CHAPTER VI. 



Management of Pheasants in 

 Confinement. 



Formation of Pens and Coverts. 



HAYING treated of pheasants as wild birds, their 

 rearing and management in enclosed pens and 

 a^'iaries have next to be considered. When 

 pheasants are bred for turning out into the coverts, and 

 not as merely ornamental aviary birds, the system of 

 movable enclosures, constructed of rough hurdles, will be 

 found far superior to any more elaborate contrivances, for, 

 when the breeding birds are kept in the same place year after 

 year, the ground becomes, in spite of all the care that may be 

 bestowed on it, foul and tainted, disease breaks out even 

 amongst the old birds, and the successful rearing of young ones 

 is hopeless. 



The pens should be situated in a dry situation, sandy or 

 chalky if possible, but any soil not retentive of wet will answer. 

 If the surface is sloping it is to be preferred, as the rain is less 

 likely to render the ground permanently damp. Although 

 ■cold is not injurious to the mature birds, and they require no 

 ■special shelter, the south side of a hill or rising ground is to 

 be chosen in preference, as the j'oung stock are delicate. 

 Common wattled hurdles, made seven feet long, and set up 

 ■on end, make as good pens as can be desired ; they should 

 be supported by posts or fir poles driven firmly into the 

 ground, with a horizontal pole at the top, to which the 

 hurdles are bound by tarred cord, or, still better, very 



