PHEASANT RAISING IN THE UNITED STATES. 
21 
at about $12 per pair; next in price are the Lady Amherst and 
Reeves, which retail at about $18 or $20 a pair, while others range 
from this price up to $150 or $200 a pair. These prices are only 
approximate, and serve merely to give an idea of the relative values 
of the birds mentioned. 
PENS. 
Any well-drained ground is suitable for pheasant pens, but a gentle 
slope of sandy loam, comparatively cool in midsummer, furnishes 
ideal conditions. Clay is the poorest soil for the purpose, as it is 
likely to foster diseases. The pens should be provided with plenty 
of both sunshine and shade. They should be constructed of chicken 
wire, like ordinary poultry runs. Each pen should cover at least 100 
square feet, more if possible; contracted quarters induce disease 
and afford their timid occupants too little protection from alarms. 
The pen should be from 6 to 8 feet high, and should be inclosed above 
with wire. If the pheasants are likely to be disturbed much, cord 
netting should be stretched 6 inches or more below the top wire, to 
prevent the birds from injuring themselves by flying violently against 
the top, as they are apt to do when frightened. 
It is of course feasible to keep pheasants in a pen open at the top, 
by pinioning them or clipping their wings. But pinioning, besides 
disfiguring pheasants, disables them permanently. Birds that are 
to be liberated should never be pinioned, as it makes them useless 
for sport and a ready prey to natural enemies. Clipping is objection¬ 
able, owing to the necessity for frequent repetitions. Pheasants are 
timid and the less they are disturbed the better, especially when 
breeding. Furthermore, clipping is not always effective, as clipped 
pheasants sometimes climb up the sides of the pen and escape. 
Another objection to open-top runs is the danger of attacks by hawks 
and owls, particularly if the run can not be readily guarded. If a 
small open shed or inclosure be placed at one end (the upper), the 
birds will always have a dry dusting place, also a shelter in wet or 
stormy weather. The floor of this shed should be the natural earth, 
to furnish dust baths for the birdsj and it should be raised slightly 
above the level of the run to avoid flooding. Dust baths are as neces¬ 
sary to pheasants as to poultry. They free them from lice and keep 
the plumage in good condition. Mortar, cinders (which birds seek 
with avidity), and plenty of grit should be kept in the shed. The 
sides of the run may be boarded if necessary to furnish seclusion, 
though it is usual to board them only at the base (fig. 12), and a few 
pheasant raisers regard even tnis as objectionable. The side wire 
should enter the ground for a foot and a half or two feet, to keep out 
burrowing animals. 
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