40 ^ 



be moved daily. In large operations an extra coop is an advantage in 

 doing this. The keeper starts work in a field by placing the extra coop 

 on the spot he wishes the first brood to be moved to occupy and puts the 

 hen therein. This releases the coop she has been taken from and, using 

 it, the action is repeated till the coops throughout the field have been 

 moved. 



On the New York Farms, the hen is frequently given free range with 

 the brood after the first week or ten days. This works satisfactorily 

 partly as the result of the fact that the rearing coops are placed unusually 

 far apart, minimizing the chances of fights among the hen mothers, and 

 partly due to the skill of Mr. and Mrs. Rogers in selecting mothers and 

 handling them in the rearing field. Many breeders keep the foster mother 

 confined till the chicks are weaned. 



LOOK OUT FOR SICK BIRDS. The sharpest look-out must be 

 kept for sick birds. Once it is established that a bird is sick, it is much 

 better to wring his neck and burn him forthwith so that the menace he 

 affords to the other chicks will be removed. This is one of the hardest 

 things to induce beginners to do. Some chicks will appear very weak 

 when first taken off the nest and may continue so till the first feed or until 

 a nice bug has been eaten and weakness of this sort should not be confused 

 with actual sickness. 



Some breeders close their birds in every night and others rarely or 

 never do so. If trouble is had with vermin, this is frequently necessary, 

 but the earlier start at feeding the chicks can make in the morning and 

 the better ventilation the^coop has, the more certainly they will thrive. 



Young birds are fully feathered by the end of three weeks with the 

 exception of the top of the head and back of the neck. If these do not 

 develop within five or six weeks, it not infrequently indicates coming disease. 

 Full feathering is also some- 

 times delayed by unfavor- 

 able weather during the 

 early days of the bird's life 

 or by the presence of lice. 



This shows rearing coop placed 

 in a "ride" and illustrates well 

 the heavy stand of clover and 

 mixed grasses that the experi- 

 enced pheasant breeder gets in his 

 rearing fields to furnish cover 

 and insects for his young birds. 



