8o PROPAGATION OF WILD BIRDS 



breeding birds in one large enclosure. This may be open on 

 top, in which case the birds, if not already pinioned, should 

 have one wing closely clipped. Fences for such breeding- 

 yards should have at the bottom a strip of i-inch mesh wire 

 about 2^ feet high to keep out vermin. Above this ordinary 

 chicken wire, 2-inch mesh, may be used. For large rearing- 

 fields the same is used, or the chicks do not try to get 

 out. In case one has only a few pheasants, it is well to 

 cover the pen above, as one occasionally might scramble out 

 when frightened, and then there will be no fear from hawks 

 and owls. Scrambling in or out by birds or larger animals 

 can be prevented by nailing on top of each post a stout slat 

 projecting in and out a foot each way, and tacking to these 

 a 2-foot strip of 2-inch mesh wire, making an overhang. 

 With this device the fence could be made only 6 or 7 feet 

 high. It should, at any rate, be high enough to prevent a 

 fox from leaping over. A plain 8-foot fence, however, 

 usually answers every purpose. There should be plenty of 

 brush in the pen. 



Number in Pens. There is no exact rule as to the number 

 of breeders that can be kept in one enclosure. In general it 

 is well not to have a very large number running together, not 

 over 100 in a good large pen, say 200 by 100 feet. If the 

 birds appear to be crowded and to interfere, and the average 

 of egg-laying is not good, some should be removed. 

 Change of ground stimulates laying. Sometimes, when a 

 pen of birds stops laying, change to fresh ground and good 

 grass will start them up again. 



Harem Method. The other method is to keep each breed- 

 ing unit of a cock and three to five hens in a separate pen by 

 themselves. This method seems to produce more eggs, 

 though it involves more initial expense for apparatus. 

 Rogers, at the New York State Game Farm, prefers this 



