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FARMING

BY ‘GENE. M, ‘SIMPSON

_ SUPERINTENDENT STATE GAME FARM

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PHEASANT FARMING

BY

"GENE M. SIMPSON

Superintendent State Game Farm

With illustrations from
Photographs by Wm. L. Finley and C. F. Hodge
and
Drawings by R. Bruce Horsfall

BULLETIN No. 2

Published under the direction of
WILLIAM L. FINLEY
OREGON FISH AND GAME COMMISSION

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Copyright, 1914, by William L. Finley

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SALEM, OREGON:
STATE PRINTING DEPARTMENT
1914

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION
I—PROPAGATION OF GAME Brrps
II—VaRIETIES OF PHEASANTS
III—THE CHINESE PHEASANT IN OREGON
IV—EQUIPMENT FOR THE FARM
V—THE IpEAL MotrHer
VI—FrEpDING PHEASANT CHICKS
VII—ENEMIES OF THE GAME BREEDER

VIII—Apvick 'to THE BEGINNER

“We must produce, if we would destroy.”

California or Valley
Quail

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Male and Female Chinese or Denny Pheasants

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INTRODUCTION

BOUT eight years ago Mr. Simpson
published a booklet entitled “Pheas-
ant Farming.” The second edition
of this was issued in 1908 and has
for some time been out of print.
As Mr. Simpson stated at the
time, “We have an abundance
; of authorities on game bird pro-
\ tection, but few on progagation.
These authorities tell us when,

where, how many and in what
manner game birds may be killed, but little or nothing as to how
they may be successfully propagated.”

Inasmuch as there is a decided interest in the raising of pheas-
ants for market, and since we receive man{ inguiries from people
who ask for information concerning various problems of pheasant
raising, Mr. Simpson has revised and added to the original booklet

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and new illustrations have been provided, so as to give readers as
much help as possible.

"As Mr. Simpson says, “There are many ways of raising pheas-
ants, just as there are many ways of raising chickens. The methods
described are not the only ways, but they are methods which I have
followed with success and therefore I can recommend. Until ex-
perience has been gained, I strongly advise the amateur to follow
the system I have outlined.”

For many years Mr. “Gene M. Simpson has been well known as
a successful breeder of pheasants and other game birds. He began
by propagating a few pheasants in his back yard. He increased by
buying the adjoining property and finally the whole block across the
street. This was not sufficient, so he purchased 30 acres further out
in the country. By adding improvements and equipment, Mr. Simp-
son enlarged his business and built up a very profitable industry.

State in 1911, Mr. Simpson was employed to propagate game birds
and stock various parts of the State.

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Several months ago, there was an editorial in “The American
Field” to the effect that a large amount of sportsmen’s money had
been squandered in establishing game farms which proved to be total
failures—‘“‘not that game birds cannot be raised in a semi-domestic
manner, but because our form of government brings about such radi-
cal administrative changes every few years that no one knows the
tenure of his office, and appointments are made, not with regard to
experience and ability to raise game birds, but to pay off political
debts, and of all the departments in a state, the game and fish de-
partments seem to be favored places to unload political obligations.”

The reason the State Game Farm in Oregon has been a success
is because of Mr. Simpson. There are very few men in the United
States today who are really successful in raising game birds. It
takes long and patient study. It takes a man who loves the work.
Many a person may succeed in raising two or three broods of pheas-
ants, but it is rare to find one who ean successfully raise several
thousand birds each season, as Mr. Simpson is doing. He knows the
business. He lives with his birds. His heart is in the work.

WittiaAM L. FINLEY.

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Half Grown Pheasants

CHAPTER I

Propagation of Game Birds

-N AMERICA we have been very wasteful of
our natural resources. ‘This is especially the
case in the destruction of our game birds. The
experience of the continental countries has
gone unheeded. In earher years our virgin
pastures furnished game in such numbers that
it seemed impossible for it ever to disappear,
but the rapidly increasing population and west-
ward movement of civilization has brought our
people to a realization that the game can disappear, and unless its
slaughter is checked it will soon be but a memory. Though the
spirit of protecting the game has come late, it is not too late.

The true sportsman does not object to being limited in the
amount of game he may kill in a season, or to being taxed for the
privilege. Laws for game protection are necessary, but the time has
come in America when game propagation is also necessary. The
proper expenditure of the funds derived from hunters’ licenses will
provide means to secure both.

Game bird propagation, while a well established business in
Europe, is in its infancy in this country. That we must produce,
if we would destroy, has dawned upon us. Propagation is the only
solution of the future game supply problem. That we must sooner

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or later accept the idea of private or public game propagation is
brought out very forcibly by Henry Richmond Coyle, in “Outdoor
World and Recreation” for October, 1913, in the following words:

“Without doubt or
question we citizens of
the United States are on
the border line between
two widely different
eras of our growth. This
is true in all phases of
our social and business
life, and not less of our
life in the outdoor
world. Little by little
we have become used to
smaller bags of game,
little by little we have
traveled farther and
paid more for sport. In
many futile ways, found-
ed on hope and desire
rather than on common
sense, we have tried to
arrest the hand which
writes upon the _ wall.
None the less, and we
must admit it, all at-
tempts to keep the old
America have failed. We
must pass not only from
old days to new, but
from old ways to new.”

Smaller Game Bags Hach Year

The breeding of pheasants and other game birds in captivity for

sale, under certain well defined regulations, either for eating or for

breeding purposes, is just as legitimate as the breeding

Cees of any of our domestic birds or animals. Every game

ins Market i'd raised and sold in captivity helps to protect the
state’s supply of wild game.

The growing need of special provisions governing the sale of

game birds and animals raised in captivity is receiving recognition

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by the Biological Survey of the Department of Agriculture at
Washington, D. C., whose attitude on the subject is stated as
follows:
“The raising of game for profit not only need not

jeopardize the safety and abundance of our wild game,

but, under proper state license laws and a system of

tagging game for shipment or sale, is likely to increase

the quantity of wild game.”’’

The growth of the industry of raising game for the market, as
cattle and poultry are raised, is manifested in legislation in many
states during the last few years. A dozen states now have such
provisions in their laws, and the production and marketing of do-
mesticated game seems destined to become an industry that will de-
mand more and more recognition in future legislation. With proper
means of identification provided, so as to prevent evasion of the laws
prohibiting traffic in wild game, there would seem to be no reason

: why this industry should not be encouraged in every pos-
een sible way. One of the great reasons for non-observance
Siete of game laws is the ever-present desire of the general

public to eat game. Make it possible for the general
public to purchase game food during a legal season, and the in-
centive to evade the laws would be minimized. In all game legisla-
tion the general or non-sportsman public must be reckoned with.
To ignore this factor invites violation of game and fish laws.

