w. cook's turkey, goose, and pheasant book, ig 



where partridges are reared these hens should always be 

 kept. 



If a good sized " Silkie " cock can be obtained, and 

 crossed with small Indian Game hens or Black Breasted 

 Red Game hens, the pullets they produce are the best 

 sitters of any breed I know of, but there are so few people 

 who will take the trouble to breed them. 



The next thing is the number of eggs which should be 

 put under the hen. Opinions differ in this respect, but 

 as a rule I never put less than twenty under a fair sized 

 hen. Fifteen or seventeen under a small hen is quite 

 sufficient, but in case of an extra large hen, she should never 

 have more than twenty or twenty-three at most. Of 

 course, the hen might cover more, but the eggs are more 

 liable to roll on the top of each other, more so than 

 the hens' eggs, and they are liable to get crushed. 



A hen should always be dusted well with insect powder 

 when sitting, and at the same time should be allowed 

 a. dust bath, but no lime should be put in- the dust. 

 During the hatching season there should always be slack- 

 lime put in the bottom of the nest and fine hay on the top 

 •of that before a hen is set, as vermin breed very fast 

 while the hen is sitting, then the little things get on the 

 young birds, and that is the cause of one third of our 

 pheasants dying. 



If more care were bestowed on the hens while sitting, 

 it would save breeders a great deal of trouble. When the 

 vermin once get on the young pheasants it weakens them 

 so much that they will often die in from three to ten 

 •days. 



