Pheasants at Elsenham. 107 



addition there were some three or four hundred birds dispersed' 

 on other parts of the estate. No birds whatever were penned 

 up. They were all allowed to lay in the coverts, and the eggs- 

 were collected and hatched under farmyard hens. It is easy to- 

 appreciate the strong vitality of the eggs, and the strength of 

 the chickens which they produced, when they were collected 

 from well-fed birds flying under natural conditions in the open.. 



In order that an abundance of eggs should be produced, 

 the wild pheasants were fed freely for about six weeks before 

 they began to lay. They had barley meal mixed with a 

 certain proportion of Spratt's crissel for the first morning^ 

 meal, and afterwards soaked wheat and oats. Of the latter 

 birds are particularly fond. As fattening food is not advan- 

 tageous for lajdng birds, no maize was used. The eggs wore' 

 collected daily, and a sharp look-out kept for the rooks, which 

 one season destroyed more than 500 eggs, in addition to- 

 nearly iiftj^ eggs from the hen turkey birds, which were allowed 

 to nest out and rear their young while in the coverts, the- 

 turkeys and pheasants agreeing perfectly well together. 

 When the young pheasants were hatched the coops under 

 which they were placed were not crowded together, as is too- 

 commonly the custom, but placed at long distances apart, 

 never nearer than thirty yards, consequently the young^ 

 pheasants had free and untainted range, and found insects- 

 and food for themselves. For the first nine or ten days they 

 were fed three times a day, and this was done so judiciously that, 

 no stale food was left from one meal to another. The food 

 consisted of barley meal of the best quality, boiled eggs rubbed 

 through a coarse sieve ; while biscuit meal was also used, with 

 some crissel rubbed up with it. 



There were no bottoms to the coops, which were moved 

 on to fresh ground twice a day, morning and night, so that the- 

 young birds never rested on foul ground. The fronts were 

 not closely shut up, as is too often the case, but a board was- 

 placed against them, and they were painted white, a colour 

 which, being strange, is not appreciated by foxes. 



