18 



REPORT OF BOARD OF FISH AND GAME COMMISSIONERS. 



covered with sand. By this arrangement a very even temperature can 

 be maintained at all times. 



The young pheasants are removed from the incubator as soon as dry. 

 When the hatch is irregular, the older chicks may be taken out several 

 hours in advance of the smaller ones, without harmful results. 



Food is placed in reach of the little fellows within a few hours after 

 they are taken from the incubator. For the first few days they are 

 given a boiled custard, made in the proportion of six eggs to a pint of 

 milk; after a day or two a small amount of cornmeal is added to this 

 custard, and later, corn grits and fresh chopped beef. Hemp, mustard. 



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Valley quail in pen at Game Farm. 



and canary seeds are also scattered in the pens, and after the chicks 

 are a month old, wheat and charcoal are added. Sand and green food, 

 such as lettuce, kale, and clover, are placed within reach of the birds at 

 all times. 



After five weeks in the brooder, the birds are strong enough to be 

 transferred to outside pens, and almost any time after they are eight 

 weeks of age they are ready for liberation. About this time, there is a 

 tendency to pick each other's feathers, with the result that as soon as 

 blood shows, the injured bird becomes an object of attack by all the 

 other birds in the pen, and in most cases is killed. 



In securing eggs, the breeding birds were confined in small pens — 



