Y. Malisoux—Must Pheasants Roost ?



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haunts ? Were they sprayed with tepid water, ventilated with hot

air, and furnished with a bed of twigs near the roof ; to make a mock

imitation of the equatorial rains, the burning winds, and the aerial

sleeping places of the apes ? Indeed no. What saved the lives of these

apes was the glass that an intelligent management had put between

them and the T.B. germs of our country. This glass, everybody who

has the slightest notion of fresh air will admit, is not only unnatural

but most decidedly contrary to nature. However, it cannot be

dispensed with, as it acts as a barrier against this deadly disease.

Our damp cold and wretched climate are a continual threat to the

general health of our Pheasants. To talk of it is commonplace, but very

few people have studied it in a proper manner. My own experience

and that of others has suggested some remedies. The countries from

which Pheasants come, in other words their native habitats, can roughly

be divided into two groups. Those never cold if sometimes damp ;

others sometimes cold but never damp. We enforce upon our birds the

cold penetrating mists and fogs, the icy rains, the melting snows, etc.,

for which constitutionally they are totally unfit. Even what is known

as dry cold is not to be found in Western Europe, its nearest limits

are Central France and Switzerland. We must compensate our

Pheasants for the unsuitable nature of our climate, and not blindly

try to imitate nature, as this can only be found in their native haunts.


Truly every Pheasant roosts when living its own wild life, but it is

among the surroundings that God has provided and therefore perfect.

There is never an overdose of heat or cold, of damp or dry. Moreover,

they choose their roosts themselves. Our Pheasants have a very limited

choice among the perches and shrubs we place in the aviaries as we

happen to think fit. In my opinion it needs something much keener

than our common sense—our fitting a board here, a perch there, and

a shrub somewhere else—to succeed. In spite of our goodwill, our birds

are not half as well protected against the inclemencies of the night as

they would manage in the natural state. Concerning this subject the

experiences of two other people has impressed me. One is the Argus

hen of a very ignorant fancier. This hen was living in an aviary with a

roof, but otherwise open. Her toes had been severely frostbitten in

25 degrees of frost. Except for this the bird was in perfect health and



