34 
PHEASANT RAISING IN TPIE UNITED STATES. 
Live ringnecks and English ringnecks can always be disposed of to 
owners of private preserves and state game officials, for stocking 
covers, and to a smaller extent English, versicolor, Mongolian, and 
Prince of Wales pheasants will find a similar market. Zoological and 
city parks and owners of private aviaries are ready purchasers of the 
rarer and the more beautiful species. At present the demand for 
pheasants is increasing. Large numbers of dead pheasants are annu¬ 
ally imported from Europe to be sold for several times the price they 
bring in European markets. In America, several states have recently 
passed laws permitting the marketing of domesticated game with 
suitable safeguards to prevent the unlawful marketing of native wild 
game under this privilege—a fact which indicates that American 
markets will open more and more to pheasant raisers. 
SHIPMENT OF LIVE BIRDS. 
The shipment of dead birds to market is simple, but a few words 
of advice as to methods of shipping live pheasants will be serviceable. 
Pheasants intended for shipment should be caught in deep nets a 
foot and a half wide that are provided with long handles. When put 
in crates, they must be held with the wings pressed against the sides 
and not carried by the legs, which are easily dislocated. The crate 
used should be deep enough to allow the birds to stand upright and 
commodious enough to avoid damage to their long tails (some breed¬ 
ers, when shipping, economize space by cutting off the tail feathers, 
which will grow out again at the next molt). The top of the crate 
should be of wood for long distances or wire for short distances. 
When of wood it should be amply padded, as pheasants, when 
frightened, jump up with such violence as to break their necks or 
scalp themselves if the top be solid. Burlap, stuffed 2 inches deep 
with straw, is a good padding. Ventilation should be provided by 
means of small holes near the top, and one side should be closed only 
by 1 or 2 inch mesh wire, with a loose burlap or cheese-cloth curtain, 
to allow sufficient air and at the same time prevent the pheasants 
from seeing out and thus suffering frequent alarms. The crates 
should have handles. The bottom should be covered with short 
straw. An ample supply of grain and water for the journey should 
be provided, or the express messenger should be instructed to supply 
these en route. For a journey of not more than forty-eight hours, 
green, succulent food, such as apple or cabbage, fastened inside the 
crate will supply all the food and water necessary. Lastly, the crate 
should be labeled “Live birds—rush.” 
Eggs may be shipped in various ways. They may be packed in 
cotton, hay, excelsior, or almost anything that will prevent breakage. 
It is necessary only to caution the shipper not to use sawdust, as the 
resin is likely to spoil the eggs. 
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