364 AMERICAN HOMES AND “GARDEN: 
October, 1912 
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Two types of Pheasants—the Golden Pheasant and the Mongolian Pheasant 
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Keeping a Few Pheasants 
By E. I. Farrington 
Photographs by Thomas Ellison and others 
~0g|INE feathers do make fine birds in the case 
|| of pheasants, in spite of the old adage. 
These birds are bred for their fine feathers 
and for nothing else when kept in confine- 
ment, although they are of special value in 
destroying insect pests when allowed their 
liberty, and for that reason are being propagated on a 
large scale by several of the states, which have established 
extensive pheasant farms. All over the country there are 
people who keep just a few birds because they admire their 
beautiful markings. Probably more people would keep 
them if their general care were better understood. 
Newly hatched pheasants are extremely delicate, but 
mature birds are hardy and strong. Pheasants do not suf- 
fer in cold weather, for they have a very heavy covering 
of feathers, but dampness and draughts must be avoided 
with the utmost care. ‘The aviary should therefore be 
constructed with one side or end entirely open, except for 
inch-mesh poultry netting stretched over it. A canvas cur- 
tain may be dropped if necessary to keep out beating rains. 
The floor should be built up at least a foot higher than 
the outside ground in order to make sure that it will always 
be dry. A dirt floor is as good as any, but should be cov- 
ered with gravel two or three inches deep, which should be 
replaced at least twice a year. Pheasants are exceptionally 
neat and the amount of labor needed to keep their pens in 
a sanitary condition is not great. 
It is most important to keep out rats and other maraud- 
ing animals, for the birds often choose to roost on the floor. 
The best protection against rats is a cement foundation 
wall reaching to the frost line. Hemlock boards painted 
with a commercial preparation offensive to rodents may 
be used instead, or inch-mesh poultry wire may be sunk into 
the ground a foot or more deep all around the house. 
As pheasants are exceedingly shy, it is well to make a 
retreat in their pen, where they may find seclusion. This 
may be done by boarding off a corner, with a small entrance 
hole made in the bottom board, or by placing a few short 
evergreen bows in a corner. A perch or two will complete 
the equipment so far as ordinary requirements are concerned. 
There should be a yard attached to the house, if possible, 
but it must be wired over or the pheasants will soon leave 
it by the air route. Netting with inch-mesh is the best for 
use, as it will exclude sparrows, which vagrant birds will 
otherwise consume more grain than the pheasants. Being 
covered, these runs need not be high—four feet is ample. 
It is not wise for the amateur to attempt hatching pheas- 
ant eggs until warm weather is established; if he does, he 
will almost certainly suffer so many losses as to be discour- 
aged. The first of June is sufficiently early in the northern 
states to have the young birds make their appearance. On 
the other hand, they ought to be out before the excessively 
warm weather comes on. It is necessary to give the young- 
sters every advantage. 
From 21 to 26 days are required for incubating the eggs, 
according to the variety. Bantam hens are used almost 
exclusively as sitters. Pheasant eggs are so small that 
twenty of them may be put under a hen of ordinary size, 
but it is better to use a light hen like a Bantam, and to give 
her not more than ten eggs. ‘Then the poults will stand a 
better chance of surviving the manifold dangers of infancy, 
for if there are many young birds, some of them are almost 
certain to be stepped on or to stray away. 
The hens are commonly set in boxes in the bottom of 
which a shovelful of earth or an inverted sod has been 
placed. It is well to set two hens at the same time, so that 
if many of the eggs prove infertile when they are tested 
on the seventh day, those which remain may be given to 
one hen and the other hen released from her task. 
It is a common practice to remove the eggs from the 
hens just before they are due to hatch and to place them 
in an incubator, raising the poults in a brooder. ‘The reason 
lies in the fact that hens frequently transmit a disease known 
as white diarrhoea to chicks, which does not affect the old 
hens to any appreciable extent, but is considered fatal to 
young birds. If the poults are then raised on the ground 
where poultry has not run for four or five years, they .are not 
likely to contract either disease or lice until old enough to 
resist infection. ‘This plan is really the secret of raising 
young pheasants and when it is remembered, success follows. 
