By Ferd. J. Sudow, Poughkeepsie, N. Y- 



49 



"During the first of the season the eggs are collected twice a day but as the weather be- 

 comes warmer the rounds are made three and four times, for the sun is apt to start incubation 

 and the cool nights might chill the life germ and weaken or kill it. Then, there is danger of 

 the pheasants pecking holes in the shell and eating the eggs, as they are sometimes wont to do. 

 When liberated pheasants will nest and rear their young, but in the comparatively small 

 inclosures that we give them, there is no use trying to get them to breed. We decided on 

 that long ago. Even when they succeed in hatching out a brood, the old bird cannot supply 

 the young ones with the needed insect food, and we are unable to handle and feed them as we 

 do chicks that are under the tutorship of a hen. Then we tried incubators and while we suc- 

 ceeded in hatching the eggs, the chicks soon sickened and many died of diarrhoea. 



"After these and other experiments, we have found that the common mongrel or barn- 

 yard hen is the best means of hatching the eggs, and makes the best foster mother to brood 

 the little chicks until they can take care of themselves. Bantam hens are also good, but 

 they cannot cover a large setting of eggs. This season I have employed an expert incubator 

 man to try artificial hatching and rearing. I expend thousands of dollars experimenting 

 for the benefit of the public. It requires about a dozen gamekeepers and assistants during 

 the rearing season. 



"Last year we had 1,000 hens working for us, each one covering from fourteen to eighteen 

 ^gs. Sentenced to solitary confinement for twenty-three days with leave of absence just 

 long enough to fill one's stomach, may not be as tiresome as manual labor, still it must get 



A BUNCH OF FRIGHTENED PHEASANTS 

 This Photograph shows a flock of frightened Chinese pheasants rising for flight in a field of The Kendrick 



Pheasan tries 



awfully monotonous, before the time expires. We are glad that there is no such association 

 as the 'Western Federation of Feathered Incubators,' or the 'Foster Mothers' Protective 

 Union,' for I fear its scratching delegates would order a strike at once when they discovered 

 the tricks we practice on their members. 



"We have adopted the plan of not letting the hens hatch the eggs, but as soon as the 

 little chicks peck through the shell, we hustle the whole setting into an incubator and let 

 the pheasant chicks stay there until they have come out and are dry and strong enough to 

 run about. This lessens the danger of their being trampled by the hens while they are weak 

 and helpless. In the meantime her henship is presented with a, beautiful set of China eggs 

 to keep her occupied until we can smuggle the chicks back to her. 



"As far as possible we follow nature. For instance the nesting and brooding coops are 

 all located in the meadows and the nests are placed on the ground, where the eggs get the 

 moisture they require. The nesting material is some fine substance in which the chicks 

 cannot tangle their feet or get strangled fine hay or fine straw is best. 



