74 .MANAGEMENT OF PHEASANTS IN CONFINEMENT. 
animal; but, if well cleansed by keeping ten or twelve days after being removed 
from the flesh, a few, very few, may be given in case no better kind of insect-food 
is at hand. The treatment of the young birds, such as change of food, &c., must 
greatly depend upon the judgment and skill of the person who has charge of them, 
Much also depends upon the locality, the state of the atmosphere, the temperature, 
the dryness or wetness of the,season, the abundance or scarcity of insect food, and 
other considerations which must serve to guide those in whose care the chicks 
are placed.” 
Mr. Douglas’s mode of management is somewhat different. He truly 
remarks :—* Although food has a great deal to do in the rearing of pheasants, 
attention has almost an equal share; and without the attention required being given, 
food would be of little avail. I will commence with the hatching. Never remove 
your hens until the chicks are well nested, guarding the nest to keep any that 
may be hatched before the last chick is strong enough to leave the nest. Never 
take the first hatched from the hen—it is wrong; nothing is so beneficial in 
strengthening a chick as the heat of the hen’s body. Let feeding alone for the 
first twenty-four hours after the first chick is hatched; the large quantity of yolk 
that is drawn into the chick within the last twenty-four hours of its confinement 
in the shell is sufficient for its wants during the time specified. Next, have your 
coops set on dry turf two or three days previous to your pheasants being hatched ; 
it will save a little hurry when wanted; also it will keep the spot dry, that being so 
necessary on the first shift from the nest. If your turf is not of a sandy nature, 
sprinkle a handful of sand on where you intend to shift your coops. The coops 
being shifted daily is very beneficial to the chicks. Take care they are not let out 
in the morning until such time as the sun is well up, if there is a heavy dew on the 
grass, and the grass has got a little dry. I have no doubt but the continual letting 
out on wet grass, previous to the sun having power to counteract the bad effects 
of the cold wet dew, is the cause of many of the ills they are subject to. Feed 
twice or thrice, if necessary, previous to letting out. The principal food I give for 
the first fortnight is composed of eggs and new milk, made as follows: In pro- 
portions, one dozen of eggs, beaten up in a basin, added to half a pint of new milk ; 
when the milk boils add the eggs, stirring over a slow fire for a short period to 
thicken, when it will form a nice thick custard. This I give for the first three 
days; then I commence to add a little of the best oatmeal and any greens the 
garden can produce, finely chopped, fer the next three or four days; after seven 
days I add to their diet a little kibbled wheat—being kiln-dried previous to kibbling— 
also split groats and bruised hempseed, occasionally a handful of millet seed; taking 
care all their food is of the very best, and that the feeding-dishes are scalded in 
boiling water daily. The above food I use until about three weeks old, when I add 
minced meat mixed with oat or barley-meal, with the broth from the meat, the 
