MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Vol. 3, No. 4 
Page 3 
April 3. As of April 28, 500 eggs had been laid, table 1. Most of the eggs were 
laid by hens with 1.50 or 2.00 per cent of calcium in their diets. Hens with only 
0.75 per cent of calcium in their diet ate their eggs immediately after oviposition; 
the yolks, or albumen of some of these eggs have been found beneath the wire floors 
of the pens. There appears to be little effect of the amount of phosphorus in the 
diet on the production of eggs during the first month of laying. 
Table 1. Egg production of hen pheasants fed different amounts of calcium 
and phosphorus, April 3-28, I960. 
• 
• 
Amount of available : 
Phosphorus (per cent) : 
0.75 
1.50 
Amount of Calcium (per cent) 
2.00 Total Eggs/hen 
0.3 
11(7)* 
76(7) 
84(7) 
171(21) 
8.1 
0.6 
11 ( 7 ) 
87(7) 
76(6) 
174(20) 
8.7 
0.9 
8 ( 7 ) 
79(7) 
68(7) 
155(21) 
7.4 
Total 
30(21) 
242(21) 
228(20) 
500(62) 
8.1 
Eggs/hen 
1.4 
11.5 
11.4 
8.1 
^Number of eggs; number of hens in parenthesis. 
Field observations at Neoga have indicated that the wild, transplanted 
pheasants have survived better than the "California" pheasants obtained from the 
game farm. During the winter of 1959-60, 1,114 pheasants, 514 (46 percent) 
wild-trapped birds and 600 (54 percent) game farm birds, were released at Neoga. 
In April, 490 observations were made of pheasants that were identified as either 
game farm or wild-transplanted birds. The wild transplanted pheasants comprised 
54 percent (265 birds) and game farm pheasants only 46 percent (225 birds). 
Since the releases were made, 114 pheasants have been found dead. Game 
farm pheasants comprised 103 (90 percent) of the known mortalities. 