A few states yet hold it a crime for any one to increase the sup-
ply of game by breeding the same in captivity. Dillon Wallace, in
Outing Magazine, says:

“As a result of this method of protection our game
is surely and rapidly diminishing in numbers, and the
complete extinction of some species seems not far
distant, unless some new tack is taken, and it would
seem that the most reasonable solution of the problem
would be to turn the animals to profit through domes-
tication, and at the same time by this method insure
perpetuation of rapidly disappearing species.

“We are suffering from conservatism gone to seed.
Because our native mammals and birds were originally
discovered in a wild state we have, unconsciously per-
haps, conceived the notion that they must of neces-
sity continue in the wild state. Wild they are and
wild they must remain. To domesticate them would be
to change the existing order of things, and that would
be a sacrilege on Nature. We forget that our domestic
cattle, our sheep, our horses, and our fowls were once

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PHEASANT FARMING

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wild. We do not consider that our prehistoric ances-
tors, who were in this respect, at least, more progres-
sive than ourselves, captured, tamed and domesticated
the progenitors of our domestic live stock, and by so
doing added greatly to the wealth, comfort and hap-
piness of themselves and those who followed them.’’

In my opinion, the State of Oregon has the most progressive
game laws of any state in the Union. While providing ample
closed seasons and a license that insures enforcement, encourage-
ment is given to the breeding of game in captivity, and its sale
under sufficient restrictions.

Henry Chase, in “Game Protection and Propagation in
America,” says:

“But necessity absolutely demands that the oc-
cupation of the market hunter, who supplies city snobs
and hostelries from the public game domains, be de-

stroyed by law forthwith. In the place of the

Demand for market hunter, cold-storage produce dealers
Game Raised should look to the private game farms and
in Captivity breeders’ camps for their future supply of

game. There is no question but that there
exists a legitimate demand for game for food, but that
demand has no right to expect that it will be supplied
at the expense of the public welfare.’’

Under date of November 28, 1913, Mr. William R. Oates, the
State Game, Fish and Forestry Warden of Michigan, writes:

“We are writing to advise you that this department
is doing all it can to encourage the propagation of
game animals and believes that they ought to be sold
and transported under such regulations as will pro-
tect the wild game of the state. We believe that all
animals and birds of this kind that are reared in
captivity will have a tendency to save the wild game of
the state. There are people who are determined to
secure wild game even though they have to take
chances on being prosecuted under our criminal laws
for obtaining it in an illegal manner. Where there is a
legal way provided by which wild game can be secured,
we believe it will be one of the best means of conserv-
ing our wild game.”’

From the twenty-first biennial report of the State Fish and
Game Commissioner of the state of Vermont is quoted the fol-
lowing :

“Under the present restrictive laws it is impossible

for a person who does not hunt to obtain wild game
birds for his table unless he happens to have a

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PHEASANT FARMING

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friend who is kind enough and fortunate enough to
secure a few for him. There is no reason why pheas-
ants and wild ducks may not be successfully raised in
Vermont for the table, and in such manner as to pro-
duce birds having the flavor of the strictly wild fowl.
The raising of game birds for the market is coming to
be an industry in some parts of the country and it
should be encouraged in Vermont, whether for the
market or for use on the home table. The more wild
birds which can be raised in domesticity, the less de-
mand there will be for the native wild fowl.’’

Again, in the California Fish and Game Commission’s

of 1912, is the following:

“As it becomes more and more necessary to remove
all the wild game from the markets, the public de-
mands something to take its place. This can well be
supplied from that raised in captivity. A law allowing
the sale of deer would not make it any more difficult
to protect the wild animals; on the other hand it would
supply the demand for venison and would remove the
reason for violating the law that sometimes exists
under our present system. .... We recommend that
pheasants raised in captivity be sold in the markets.
This has a two-fold advantage. First, it would mean
a source of revenue to people of small holding, it
would provide a delicious game bird for the table of
hotels and restaurants, and proportionally reduce the
drain on wild game in the fields.’’

vincial game warden, Vancouver, B. C., says:

“With regard to the sale of game birds we are
gradually doing away with the sale of game in this
province; in fact, it is cut down to a minimum now.
By encouraging private game farms I am of the opin-
ion that more wild birds would be sold than those
raised in captivity.’’

the illegal sale of game, is the following:

This emphasizes my contention.

“There are, however, a few wealthy people, who
should set a good example, who regularly buy game at
any time they can get it. Not only do these people
break the law themselves, but they encourage others
to do it also.”’

report

In a letter dated November 27, 1913, A. Bryan Williams, pro-

In Mr. Williams’ report of 1912, in the paragraph pertaining to

Had there been a provincial

law permitting the sale of game reared in captivity to be sold in
the market, I know of several pheasant breeders on Vancouver

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Island who could and would have supplied this demand. The wild
game would have been protected, the temptation to violate the
game laws removed, and a profitable and legitimate enterprise have
been encouraged,

No one will buy a wild game bird sold and bought in violation
of the law when he can lawfully buy the same bird reared in cap-
tivity, and in the ease of pheasants | believe the bird so reared is
superior im quality of flesh to the wild bird. his for the reason
that the wild bird is constantly on the go and his museles beeome
loughened, while the bird in captivity is tender and of equally as
Mine flavor,

Chinese Pheasant Mother

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Male Skeeves Pheasant
CHAPTER I]
— Varieties of Pheasants

AER are many varieties of pheasants, but
for practical purposes they may be divided
into two general classes, (1) those used as
game, and (2) those used exclusively for
show and ornamentation. In the first clases
there are three principal varieties: Vhe
Chinese (Phasianus torquatus), Common or

English Black-neck (Phasianus colchicus)
and the Mneglish Ring-neck (Phasianus col-
chicus-lorquatus). Other varieties closely allied to these are the
Japanese (Phasianus versicolor), Mongolian (Phasianus mone
golicus), Reeves (Phasianus reeves), Nagenbeck (Phasianus ha-
genbecki), Prince of Wales (Phasianus principals) and Soem-
merring’s (Phasianus soommerrimgn); but the three kinds first
named are by far the most prominent game varieties, The latter
named pheasants ave reared for their beautiful plumage, the Jap-
anese and Reeves being the most common. The Mongolian comes
from the interior of China and there are very few true Mongolian
pheasants in America, All of the above named birds are true pheas-
ants of which the generic scientific name is Phasianus. The Golden
(Chrysolophus pictus), the Amherst (Chrysolophus amherst) and

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the Silver (Gennaeus nycthemerus) pheasants are all of a different
genus, but they are almost identical in nature and require the same
treatment in rearing. hese three are favorite birds of the aviary.

