18 Points on Care and Breeding of Pheasants, etc. 



Method of Raising Pheasants Successfully 



Pheasant hens, during confinement, are very poor mothers and do not seem to have 

 much natural love for their young. Therefore, to raise them successfully, small common 

 chicken hens are used. I find a hen of soft, flufEy feathers an excellent foster-mother; of 

 course for best results, I advise most all breeds of Bantams and Japanese Silkies. The most 

 important point in raising pheasants is to rid the setting hen of lice and red mites, which is 

 quite a hard task. Pheasant chicks cannot stand worriment from lice. 



HYBRID PHEASANT3— CROSS OF REEVES AND RINGNECK 



1 believe 50 per cent of all chicks hatched in this country are killed from worriment of 

 lice in their early stages of life. A great many breeders use poisonous insect powder to de- 

 stroy lice, but I never found it very eiiective; it does not kill lice eggs and I believe, inasmuch 

 as this powder comes in contact with the young chicks, and gets into their throats, it is very 

 injurious to the birds and a great drawback to their growth. For a number of years I used 

 ordinary kerosene oil exclusively to kill mites and lice on setting hens. Three days before 

 I put the hen on pheasant eggs I give her a few light applications of kerosene oil, rubbing 

 the oil into the feathers, which does not hurt in the least, and place her on a nest of sawdust 

 treated with kerosene also. I know from experience this treatment will free her entirely 

 from lice and mites. (To keep red mites and lice out, I place sawdust in hens' nests all the 

 year round and sprinkle it occasionally with kerosene.) I remove the hen to a cat-proof 

 yard away from all chicken roosts. I use a common flour barrel like illustration, for a nest, 

 top covered with Paroit Roofing. Nothing beats it. A hole is cut in the side of the barrel 

 for the hen to go in and out at will, the eggs are placed on a piece of sod and the barrel 

 stands in a shady spot in an upright position. In this I come very near to nature hatching 

 pheasant eggs and it has been a great success with me. In extreme dry weather I sprinkle 

 the eggs three or four times during incubation with tepid water. I give a hen from to 10 to 12 

 eggs, no more, and place as many as fifteen barrels in one yard. To make sure, I place a 

 heavy stone on top of each barrel in order to keep it erect during heavy storms, and in wet 

 weather I place a board in front of hole in a slanting position to keep the rain out. Pheas- 



