THE GOLDEN PHEASANT 



(previously scalded with boiling water), and hard-boiled 

 eggs, chopped up very fine. Such vegetables as lettuce, 

 spinach, turnip-tops, cress, or other green food given in the 

 same manner, are invaluable adjuncts as food for young 

 Pheasants. A question that naturally presents itself to the 

 mind of a thoughtful reader is, " What shall the first meal 

 be composed of? " Some advocate soft food only, others 

 advocate dry feeding. If the former plan be followed, the 

 eggs must be boiled until they are quite hard, and as soon 

 as cold, the shell removed, the contents broken up into a 

 finely divided state, and subsequently mixed with double 

 the quantity of scalded meal, such as biscuit meal, stale 

 bread, barley, maize or wheat, the chief secret being to 

 prepare the food freshly each time, as there is nothing 

 more pernicious than fermenting or sour food. 



The addition of a little sweet milk will be found advan- 

 tageous. Whatever meals are used, they must be well scalded, 

 so as to swell the particles of meal. Pheasant chicks do 

 not require any food for the first twenty-four hours, there 

 being sufficient nourishment absorbed by the chick, im- 

 mediately before it breaks through the shell, to last it for the 

 time specified ; in fact some Pheasant-rearers don't give the 

 birds any food until the youngsters are at least twenty-four 

 hours old, and the young birds generally do quite as well, 

 if not better, than those supplied with food earlier do. 



The birds must be protected against their many foes, 

 and the best plan of doing so is to keep each coop enclosed 

 in a wire run, various portable forms of which are on the 

 market, and can be obtained for a comparatively small sum 

 of money. 



As in the case of all other young birds, the advisability 

 of placing the coops on ground where there is plenty of 

 insect life is a matter of the utmost importance, and must 



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