THE OREGON’ SPORTSMAN 1838 
PHEASANT RAISING IN EASTERN OREGON 
By LOUIS KROESSIN, Ontario, Oregon 
of Chinese pheasants, it is necessary to explain a few funda- 
mental facts. First of all, you should be a lover of nature in 
all its beauty, an admirer of wild game and game birds. You should 
have the heart of a sportsman, then you can’t help being interested 
in the king of all game birds—the Chinese pheasant, 
The beauty of this bird made me experiment with its propaga- 
tion some eighteen years ago. Although I made many mistakes and 
met with much discouragement in the raising of these birds, I kept 
at it until I had solved the problem to my entire satisfaction. I 
have found that it is no more difficult than raising turkeys, and 
the profits are better than anything in the poultry line. 
There is many a small rancher with an orchard, whose wife 
and children could make a pretty penny on the side by raising China 
pheasants, as there is an ever growing demand for them in the 
U. S. A. Many a good check I have returned to the sender because 
I didn’t have the birds to sell. I have made as much as $600 during 
a season raising pheasants besides my regular occupation, merely 
for the fun and recreation after business hours. 
No extra expense is necessary except a few dollars worth of 
poultry netting to fence in the grown birds after weening from their 
foster-mother—the common chicken. No housing or shed is necessary. 
All you need is a pen with some brush or weeds to shelter them 
from the blazing sun. They will thrive in all climates in all kinds 
of weather under any kind of conditions, after they are two-thirds 
grown. That is when they are from ten to twelve weeks old. 
They are a hardy bird, and are not afflicted with disease or 
vermin like chicken. They eat very little and take care of them- 
selves. Any household can feed a dozen or two birds from the 
scraps and waste from the kitchen and table, with a handful of 
grain at intervals. 
I will state briefly how the birds are hatched and fed. First I 
give thirteen eggs to a setting hen. These will hatch in 24 days. 
Then I take a box 30x30 inches, screen it in front with wire netting, 
place it on a grassy spot, put in the hen and little birds, and let 
them alone for 24 to 48 hours. It is a good idea to place a board 
in front of the coop, so the little chicks can’t run away until they 
know the cluck’s call. After three or four days remove the board, 
and let the little ones run. They will not leave her then. Under 
no circumstances let the old hen run with them at large, for she 
will surely lose them. 
When the birds are 24 to 48 hours old, feed them one part hard 
boiled egg to two parts wheat bread crumbs. After they are two or 
three weeks old give them a little oatmeal or chick feed and gradu- 
ally feed them grain or anything a chicken eats, 
Always have water near the coop for them to drink. It is very 
important to keep the old hen clean from lice as she will surely 
transfer them to the young. 
When the birds get the size of a quail, they must be put in a 
pen, otherwise they will stray away. 
In 1915 I raised eighty-five birds on a back lot 60x63. Besides 
the great pleasure I had in Ontario in raising them, they netted me 
$232 clear profit. 
T O acquaint the readers of The Oregon Sportsman with the raising 
