PHEASANTS. 



It takes time, patience and energy to raise pheasants success- 

 fully. Any successful poultry raiser can succeed with them, al- 

 though they are not as easy to raise as chickens, but by following 

 as closely as possible to Nature's way we can have good success. 

 Pheasants are hardy, strong, very prolific and when young are quite 

 tame. Pheasants do not hatch their own eggs in captivity; when 

 wild they make excellent mothers, but captivity destroys the hatch- 

 ing instinct except to a very limited degree. 



The price of the pheasants has a good deal to do with the choice 

 of a breed. The Chinese, English and Golden are the most in de- 

 mand. These are the heaviest egg producers. The Silver, Reeves, 

 Amhersts and Swinhoes are close followers. The Chinese pheasant 

 is usually the cheapest. The Golden is somewhat smaller than the 

 Chinese, is tamer and more brilliantly marked. The English pheas- 

 ant is very similar to the Chinese, but rather larger, has a less con- 

 spicuous white collar and lays a larger egg. The English and Chi- 

 nese bring about the same price. The other pheasants being less 

 hardy and having a far less egg production bring higher prices. 



The building of the pens for pheasants should be carefully done. 

 One-inch mesh should be used at the bottom of the fence for two 

 or three feet up. Although some people prefer boards two feet 

 high at the ground, this is a good idea, as it prevents fighting be- 

 tween the different pens, also it keeps the young pheasants from 

 wandering. 



The pheasant pens should be located in as dry a location as 

 possible, for the birds love their sun and dust baths. There should 

 also be trees or bushes in the pens, where they can shelter from the 

 sun and also hide away from people. A brush heap is their de- 

 light, and they will hide their nest in it in preference to elsewhere. 

 The eggs should be gathered twice a day. They lay about twenty 

 eggs at a clutch and then rest a little, in captivity. 



The pens should be covered over with two-inch chicken wire, 

 as pheasants fly like wild birds, although where they are kept for 

 pets only the outer long pinion or flight feathers of one wing may 

 be cut to prevent an extended flight. Care must be used not to 

 cut the inner feathers of the wing, as these protect the bird's lungs. 

 Pheasants are great runners and enjoy running about and slinking 

 through the brush of their pens. The English and Chinese pheas- 

 ants are polygamous, the same as chickens, and the male will even 

 mate with wild grouse or with barn fowls. 



The natural food of the young pheasant is insects of all kinds, 

 larvae of grubs, worms and especially ants' eggs, as well as small 

 seeds. In raising the little ones, use the same food as for the lit- 

 tle turkeys at first, or, in other words, imitate the food that Nature 

 provides for them. Be sure to give them chopped-up lettuce and 

 onion, and a little later on the chick feed, but with a very small 

 amount of corn in it, for corn does not agree with them. Corn is 

 not their natural food. 