The Chinese or Ring-neck pheasant and the common or Hng-
lish Black-neck pheasant are each separate and distinct varieties
of pheasants, while the English Ring-neck is a hybrid of the two.
This latter bird, the English Ring-neck is the common pheasant of
England today. It is frequently confounded with the Chinese. The
English Black-neck pheasant is in general nature and form the
same as the Chinese, differing in this, that the English Black-neck
is of a general mahogany red cast and has no ring around the neck,
while the Chinese is lighter and brighter in color and has a silky
white ring or band around the neck. The English Ring-neck retains
the mahogany red cast, though not so pronounced as the English
Black-neck, and has the white collar of the Chinese, hence the name,
English Ring-neck, indicating the combination of these two dif-
ferences.

The old English Black-neck was probably introduced into Eng-
land before the Norman Conquest, or it may have been native to all
the northern countries from China to England. ‘There is a record
of the birds being served as early as A. D. 1059, but now they have
so interbred with the Chinese that it is-difficult to find a pure
specimen.

Of all attempts to raise game birds in captivity, greater success
has been achieved with pheasants than with any other. In England
pheasants have been raised in captivity from the time of the Norman
Conquest. With all this private breeding, the pheasant
has never lost his wild nature, but methods of feeding
and care have been improved until the breeding of
pheasants in captivity is well understood and certain in results. At
this time there are practically no pheasantries in America where the
birds are raised for the table, and yet there is no reason why pheas-
ants may not be raised profitably as an article of diet. I do not .
wish to be understood as saying that they can be raised in compe-
tition with chickens, but there is a constant demand among the
wealthy persons of all cities for the luxuries, and the breeder of-
pheasants should cater to this demand. There is nothing that so
recommends itself to the suburban resident who has an acre or two
of ground as pheasant breeding, not only as a source of pleasure,
but of profit as well.

Pheasant
Breeding

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The Chinese, Ring-neck or Denny pheasant is the game bird
par excellence. ‘Taken all in all, it is a serious question whether or
not he has any superior as an all-around game bird. It is utter
folly to hunt him without a dog. His ability to conceal himself even
in the scantiest cover, is wonderful. Without a dog, it is not un-
common to pass within a few feet of one hidden in the grass, with-
out his rising. When running in cover he moves very swiftly with
the body close to the ground, and possesses the ability to pass

i through grass, short or tall, without disturbing
Ree the surface. When overtaken by the dog, he will

ing-neck, or , : ; ;
Denny Pheasant ie well, and this fact, combined with the further
fact that he is always found in the open, makes
pheasant shooting the cleanest bird shooting in the world.

Possessed of remarkable vitality, he does not succumb to slight
gunshot wounds. Being clean-limbed, with powerful thighs, he is
exceptionally fleet on foot, and if winged only, the pheasant falls
running, and here the dog is put to his severest test. Very few
dogs can track a crippled “Chinaman” their first season, but an ex-
perienced setter or pointer learns to recognize the wounded bird
and endeavors to be as near him as possible when he touches the
ground.

Besides his gameness and delicate flesh, he is unquestionably
one of the most ornamental of the game birds. He is a native of
the northern part of China, being found as far north as the Amour
River and as far south as Shanghai. The question is often asked if
the Chinese pheasant can stand the heat and cold. A reference to
the map of China will answer the question. The pheasant has suc-
ceeded over the larger part of Kurope, even as far north as Sweden.
On this continent it does well in Canada an! Nova Scotia, but no-
where has its introduction been attended with such prolific results
as in the Willamette Valley in the State of Oregon. I do not know
which is to be congratulated more, the Willamette Valley for hav-
ing the beautiful and gamey pheasants, or the pheasants for having
been so fortunate as to find so delightful a valley.

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CHAPTER III

The Chinese Pheasant in Oregon

= 'T WAS stated by an eminent authority on
pheasants that im 1898 there were more
Chinese pheasants in Oregon than in the
whole Chinese Empire. Credence is lent
this statement when it is remembered that
it is reliably estimated that in one year
30,000 were killed in one county in this
State alone, and the same year 1,200 dozen
were shipped to the San Francisco market.
There could be no better testimonial of the adaptability of the Chin-
ese pheasant as a bird for restocking a state with game than this last
statement, which comes from no less an authority than Judge Denny,
the man who introduced the pheasant into Oregon, and after whom
the bird is often called. For some time Judge Denny had been
United States Consul General at Shanghai and it was from there
that he sent the birds to Oregon. The rapidity with which the birds
increased in this State is made more marvelous when it is remem-
bered that they were not introduced until 1880 and 1882, and then
less than fifty birds were liberated. They were protected absolutely
for ten years, and thereafter an open season of six weeks was provid-
ed, which was later lengthened to two months, but shortened again
in 1909 to thirty days on males only. The rapidity of their increase -
is doubtless due to the large egg production. It is held by those most
famihar with the birds that under ordinary conditions the hen will
raise two broods, and in favorable seasons she will care for three
broods.

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How little the efforts of Judge Denny to introduce the Chinese
pheasant were appreciated, and how California missed the oppor-
tunity of being stocked with this grandest of all game birds is told
by Mr. Fred Lockley in a recent newspaper interview with Mrs.
Denny, who is at this time a resident of Portland, Oregon.

“When we returned from China,’ said Mrs.
Denny, ‘‘we brought with us ninety more pheasants,
embracing several additional varieties, including the
Golden, Silver and Copper pheasants, as well as the
Chefoo quail. These cost us from five to nine dollars
a pair. Judge Denny planned to distribute them
throughout the western part of the State under his
own supervision. Unfortunately, he went to Mexico
on business and turned the birds over to the Portland
Rod and Gun Club, believing that they would have
the greatest interest in their care, preservation and
distribution throughout the State. The Rod and Gun
Club sent them to Protection Island, hiring the owner
of the island to care for the birds and agreeing to pay
him $25 a month to see that they were properly fed
and: protected from pot-hunters. Shortly after this,
one of the officials of the Rod and Gun Club em-
bezzled the funds of the club, amounting to about
$1,500, and this resulted in the disbandment of the
club. The club failed to make any payment to the
owner of the island, who, in consequence, claimed the
birds. A few of the birds were sold to individuals, but
none of them were liberated. And so my husband’s
public-spirited, patriotic efforts toward the introduc-
tion of these additional varieties of game birds to
Oregon came to naught.

