O PHEASANT FARMING 



pen portray an idea of its beauty. Graceful in form, with his 

 splendid robes, the cock Chinese pheasant is one of the most beautiful 

 birds in existence. The eye never tires of admii'ing his plumage. He 

 is a source of continuous delight to the breeder. 



If you can raise turkeys you can raise pheasants. Like turkeys, 

 when matured they are very hardy. In fact, the similarity between 

 the young pheasant and young turkey is very marked. Some of their 

 calls, particularly one given at nightfall, are almost identical, and in 

 general, treatment adapted to turkeys may safely be applied to 

 pheasants. When young the birds are tame and soon learn to know 

 their keeper. They will become sufficiently familiar to fly upon the 

 keeper's shoulder, or eat out of his hand, but the appearance of a 

 stranger calls for a note of warning to the whole flock. This note 

 is low but quick, and its effect is instantaneous. During the laying 

 season it is not advisable to allow strangers to visit the pens where 

 the pheasants can see them, and better success will be obtained if only 

 one or two persons visit the pheasants, and these should be the ones 

 to feed them. The birds will be better controlled if the same garments 

 pre worn each time, as they instantly detect a change in dress. They 

 v.'ill avoid for a day or more anything new placed in their pens. Some 

 breeders place fir boughs or branches of other trees in the pens to 

 offer a hiding place for the pheasants, but it is not at all necessary. 

 The pens described further on provide for a portion being shedded. • 

 This applies only to localities where there is considerable rainfalL 

 In drier sections of the country, this shed might be supplanted by a 

 small evergreen tree or two in the pen. 



The larger the pens in which your pheasants are kept the better. 

 They are polygamous and four hens and a cock may be kept in a pen 

 sixteen feet square. This is a very convenient size, but in any event 

 the birds should each have fifty square feet of ground. It is of 

 advantage to have the pens so arranged that the pheasants may be 

 changed from one pen to the other occasionally. This permits the 

 ground to freshen and it is a good plan to spade up the ground 

 occasionally. A very satisfactory pen for a trio (two hens and a cock) 

 would be sixteen feet by thirty-two feet, divided lengthwise with a 

 partition and shedded for eight feet along one end, the shedded end 

 being so arranged to ward off as much of the storm as possible. Con- 

 venient entrances may be arranged and provision should be made 

 that the birds may pass from one pen to another at the keeper's 

 pleasure. 



^ot Subject to disease 



The first edition of "Pheasant Farming" was criticised by a lady 

 in Kentucky as follows: "The subjects treated are admirably handled 

 and leave no doubt in the mind of the amateur how to proceed, but you 



