28 
PHEASANT RAISING IN THE UNITED STATES. 
so as perhaps to free one of the sitting hens for a fresh setting. If, 
however, only one or two broods are being raised, it is better not to 
disturb the hen by examining the eggs. 
Nests should be kept clean. Broken eggs and all other refuse 
should be removed, and the remaining eggs washed, if soiled. The hen 
should, however, be disturbed as little as possible. When an egg has 
chipped but the chick is unable to break out in eight hours, it may be 
assisted by placing the egg in a shallow pan of water (at blood heat) 
for a minute or two, chipped part uppermost and out of the water, to 
avoid drowning the chick. The chick should never be drawn out of 
the shell by hand, but should be allowed to emerge naturally. 
CARE OF YOUNG PHEASANTS. 
The young should go without food for the first twenty-four hours 
after hatching, as during that time they derive all needed nourish¬ 
ment from the yolk, which they are then absorbing. Thereafter 
begins the most critical stage of pheasant life, and for two or three 
weeks watchful and unremitting care is necessary. Extreme cleanli¬ 
ness must be observed. Drinking and feeding vessels should be 
washed and scalded daily; weather conditions must be noted care¬ 
fully, and every precaution taken to prevent exposure of the chicks 
to dampness or direct and excessive sun heat; the slightest disorder 
in the young must be treated promptly and decisively. In time of 
severe drought the grass near the coop should be sprinkled. 
Some allow the chicks to remain in the hatching box and its run 
for three or four days before removal to the rearing field; others 
remove them at the end of twenty-four hours. Some use the same 
foster parent throughout; others, especially those rearing pheasants 
in large numbers, use separate hens for hatching and brooding, and 
make up broods of 15 to 20 by taking chicks indiscriminately from 
the hatching hens. In either event separate coops should be used for 
rearing and for hatching, and the rearing coop should be in its proper 
place in the field for a few days before it is to be occupied, in order to 
insure dryness of the ground beneath it. It is important to have clean 
sand or fine grit immediately available on removing the chicks to the 
rearing field. 
The rearing field (fig. 15) may be in meadowland or in a garden 
or orchard according to convenience (a clover field is excellent); but 
it should be changed every year or two, in order to allow a restora¬ 
tion to normal abundance of its insect life, of which it will be largely 
depleted by the young pheasants. It should be large enough to per¬ 
mit the placing of the coops 30 yards or more apart, not only to give 
sufficient territory to each brood, but also to prevent the hens from 
killing chicks of other broods, as they sometimes do. If the rearing 
field is in grass or clover, paths 12 to 15 feet wide should connect the 
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