74 MANAGEMENT OP PHEASANTS IN CONFINEMENT. 



animal; but, if well cleansed by keeping ten or twelve days after being removed 

 from tbe flesh, a few, very few, may be given in case no better kind of insect-food 

 is at band. 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. 1 will commence with the hatching. Never remove 

 your hens untE the chicks are weU 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. Lef feeding alone for the 

 fla-st 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 Httle 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, for the next three or four days; after seven 

 days I add to their diet a little kibbled wheat — ^being kiln-dried previous to kibbKng — 

 also split groats and bruised hempseed, occasionally a handful of miUet 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 



