9 ° 
ojeKo PHEASANT FARMING oAnie 
° - ° 
not smother. The brood coop is then prepared by covering 
the bottom with sand. Food and water are placed in the 
coop and then the hen is left in the brood coop for about twenty 
minutes. During this twenty minutes the hen has had an oppor- 
tunity to feed and get acquainted with her new quarters and is 
ready to settle down and receive the young pheasants. The pheas- 
ants are then placed in the coop with her, and, having nothing else 
to attract her attention, the hen will see to it that the pheasants are 
hovered. It is advisable to take the hen off in the forenoon so that 
you may give the chicks more or less attention to see that they are 
properly hovered. If the day is warm, the plan of using the hot 
water bag need not be followed, and if the day is cloudy or cold, 
of course one will necessarily have to give the pheasants more 
attention than on a bright, warm day. 
The number of young pheasants that may safely be given to one 
hen varies from about twelve to sixteen, according to the weather 
and the size of the hen. A common mistake is to set 
too many eggs under one hen, or to give one hen too 
many young pheasants. Late one summer | gave a 
large Plymouth Rock hen twenty-five little pheasants, of which she 
raised to maturity twenty-four. This, however, was an exceptional 
case. 
Size of 
the Brood 
Pheasants will hatch about the twenty-third day and_ their 
natural disposition is to leave the nest immediately, hence the added 
advantage of having the hens locked up. When the young pheasants 
are about twenty-four hours old, remove, with the mother hen, to a 
coop, where they should be kept until three days old. The trap door 
at the bottom may then be raised, giving the little birds their free- 
dom, but restraining the hen. Before liberating the young brood 
of pheasants, have the grass cut short, allowing it to grow up with 
the young birds. Unless the yard is covered overhead with wire 
netting, the young birds should be pinioned to prevent their flying 
over the fence and straying away. 
The young pheasants all have the same plumage until about 
two months old—that of a grayish brown. When a month old it 
will be noted that the feathers on the back of the neck near the 
body on some of the young birds will show slightly lighter in color 
with a salmon colored cast. ‘These are the hens, the corresponding 
feathers on the cocks remaining darker and near the color of the 
remainder of the plumage. When two months old, splotches of 
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