“Before returning to the United States, my husband
communicated with Mr. Redding of San Francisco, ask-
ing him if he would like to have a shipment of game
birds sent to California. Mr. Redding was very en-
thusiastic and made all arrangements to take care of
them on their arrival. He arranged with the Spring
Valley Water Company of California, who were also in
sympathy with the movement, and who arranged to
have the birds turned out upon their grounds. They
sowed buckwheat seed in different places and promised
that every facility for the feeding and comfort of the
birds would be attended to. Between eighty and
ninety birds were shipped, extreme care being taken
so that they would reach San Francisco in good con-
dition. The ship arrived at the wharf as the funeral
procession of Mr. Redding was taking place. He had
died suddenly and no arrangements had been made to
receive the birds. In fact, no one knew anything about

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it. The birds, of course, had to be taken from the
boat, and, no one seeming to Know anything about
them, the sailors finally gave them away along the
waterfront and some of them were sold to the city
markets. California never knew of my husband’s

splendid gift, and the state received no _ benefit
from it.”’

Prof. W. 'T. Shaw, in his superb book, “The China, or Denny
Pheasant in Oregon,” says:

“To know the pheasant well, one must live with
him throughout the year. He is a bird of moods, in-
fluenced by shifting conditions and passing seasons,
in which there are for him, in reality, but two—the
open and closed. Within a few days after the law says
no more shooting, he becomes bold and fearless, even
to the extent of sharing the food of the barnyard fowls

in winter, though always reserved and suspicious. In

the brush of the lowlands or from the open meadow,
comes his two-syllabled call in the stillness of the
evening twilight. From his roost among the grass or
sedge tussocks, or the great moss-covered branches
of an oak, he springs away into the gloom with a
startled cry. Throughout the long S
dry summer the young are reared by nin
the female, until the days of autumn ‘hee
come, the male meanwhile frequent-
ly greeting you by the roadside with
a glance of curiosity mingled with
reserve, standing a moment, erect,
in all his brightness of coloration,
ducking an instant later to steal
silently away among the grass.’’

Habits

What is said of the Chinese pheasant will
apply equally to the English Ring-neck and
English pheasant, excepting that the Chinese
pheasant is more wild than the other pheasants
named, more beautiful and gamey, therefore
best adapted to restocking depleted game fields.
Thousands have been liberated throughout the
United States during the past five or six years,
and in every instance they have become so suc-
cessfully acclimatized as to stand the most vig-
orous annual onslaughts, retarded only by the
pot-hunter who “bags every last thing that

j

Pheasant
in Breeding

comes in his way, from English sparrows to Be
of & o a Z
game wardens.” Distended

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oOo PHEASANT FARMING oNOf

A correspondent in a recent sporting magazine says:

“A mistake was made with the first attempts to
raise pheasants in captivity in supposing them polyg-
amous, but the failure which resulted of grouping
seven hens to a cock soon taught a lesson. Even on
the trial of two hens to a cock, the eggs lacked vitality,
and of the chicks hatched many died. A breeder in
Oregon uses but one hen to a cock, and this is said to
be the habit of their wild state.”’

Nothing could be more misleading than this. Captivity seems
to change the habits of the bird entirely. The hen rarely ever makes
a pretense at laying in a nest, much less set and hatch a brood of
young pheasants. The cock becomes decidedly polygamous. He
will instantly kill a young bird, if placed in the same enclosure. The
percentage of fertility of all pheasant eggs is remarkably great. It
is not at all uncommon for every egg to hatch, and the writer has for
many years mated from four to six hens with one cock, the latter
number invariably when the yard is sufficiently large.

In captivity, a single Chinese pheasant hen has been known to
lay 104 eggs in one season, extending from April 1st to September
Ist, but sixty eggs is perhaps a fair average. In the wild state, the
pheasant seldom roosts in a tree, and then only in one that is open,
so it 1s in confinement. While they may stay in the shedded part of
their pen in the daytime, just at dusk they select a place with an
open sky above them in which to pass the night, and this, too, re-
gardless of the inclemency of the weather. They seem to be indif-
ferent to snow and rain and after a night out in the rain, appear
none the worse for the drenching. ‘They commonly roost on the
ground with feathers drawn down tight to the body.

The charge is occasionally made in opposition to stocking with
Chinese pheasants that the pheasant kills off and drives away the
native game birds. J have made many inquiries
Effect, on extending over a considerable period of time, of men
Native Game = : aris d : ;
Birds who would be in a position to know, and the facts
as I find them disprove this charge, except to a
very limited extent.

I recently received a letter from a lawyer friend who has made
a study of Chinese pheasants and who, I feel, has the situation sized
up correctly. In speaking of the indictment against the pheasant
as being responsible for the death of the quail, the native pheasant

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Ruffed Grouse Strutting and Showing Ruff of Glossy Black Feathers
and Fan-Shaped Tail

and grouse, he says that in his opinion the Chinese pheasant 1s
being made the scapegoat and that the real culprit is civilization.
In his letter he says:

“In the Willamette Valley quail and grouse were
plentiful before the arrival of the Chinese pheasant,
and I enjoyed in full measure the pleasure of hunting
them then and after the advent of the Chinese pheas-
ant, so that I feel I may testify from personal expe-
rience. It is true that in later years these native birds
have become very scarce, and the foreigner plentiful.
Deep down in my heart there has always been a tender
spot for the native game birds. The sport of hunting
these birds, though now rarely enjoyed, is the keenest
TIT ever had. I am not so sure, after all, but that much
of this pleasure is due to the boyhood memory it re-
calls, and yet some of the grandest hunting I have ever
had was the Chinese pheasant.

“T have heard before the suggestion that the Chi-
nese pheasant had driven out the native pheasant,
grouse and the quail, but I have never taken any stock
in this indictment. As every hunter knows, the three
native birds are modest and retiring. The Chinese

20

ao PHEASANT FARMING A)

pheasant is bold and audacious. The former spend
their time in the deepest thickets, only venturing forth
in search of food; the latter chooses the open fields
and pastures; the native birds depend for escape on
flight and hiding in deepest woods; the Chinese pheas-
ant is strong of wing and expert in hiding in the
scantiest cover, his chief reliance for escape being his
long, swift legs. A first shot at one of the native birds

Ruffed Grouse or “Native Pheasant,” generally found in damp thickets in mid-
day or at the edge of a field in the early morning or late afternoon.

and he is helpless, but you are never really sure of the
Chinese pheasant until you have broken both legs and
both wings. These qualities of the native birds have
made them an easy prey to the dog and the modern
shotgun. This, combined with their timidity, to my
mind, solves the mystery and accounts for their grad-
ual disappearance. I do not deny that possibly a few
native birds have been killed by the Chinese pheasants,
but I most seriously question if this has been a con-
trolling factor. I have never heard of any actual
cases.

