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THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 



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Until the pheasants are six weeks old they should be fed three times a 

 day, then twice a day until grown, and after that once a day. 



Captivity seems to change the habits of the pheasant entirely. The 

 hen rarely ever makes a pretense at laying in a nest, much less set and 

 hatch a brood of young pheasants. The cock becomes decidedly polygamous 

 and will instantly kill a young bird if placed in the same enclosure. The 

 percentage of fertility of all pheasant eggs is remarkably great. It is not 

 at all uncommon for every egg to hatch, and the writer has for many 

 years mated from four to six hens with one cock, the latter number 

 invariably when the yard is sufficiently large. 



In captivity a single Chinese pheasant hen has been known to lay 

 one hundred and four eggs in one season, extending from April 1st to 

 September 1st, but sixty eggs is perhaps a fair average. In the wild state, 

 the pheasant seldom roosts in a tree, and then only in one that is open, so 

 it is in confinement. While they may stay in the shedded part of their 

 pen in the day time, just at dusk they select a place with an open sky above 

 them in which to pass the night, and this too, regardless of the inclemency 

 of the weather. They seem to be indifferent to snow and rain, and appear 

 none the worse for the drenching. They commonly roost on the ground with 

 feathers drawn down tight to the body. 



ENEMIES OF THE PHEASANT 



The enemies of the chicken yard are likewise the enemies of the 

 pheasants. A shotgun is a valuable implement in pheasant farming, but 

 keep it where you can get it quickly. 



Wage continuous war on rats. Of all the predatory animals the game 

 breeder has to contend with, he will find the rat the hardest to combat. 

 Rats are more apt to be found around a pheasant yard than a chicken 

 yard. It is easy to regulate the amount of feed given poultry, conse- 

 quently none need be left on the ground to attract rats. Some pheasants, 

 however, are so shy they will not eat until the attendant has scattered 

 the food and gone away. Therefore it is necessary for the pheasant 

 breeder to fight rats continually and by every method possible. I have 

 tried steel traps, wire cage traps, poison, carbon bisulphide, gopher extermi- 

 nators and various other remedies, but find nothing so effective as a 

 " varmint' ' dog. 



If all buildings are up from the ground high enough to have full access 

 and you have the right kind of a dog, he will take care of the rats as 

 fast as they come. Whenever a rat hole is found in any part of the 

 yards no time should be lost in digging it out. With the help of a good 

 dog, a rat will rarely ever get away. An Airedale is the dog to have. 

 These dogs take to hunting and killing rats naturally and willingly without 

 guidance or training. 



Of the various members of the hawk family that prey upon game birds, 

 perhaps the western red-tailed hawk, because of his abundance, is the 

 most difficult to control. The Cooper hawk is another offender. When it 



Fag* fourteen 



