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THE GAME BREEDER 



as they are not so expensive as the 

 others; good birds can be bought from 

 ten to fifteen dollars a pair. Add the 

 "different varieties as you think advisable. 



When the hatching season arrives have 

 :a half dozen or so cochin bantams on 

 hand to do your hatching, as they like 

 to hatch and are light and make good 

 mothers for pheasants. For setting them 

 I use regular orange boxes. I make a 

 roof over them with roofing paper, and 

 make a gate of half-inch mesh netting; 

 this will keep the young- pheasants from 

 straying away as they are hatched out. 

 These coops are set on the ground along- 

 side of my pen or some other convenient 

 place ; this keeps the eggs moist and helps 

 the hatching. I always like to have every- 

 thing as near nature as possible. 



Now after the pheasants are hatched 

 out do not feed the young pheasants 

 anything for the first 48 hours, then their 

 first feed may consist of boiled eggs 

 chopped up fine, with onion tops ; a cus- 

 tard made of eggs and milk is very good 

 for them. I would advise using the pre- 

 pared pheasant foods in addition to the 

 above; later they can be given the pre- 



pared steam-cooked chick, feed. I would 

 advise using steam-cooked chick feed for 

 both pheasants and chicks; it does not 

 cost much more than the regular feed. 

 Fine ground bone and fresh meat are 

 very good, but great care must be taken 

 that you do not give them any stale meat. 



I cannot see why anybody cannot 

 make a success in pheasant rearing; the 

 demand is great and the best prices are 

 reaUzed. The breeders are compara- 

 tively few, but they are steadily increas- 

 ing in numbers, so now is the time to get 

 in line for this coming business while 

 the booming is good. 



Secure all the information you can 

 and then use your own good judgment 

 and the pheasant business will pay you 

 better than any other business in the 

 breeding line. 



Any breeder will be glad to supply you 

 with information on the varieties that he 

 breeds. Now is the time to get started, 

 and to have your pens ready with the 

 pheasants, so that they will be used to 

 the surroundings when the breeding sea- 

 son arrives. 



NOTES FROM THE GAME FARMS AND PRESERVES. 



Quail Breeding. 



One of our Western members, who 

 has been very successful in breeding 

 bobwhite quail, writes: "Now you ask 

 how I went about the rearing of quail. 

 I would advise anyone raising quail to 

 use a .22-caliber rifle to kill the king or 

 leader of the various covies. I had about 

 60 pair of quail, and they divided up in 

 bunches, with their king or leader sit- 

 ting in the center, to give the alarm sig- 

 nal if anything approached their camp. 

 I took my rifle and killed these leaders 

 through a hole made in the building. 

 From that time, after the kings were 

 killed, I could approach the birds with- 

 out seeing them go to the top of the cage, 

 and soon the birds became very tame. 

 As soon as the birds began to pair in the 



lot (which they would not do as long as 

 their leaders were with them) r would 

 turn them loose and they would nest and 

 hatch within from 20 to 30 feet from 

 where they were kept in captivity. 

 Nearly all mated and raised their young. 

 Very few mated so long as their leader 

 remained among them. The birds nested 

 mostly in currant and blackberry bushes 

 by the fence." 



Owls, Pheasants and Jump Traps. 



Here is something about our game law 

 in Illinois. This spring I received an in- 

 quiry for 10 owls, and they had been 

 catching my pheasants. I thought I might 

 get a little out of them as part pay for 

 my birds they had caught, so I called 

 the Game Warden and asked him about 