“T am satisfied that even had the Chinese pheasant
never been introduced, the native grouse and quail
would have been just as scarce in the Willamette Val-

21

PHEASANT FARMING

ley as they are today. In fact, I am very positive they
would have been more scarce because the hunter
would have confined his attention to them and their
extermination, for they cannot withstand the trained
dog and pump and automatic gun, as the Chinese
pheasant can. No one more sincerely deplores the.
passing of the native game birds than I, but I regard it
as a most fortunate thing that the Chinese pheasant
should come to take their place. Without him, there
would not have been any game birds worth mention-
ing. No one has ever followed a setter or a pointer
after Chinese pheasants without being enthusiastic in
their favor. Though I feel unpatriotic in saying it,
yet for clean, unadulterated sport, the Chinese pheas-
ant has everything in his favor. Then the fact that the
pheasant produces two and sometimes three broods a
year, is the strongest argument for their desirability
as a permanent game bird over the native birds with
their one brood. An unfavorable season may ma-
terially reduce the broods of the native birds, but the
pheasant has two or three chances in the season.

“A few years ago, as a source of pleasure, I raised a
few pheasants, and, encouraged by the success of the
first season, the next year reared one hundred pairs.
I have studied the birds both in the field and in cap-
tivity. As to their hardiness, there is no question.
People seem to have the idea, because of their gor-
geous color, that they are tropical birds, but it should
be remembered that they are natives of a cold part of
China, and the fact that they are ready to eat prac-
tically anything, assists them in securing sustenance
at all times.”

Ruffed Grouse Drumming on Log

22

o}O°0 PHHASANT FARMING geofo

General View of Pheasant Yards at the State Game Farin. The long line of
pens running across the field are where the breeding birds are kept
one cock to six hens in each yard. Partitions are removable.

CHAPTER IV

Equipment for a Pheasant Farm

F ONE ean raise turkeys, he can raise pheasants.
Like turkeys, when matured, they are very hardy.
in fact, the similarity between the young pheasant
and young turkey is very marked. Some of their
calls, particularly one given at nightfall, are almost
identical, and in general, treatment adapted to
turkeys may safely be applied to pheasants. When
young, the birds are tame and soon learn to know
their keeper. They will become sufficiently familar

to fly upon the keeper’s shoulder, or eat out of his hand, but the ap-

pearance of a stranger calls for a note of warning to the whole flock.

This note is low but quick and its effect is instantaneous. During

the laying season it is not advisable to allow strangers to visit the

pens where the pheasants can see them, and better success will be
obtained if only one or two persons visit the pheasants, and these
should be the ones to feed them. The birds will be better controlled

if the same garments are worn each time, as they instantly detect a

change in dress. They will avoid for a day or more anything new

placed in their pens. Some breeders place fir boughs or branches
of other trees in the pens to offer a hiding place for the pheasants,
but it is not at all necessary. The pens described further on provide

23

£<) Fe 5 Seo a iT 9
ye) PHEASANT FARMING ree

fe} fa)

for a portion being shedded. ‘This applies only to localities where
there is considerable rainfall. In drier sections of the country,
this shed might be supplanted by a small evergreen tree or two in
the pen.

The larger the pens in which your pheasants are kept the better.
They are polygamous, and four hens and a cock may be kept im a
pen sixteen feet square. This is a very convenient size, but in any
event the birds should each have at least fifty square feet of ground.
It is of advantage to have the pens so arranged that the pheasants
may be changed from one pen to the other occasionally. This per-
mits the ground to freshen and it is a good plan to spade up the
eround frequently. A very satisfactory permanent pen for a trio
(two hens and a cock) would be sixteen feet by thirty-two feet,
divided lengthwise with a partition and shedded for eight feet along
one end, the shedded end being arranged to ward off as much of the
storm as possible. Convenient entrances may be arranged and pro-
vision should be made that the birds may pass from one pen to an-
other at the keeper’s pleasure. For the beginner with a few birds,
T should recommend this pen, and the changing from one division to
the other every month or so.

Where it is desirable to raise full-winged birds under covered
pens, twine netting, similar to fish netting, possesses advantages

oe over wire netting for overhead covering. Aside from
owned being much cheaper, the twine netting requires fewer
Birds posts and braces and can be put up in much less

time and taken down and stored away when not in
use. Wire covered pens, especially if the wire be of one inch mesh,
in a locality subject to snow storms, is always a source of annoy-
anee and frequently much damage may
be done. Its advantage is its durability.
But perhaps the greatest advantage in
using twine netting will be found in
the fact that birds cannot injure them-
selves by flying against the netting, as
is frequently the case with wire covered
pens.

If you cover. your pens with wire
netting, stretch it loosely. It may not
look so well, but it will save the birds.

It is much easier to raise pinioned
Reeves Pheasant Chick birds for market purposes than to raise

24

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Bore PHEASANT FARMING reo

° fe}

full-winged birds for stocking the fields. The pinioning is done
when the pheasant chick is about three days old by clipping the
last joint of one wing with sharp scissors. At this age there is
practically no blood in the tip of the wing and it heals over imme-
diately. This prevents the pheasant from ever flying and it can
always be kept in an open pen where a fence is six or seven feet high.

Partitions in Breeding Pens Set Aside so as to Plow and Cultivate the Yards

The breeding yards with removable partitions, for pinioned
birds, are a great improvement over the old-style stationary pens.
eeneaias These yards are twenty-four feet square, have no
Wosds covering and/ accommodate six hens and one cock

during the /laying season, immediately after which
the birds are are out into a large open field adjoin-
ing. At this season the cocks will not fight, and but little
time is consumed each day in caring for several hundred birds.
The partitions are then set aside and the entire strip cultivated and
sown with grass seed, and the work may be done with a plow,
whereas, if the partitions were stationary, it would take considerable
time to spade and rake each individual yard. About the first of
March these partitions should be put back into place and the birds
mated up for the laying season.

25

ce} is)

9}9%0 PHEASANT FARMING o}OR0

{e) 9,

I have tried large breeding yards but with very poor success.
The method is quite common in England and consists of an open
field of about one acre enclosed with a six-foot woven wire fence,
into which is placed about five dozen pinioned pheasant hens and
one dozen cocks. One cock usually “bosses” all the rest ; eggs are hard
to find, and, worst of all, the eggs that are laid the crows often get.

Breeding yards for all full-winged birds are the same size as the
open yards above described, but partitions are stationary, and are
covered overhead with netting stretched loosely. One side is boarded
up tight, which together with a three-foot roof on the side from
which the storms come, forms sufficient shelter. Under this
shelter ample perches are provided, but must be removed just before
the laying season to prevent the birds from dropping their eggs
while upon the perch, in which case the eggs would be broken and
soon eaten.

The habit of ege eating is always a source of great annoyance
to the pheasant raiser, and no sure method of prevention or cure
is known. ‘The best method to combat the evil, so far discovered,
is to place several cast iron nest eggs, painted as near the color of
pheasant eggs as possible, around in the breeding pen. They seldom
take the second peck at these iron eggs and hence avoid the true eggs
lying about. The iron eggs are far superior to the wooden or por-
celain, but after all, it is best to remove the temptation by gathering
the eggs several times a day.

