 be strong and fit for the rearing-field, while others are only 

 strugfgflinof out of the shell. It would never do to let them 

 stay under the hen till all were fit, or in nine cases out of 

 ten serious results would happen by the hens trampling 

 them. Probably the best birds would be crushed. There 

 the drying box comes in useful, and all backward birds 

 should be placed therein, care being taken to keep them 

 warm while moving. In a few hours the majority of these 

 birds will be as strong as the others and ready to join them 

 under the old biddy on the field. While in the drying box 

 the lid should not be shut down close but be kept slightly 

 opened, just sufficient to give the chicks a little air. The 

 Incubator should be kept as near as possible at one heat, 

 about 104° or 105". This is rather difficult at times, as it is 

 often opened for the purpose of putting in or taking out 

 the chicks, and naturally it loses a certain amount of heat 

 each time it is opened. This, however, does not affect the 

 young birds as much as the eggs, which are nearly sure to 

 be in the drawer underneath, but the less an incubator is 

 opened the better. In a wet season the hens will sometimes 

 turn restless and take no notice of their young brood, with 

 the result that the little things get wet and draggled, 

 and, failing another good hen, would die but for the useful 

 incubator, in which they soon come round, and in a short 

 time are as lively as ever. Of course they need a mother 

 then, but there are sure to be other hens hatching off which 

 will take them, and occasionally I have known their former 

 mother to settle down quietly and take them again. If a 

 man has more incubators than he requires for drying off 



148 



