17 



breeders feed only once, in the late afternoon. Mangels or beets of any 

 sort, turnips, lettuce and other succulent foods should be given. It is well 

 to hang such food to a string slightly out of reach of the birds as they 

 stand and thus make them work for it by jumping. Of course, you will 

 keep grit and charcoal constantly before your birds. They seem to prefer 

 it simply mixed with the grain feed or thrown on the ground separately 

 and do not take to it as well if supplied in hoppers. 



Be sure that some sort of hiding place is afforded your birds. It will 

 greatly minimize their chances of getting hurt by flying against the sides 

 of the pen. A pole 4 or 5 feet long supported at either end by stakes 2 or 

 3 feet high and covered with small evergreens, furnishes a splendid bit of 

 pen cover and also affords a good laying place. 



PREPARATION OF REARING FIELD. If birds are to be reared 

 on a large scale, the rearing field should be sown with grass and clover the 

 preceding fall or spring. This will be gone into when the subject of rear- 

 ing fields is considered. When only a few birds are involved, however, 

 this does not have to be considered. One piece of fall or winter work for 

 small and large breeders alike, however, is the construction of coops, runs, 

 frames and other paraphernalia to be used during the forthcoming breed- 

 ing season. These will be discussed in detail later. Still another bit of 

 winter work is the preserving of hens' eggs in water glass to provide food 

 for the pheasant chicks, if the supply the farm will afford in the spring, 

 when eggs are cheap, will not be sufficient for the purpose. The receipt of 

 the United States Department of Agriculture for preserving eggs (Farm- 

 ers' Bulletin 128) calls for the dissolving of 1 part of syrup-thick water 

 glass in 10 parts by measure of pure, boiled water after it has cooled. Scald 

 the vessel in which the eggs are packed and then pour the solution over 

 them. Use only clean, uncracked eggs and do not wash them. Earthen- 

 ware receptacles are preferred for the eggs. 



View of pens for adult birds on New York State Game Farm at Sherburne. 