Nests as shown in the illustration are placed in yards twelve by
sixteen, two sections of six nests each, or twelve nests to the yard,
and numbered consecutively from one to twelve. hese yards are
constructed in a double row with an alley between, from which a
gate opens into each yard. The nests should be made about
fourteen inches square and placed flat upon the ground
without a bottom. A slight depression should be made in the

Nests

Settings of Pheasant Eggs
26

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Oe) PHEASANT FARMING ya

fay fe}

ground, in which arrange a small quantity of soft straw or grass
hay, as you would for chickens. Food, fresh water and a place for
dusting are first provided in each yard, then, at a regular hour each
morning, beginning at yard number one, all hens in that yard are
let out to eat, drink, take a dust bath, by simply dropping the
hinged door in front of each nest. Regularity is very essential,
since the hens soon learn just when to, expect their liberty and if not
let out on time will often become so restless as to foul their nests
or break an egg or two. While the hens are eating the yards should
be inspected carefully and a note made of any nest found in bad
order or containing a broken or dirty egg. After the hens have all
returned to their nests and the doors in front fastened securely, a
clean rag and a bucket of lukewarm water is used in cleaning the
eges in any nest a note of which has been made. When possible,
all the hens in one yard are set at the same time. When each yard
has hatched, the unhatched eggs are buried, the egg shells and
straw taken out and burned, and new nests made before setting
again. During excessively hot weather, the ground around the nests
should be thoroughly sprinkled with water to provide the necessary
amount of moisture for the eggs.

A record of each nest and its contents should be kept in a book
specially ruled for the purpose. The author uses the form shown
in cut. This record shows the date the eggs were set,
when they are due to hatch, the number of the yard and
nest in which they were set, number of eggs and va-
riety, and the number of young birds hatched. In the columns
marked “Dusted” are the dates upon which every hen must be
dusted with insect powder. This operation takes place just before

Nest
Records

SETTING HEN—NEST RECORD

YEAR

7 q Chinese Reeves
Date Date | Yard} Nest Dusted Pheasants Preasants

Set jee No. | No. Date Date Date Date Set |Hatch’d| Set /|Hatch’d

27

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OK PHEASANT FARMING OPP RO

fe} fe}

the hen is set upon the pheasant eggs, and every six days there-
after. Do not dust the hen during the three days before the eggs
are due to hatch. <A glance at this record shows the date of the
next hatch, the exact number of eggs set, birds hatched, of what
variety, number of eggs still unhatched, and just where to find the
nests; also how many and what hens must be dusted with insect
powder that day. As the hens are dusted, a check mark is drawn
through the date.

While cleanliness is essential to healthy pheasants, vigilance
must be exercised to prevent lice. Prevention is far better than
cure, and this is the object of the dusting process. The powder
used is common pyrethrum. Buy it at a reliable drug store and
insist on having the pure stuff, and be sure that it is fresh.

A drinking fountain, as shown in illustration, should be pro-
vided for all young birds, and in warm weather the water should
be changed daily and the fountain washed clean. Neglect of this
means disease.

Water Can

28

ojOe6 PHEASANT FARMING 0}9¢6

Mother With Young Pheasants

@EUNP AER Vi
The Ideal Mother for Pheasants

ERHAPS no better hen can be found
for rearing pheasants than the
Cochin bantam. However, Japanese
silkies are very much in favor for
this purpose among pheasant breed-
ers in England. Silkies are in a
class by themselves, possessing pecu-
harities found in no other variety of
chickens, such as black skin, purple

combs and webless feathers of a silky texture, rendering them unable
to fly. They are pure white in plumage, most excellent layers and
easily confined. While the pure silky makes a good mother for
young pheasants, when crossed with Cochin bantam, the result is
very unsatisfactory. Such crosses are wild and nervous, of indis-
criminate color, and showing tendencies of reverting back to their
evident ancestor, the jungle fowl.

For the purpose of perfecting an ideal hen for hatching pheas-
ants, buff and white Cochin bantams were first crossed, producing
a slightly larger chicken, about evenly divided in color between buff,
white and black, with striped hackles. The largest of these females
were selected and mated with a short, chunky Rhode Island red
male, producing a hen considerably larger than the Cochin bantam,
one that could cover more eggs but retain the excellent broody
qualities of the bantam. By further selection, the objectionable

29

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PIG) PHEASANT FARMING ya

oO oO

feature, in a wet climate at least, of heavily feathered legs, was
eliminated, and the size and quantity of their eggs inereased, to-
gether with added hardiness to the young chicks. Thus I produced
the “near bantam,” which I have used for many seasons, but when
the supply is exhausted, a wagon is sent out into the surrounding
country for setting hens. This is usually at a time of the year when
it is considered too late to set chicken eggs—May, June and July—
but broody hens are more numerous at this time than at any other
season. By paying for “setters” a price slightly in advance of the
market price, many farmers are induced to hold their setting hens
until regular trips can be made for them. In fact, the business of
supplying the State Game Farm with setting hens has grown to
such proportions as to become a well established side issue in this
locality. These hens are brought in sacks, not coops, and placed
on nest eggs in a darkened coop, and not given liberty until the fol-
lowing day. No hen is given pheasant eggs until thoroughly
“broken in” to the nest eggs. So anxious are some farmers to sell
their chickens at this slightly advanced price that frequently there
are offered whole coops of chickens that have no notion of setting.
This has necessitated establishing a rule that “a setting hen is not a
setting hen until you pick her up off the nest.”

eT ; el ree
Ee wp OBES

Hens on Pheasant Eggs

Incubators are found most valuable when used in connection
with setting hens. When a number of large hens are set at one
time, all of the pheasant eggs may be removed when just beginning
to pip and placed in an incubator that has previ-
ously been heated to about 103 degrees. The hens
from which the eggs have been removed may be
re-set 1mmediately. The smaller and more motherly hens should
be left on their nests and not disturbed. The removal of all of
the eggs but one or two from a hen is a mistake, since,

30

Artificial
Incubating

9 9

Ie PHEASANT FARMING rake

te} fe}

in the absence of the usual number of eggs in the nest,
the hen is most hkely to set so heavily on the remaining one
or two as to mash them at hatching time. After these hens have
been removed to the brood coop with their individual hatch and
given food and water, and allowed ample time in which to hover
their chicks, other young pheasants may be added from the in-
cubator, providing they are of the same age and variety as those that
she has hatched. A hen will invariably kill instantly any young
pheasant given her of a variety other than that which she has
hatched. For instance, a hen that has hatched silver pheasants will
not claim goldens, or Chinese, and vice versa. A hen can properly
hover and care for more young pheasants than she can hatch out
without entailing considerable loss before they leave the nest, hence
the use of the incubator.

