=^^ 



75 



the keeper, 4 feet 3 inches high and 223^ inches wide. The roof measures 

 3 feet 9 inches from the apex to the lower edge on either side of the slope. 



CONSTRUCTION OF THE PEN.— The pen which goes in front of 

 the coop is 10 feet wide, 12 feet deep and 5 feet high. It is constructed of 

 2x2 material, covered, sides and top, with 1-inch mesh poultry netting. 

 All corners are braced and the two sides are strengthened with a central 

 strip, attached vertically. Roofing paper 3 feet wide is placed about the 

 pen to minimize alarming the birds. The top edge of this is nailed to 

 strips of 2 X 2 which act, also, as a horizontal brace. 



The pen is provided with a door in front, 4 feet high x 20 inches wide. 

 Opposite it at the rear is an aperture 5 feet high x 5 feet wide, which fur- 

 nishes an opening for the coop door. Across the center is placed a roost, 

 composed of a piece of 2 x 2 with the edges rounded. 



Mr. Duncan Dunn, superintendent of the New Jersey farm, suggests 

 that the coop might be done away with entirely, and its place taken by a 

 simple shelter, open along its entire front, and placed across the rear of 

 the pen itself. Such an arrangement would lessen construction cost 

 considerably and also the labor of moving, as well as permit the placing 

 of the coop itself on fresh ground at more frequent intervals. 



Bantams are more frequently employed in rearing aviary pheasants 

 than with the other species, Mr. Dunn using the buff cochin. Light hens 

 of the ordinary breeds may be employed if bantams are not available. 

 From 12 to 15 eggs are placed under the bantam, according to size. Feed- 

 ing and handling after hatching do not differ in any important particular 

 from the methods employed with the ringneck, but it is probably best to 

 keep the species separate, as some are more pugnacious than others, the 

 Amherst being rather notable for its fighting proclivities. It gets the 

 lion's share of the feed when confined with other young birds. 



ONE COCK TO THREE OR FOUR HENS.— This is the rule 

 usually followed and with the rarer birds, where it is not always possible 

 to provide so many hens of the same species, ringneck or even game 

 hens are used to make up the deficiency. Too few hens mean poor hatches 

 and the cock not infrequently injures them seriously. 



