CHAPTER VI 



TAKING OFF THE HATCH 



We come now to one of the most interesting periods in the routine 

 of pheasant breeding the taking off of the hatch and its placing in the 

 rearing field. 



It usually takes from 23 to 24 days for ringneck eggs to incubate, 

 though that period may be considerably lengthened and is sometimes 

 shortened. Eggs that are late in hatching should be collected from the 

 various nests and placed under hens whose eggs are slow in pipping. Such 

 of the chicks of the latter as have hatched can be given to hens that are 

 ready to be taken off with their broods. 



HATCH COMPLETED IN 24 TO 36 HOURS. Do not feed the 

 setting hen from the time the eggs begin to pip till she is placed in the rear- 

 ing field. The hatch will be completed from 24 to 36 hours after pipping 

 commences. Do not remove the shells as the chicks come out, their sharp 

 edges probably keep the hen from sitting too heavily on the newly-hatched 

 chicks. The beginner will do well at this period to have complete confi- 

 dence in the hen and let her alone for a full day after pipping starts. The 

 hatch should in no case be taken off the nest until the latest chick is thor- 

 oughly dry, which will be, as stated above, from a day to a day and a half 

 after it starts, and Superintendent Dunn of the New Jersey State Game 

 Farm, finds that birds taken off 48 hours after pipping do best. The yolk 

 in the body of the chick furnishes ample food up to this time. Indeed, 

 there are well authenticated cases where young pheasants have passed the 

 first six days of their existence without food and have apparently suf- 

 fered no inconvenience, though in one case the domestic hen foster-mother 

 died of starvation. The beginner is likely to worry a great deal at this 

 point about food for the chicks, but he can be assured on the best of auth- 

 ority that all this is unnecessary. 



If the New York type of hatching coop is employed (Figure 5, as 

 described heretofore), the extra frame should be placed on that enclosing 

 the nest as soon as pipping starts to prevent the early hatched chicks from 

 starting on an exploration tour and probably perishing from cold. 



TAKING THE BROOD TO THE REARING FIELD. We will 

 assume that the chicks have dried off well and are now ready for transpor- 

 tation to the rearing field. This is usually effected by taking the hen 

 off first and placing her in a coarse sack. The chicks should be imme- 

 diately placed in a box or basket deep enough to keep them from jumping 

 out and lined so that there will be no chance of their injuring themselves. 