Pheasant eggs will, beyond a doubt, hatch as well im an incu-
bator as will chicken eggs, but I will have to admit that so far I
have been unable to successfully brood young pheasants artificially,
though the. incubator has proven a great help when used as de-
scribed above.

For some time I experienced difficulty in getting the hen to
hover the pheasants when they were first taken from the nest; the
pheasants, being foster children of the hen, do not understand her
eall or her manner. They do not seem to understand that she will
hover them. They do not recognize that she is “home and mother.”
The hen is perfectly willing to receive the pheasants, but her call to
them is not the naturai call of the pheasant, hence it means nothing
to them. Some plan must be devised to bring the pheasants under
the hen. Recently I have adopted this plan with good success: A
basket is prepared with a hot water bag filled with tepid water and
placed in the bottom
of the basket, over
which is placed a cloth.
When the pheasants
are first taken off
from the nest, they
are placed in this
basket and a cloth
thrown over the top.
Enough air will pass
through the sides of
Brood Coop for Young Pheasants the basket so they will

31

ic} = [EST e aitalp fe}
o}8¢o PHEASANT FARMING

fe} —— — (=)
not smother. The brood coop is then prepared by covering
the bottom with sand. Food and water are placed in the

coop and then the hen is left in the brood coop for about twenty
minutes. During this twenty minutes the hen has had an oppor-
tunity to feed and get acquainted with her new quarters and is
ready to settle down and receive the young pheasants. The pheas-
ants are then placed in the coop with her, and, having nothing else
to attract her attention, the hen will see to it that the pheasants are
hovered. It is advisable to take the hen off in the forenoon so that
you may give the chicks more or less attention to see that they are
properly hovered. If the day is warm, the plan of using the hot
water bag need not be followed, and if the day is cloudy or cold,
of course one will necessarily have to give the pheasants more
attention than on a bright, warm day.

The number of young pheasants that may safely be given to one
hen varies from about twelve to sixteen, according to the weather
and the size of the hen. A common mistake is to set
too many eggs under one hen, or to give one hen too
many young pheasants. Late one summer I gave a
large Plymouth Rock hen twenty-five little pheasants, of which she
raised to maturity twenty-four. This, however, was an exceptional
case.

Size of
the Brocd

Pheasants will hatch about the twenty-third day and_ their
natural disposition is to leave the nest immediately, hence the added
advantage of having the hens locked up. When the young pheasants
are about twenty-four hours old, remove, with the mother hen, to a
coop, where they should be kept until three days old. The trap door
at the bottom may then be raised, giving the little birds their free-
dom, but restraining the hen. Before liberating the young brood
of pheasants, have the grass cut short, allowing it to grow up with
the young birds. Unless the yard is covered overhead with wire
netting, the young birds should be pinioned to prevent their flying
over the fence and straying away.

The young pheasants all have the same plumage until about
two months old—that of a grayish brown. When a month old it
will be noted that the feathers on the back of the neck near the
body on some of the young birds will show slightly hghter in color
with a salmon colored cast. These are the hens, the corresponding
feathers on the cocks remaining darker and near the color of the
remainder of the plumage. When two months old, splotches of

32

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oes PHEASANT FARMING oi0fo

roy oO

chestnut red will begin to appear on the breasts of the cocks. The
hens undergo small changes in plumage, and while of a general fawn
color, some of the tints shown on their necks are very
beautiful and possessed of remarkable protective col-
oration. The cocks continue to change color rapidly until at five
months they will be in full plumage. Their wealth of color, sur-
passing the rainbow in variety, gorgeous but delicately blended.
beggars description. The artist’s brush has never reproduced it,
much less can the pen portray the idea of its beauty. Graceful in
form, with his splendid robes, the cock Chinese pheasant is one of
the most beautiful birds in existence. It has truthfully been said
that the Chinese pheasant cock does not possess a homely feather.
The eye never tires of admiring his plumage. He is a source of
continuous delight to the breeder.

Plumage

33

o}0K0 PHEASANT FARMING ORO

Young Chinese or Ring-Neck Pheasants at State Game Farm

CHAPTER VI

Food for Young Pheasants

HEN forty-eight hours old, the young
pheasant may be fed sparingly on hard-
boiled eggs, chopped fine with a little
onion tops, fresh-ground, lean meat,
crumbled with shorts or corn meal, and
later dry chick food, boiled rice and curd.
A custard, made of eggs and milk, and
cooked in the usual manner, is also an
excellent food for young pheasants.

Another successful method of feeding young pheasants is with
the larvae of the common blue fly (maggots). When this food is
used, nothing else need be fed, except greens occasionally, until the
birds are a month old. However, the chick food or cracked wheat
should be kept before them that they may learn to eat it and be
prepared to adapt themselves to the whole wheat diet when the larvae
food has been discontinued, which should be done gradually.

The objection to the larvae food is the offensive odor ordinarily
associated with it. This may be overcome by raising the larvae
scientifically. Contrary to the commonly accepted idea, the larvae

34

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Soro PHEASANT FARMING re stihe

° o

of the fly prefer fresh to decaying meat. Professor McGillivray,
of Queen’s University, Toronto, who has successfully raised
English Ring-neck pheasants, says:
“Our investigation and study of entomology prove to

us that maggots, separated from their usual surround-

ings, are just as clean and odorless as young chickens.

Flies do not lay their eggs on tainted meat when fresh

meat can be found, and maggots are clean feeders

from choice and thrive best on fresh meat.”

If the following method is employed, there will be little or no
odor. Secure a quantity of green bone and meat trimmings coarsely
ground together. Take a tin pan with straight sides at least three

inches deep and cover bottom with shorts, bran or fine

oe dirt, preferably bran, as the shorts have a tendency to
es pack. On this place the bone and meat mixture and

leave where the flies may have access to it. In
warm weather the fly eggs will hatch in about two days’ time and
the bone mixture will be partially dried up. The larvae are adverse
to strong light and will be found to have gone to the bran. They
must now have something to feed upon. Remove the bone mixture
and place thin slices of fresh liver on the bran. Turn the bone mix-
ture back on top of the slices of liver. In a few hours the larvae
will all leave the bone mixture and be under and feeding upon the
liver. After this the bone mixture should be thrown away.

