PHEASANT RAISING IN THE UNITED STATES. 29 
coops, and narrower paths at right angles to these are serviceable. 
These should be mowed and the cuttings removed before the chicks 
are placed in the field. 
The rearing coop (figs. 16 and 17), which may be varied in style, 
should be provided with a wire run for the first three or four days, 
until the chicks learn the voice of their foster parent. A satisfactory 
type is one 2 feet square, with a sloping roof 2 feet high in front and 
somewhat less at the back. It is better to have it like the hatching 
coop, without a bottom, though, if necessary to keep out vermin, it 
may be floored with a fine mesh wire netting. It should be provided 
with a hinged shutter in front, or some similar device, to prevent the 
chicks from going out when the ground is wet, which is apt to result 
in cramp, a rapidly fatal and highly infectious disease. Proper ven- 
Fig. 15.—Rearing field on a pheasantry near Chicago, Hi. Note space between rows of coops. 
tilation must, however, be secured. The coop should be shifted daily 
to a fresh spot, except when the ground is wet. 
Near each coop there should always be a leafy branch to furnish 
shelter and shade for the young. The runs may be retained through¬ 
out the rearing season if there is danger from hawks or crows, but in 
this event they should be as large as possible. 
The hens may be kept cooped and the young allowed to run at large, 
in which case the front of the coop must be covered with a large mesh 
wire netting or bars; or both hens and chicks may be allowed the lib¬ 
erty of the field. In this, as in many other matters, choice depends 
on local conditions. Thus it might be advantageous to allow the 
young pheasants to run in a vegetable garden, which would be mate¬ 
rially damaged if the hens were given the same privilege. It some¬ 
times happens, too, that the hen when at liberty loses one or more of 
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