In a day’s time the liver will be eaten to shreds.and must be re-
placed with a fresh supply of thinly sliced liver of fresh meat, and
so on each day until the larvae are practically full grown. This will
take nearly a week’s time and they may then be fed to the young
pheasants. The larvae must be fed on liver or meat as long as they
are on hand. As soon as they are matured they will descend into
the bran or dirt and change into the pupa state. In feeding the
liver or meat, feed only enough to be consumed in twenty-four
hours’ time. “The assimilating power of the larvae is so great
that it can change every particle of meat or liver (except fibre) to
larvae, consequently there can be no smell.” The object in cutting
the liver or meat thin is that it may all be consumed before having
time to become tainted. Keep an extra supply of liver in a cool
place, and a little charcoal, such as is used to feed chickens,
sprinkled over and under it will tend to keep it fresh.

In order to keep a supply of larvae, it will be necessary to put
out new pans of bone every few days, depending on quantity, the

35

CO) ee)
of «0 PHEASANT FARMING O200

fa) Oo

number of pheasants you have and the state of the weather. The
warmer the weather the more rapid the development of the larvae.
If you contemplate using larvae, you should start with the bone
mixture a week prior to the date of first hatching.

The advantage of this food is that you need not hesitate to feed
young birds all they will eat. They are wild for it and will fre-
quently crowd their crops and throats to overflowing
with no apparent bad results. They thrive better on
this food than on anything else. Other methods may
be employed to produce the larvae, but it should be
remembered that but fifteen days’ time elapses from the laying of
the fly egg until it has suecessfully become larvae, entered the pupa
state and turned into a fly again. The larvae are clean feeders and
they must have a medium (shorts, bran or clean fine dirt pref-
erably) in which to bury themselves. When about ten days’ old
they pass into the pupa state, in which form they may be kept if
stored at a low temperature. (40 degrees F.) The low tempera-
ture stops the development.

Advantage
of Larvae
as a Kood

Every one is familiar with the history of the butterfly: how a
worm apparently dries up in the fall of the year and in springtime
breaks open to release a beautiful butterfly. This dried worm is
the pupa, and just as the butterfly’s egg develops a worm and later
produces a perfect insect, so the larvae of the common fly, when
grown, dries up and later produces a fly again, only the change to
the fly is accomplished in a few days instead of months.

Should the pan of shorts, bran or dirt become heated, it means
that the larvae are too crowded and will leave, if possible. A part
should be removed to another pan or given a larger proportion of
shorts, bran or dirt.

With the facts above, your own ingenuity and some experience
will suggest convenient methods for producing larvae, but remember
that the pheasant is primarily an insect eating bird, and the larvae is
a natural food. As stated, custards, eggs, etc., may be used suc-
cessfully, but they are substitutes. When the birds are two weeks
old, chopped meat may be gradually substituted for the larvae until,
when a month old, the larvae may be discontinued altogether. A
good way to prepare the meat is to chop it fine with a sharp chopper
and then mix shorts with it, rolling it between the hands until it
crumbles. After the birds are a month old, they may be fed
cracked wheat (soft wheat is best) with a little charcoal or grit al-

36

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ofK0 PHEASANT FARMING rao

fo) fe}

ternating with the meat diet. The meat may be discontinued after
two months, except that it is not a bad plan to give them a little of
it orice or twice a week for another month. From this time on,
they may be fed the same as chickens, except that their nature de-
mands more insects, and if these are not supplied naturally, they
will do better if given a feed of the chopped meat and shorts every
week or ten days until they are grown.

For the purpose of furnishing a cheap supply of fresh meat to
be fed to the young birds direct, and for material for the propaga-
tion of fly larvae, New Zealand hares may be used. They are some-
what larger than the common Belgian hare, not so quarrelsome
when many are yarded together, and are easier to breed to a uni-
form color. They are very prolific and can be propagated during
the fall and winter months, at which time good use may be made of
the same brood coops in which pheasants were reared during the
summer.

Several’ pounds of fresh meat may be obtained from one animal,
run through a small meat grinder and fed direct to the young
pheasants, taking the place of other chopped meat. The remainder
of the carcass, excepting the skin, which has a commercial value, is
consigned to the “bug house” for the flies to work upon. By propa-
gating hares for this purpose, one not only has a supply of fresh
meat when he wants it, and in just the quantity desired, but he is
sure of its being fresh.

Nothing is more fatal to young pheasants than putrid meat and
meat that has been treated with a preservative, such as sodium sul-
phite. ‘These preservatives appear under various trade names on

the market. These trade names also cause the purchaser
ved ton thimi that he 1s getting something different than he
ee had before. Some of the samples are colored with a-coal

tar dye. ‘These preservatives are often used in making
hamburg steak. This can be readily detected by noticing the color
of the meat as the butcher breaks it from the pile on the counter.
Meat preserved with it shows a bright red color, but the portion not
in contact with the air is much darker asarule. After it has been
in contact with the air for a few minutes, it will also assume the
same bright color. Sodium sulphite is sold under such names as
“Wreezum,” ‘Preservaline” and ‘“‘Freezine,” also sometimes as an
“Anti Ferment.”

37

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o}5e0 PHEASANT BARMING
fe}

Green grass is essential in every breeding pen. The birds re-
quire a certain amount to keep them in good laying condition. The
ego-eating habit 1s not so apt to be contracted as where the pens are
absolutely bare. In the absence of grass, green stuff may best be
provided by spading up, sod and all, suitable turf from the outside
and giving the birds a fresh shovelful every day. ‘They will take
delight in picking it apart. Lawn clippings are not very good as
they soon wilt and will scarcely be touched.

Until the pheasants are six weeks old, they should be fed three
times a day, then twice a day until grown, and after that once a day.

Half-Grown Silver Pheasant

38

I) PHEASANT FARMING rao

Coops at State Game Farm

CHAPTER VII

Enemies of the Game Breeder

Zgeaaees HK enemies of the chicken yard are likewise
7 the enemies of the pheasantry. A shotgun
is a valuable implement in pheasant farm-
ing, but keep it where you can get it
quickly.

Wage continuous war on rats. Of all
the predatory animals the game breeder
has to contend with, he will find the rat
the hardest. to combat, for, like the poor,
we have them with us always. Rats are more apt to be found
around a pheasant yard than a chicken yard. It is easy to
regulate the amount of food given common poultry, conse-
quently none need be left on the ground to attract rats. Some
pheasants, however, are so shy they will not eat until the attendant
has scattered the food and gone away. Therefore, it is necessary for

Rat Hating Young Pheasant
39

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Pe) PHEASANT FARMING ork

to) fa)

the pheasant breeder to fight rats continually and by every method
possible, and even then he will have some rats. I have tried steel
traps, wire cage traps, poison, carbon bisulphide, gopher extermin-
ators and various other remedies, but find nothing so effective as a
good “varmint” dog. It is useless to put out poison as long as the
rats have access to other food. Gopher exterminators or explosive
cartridges placed in rat holes and ignited fill the passage with
smoke and gas. By using these we have killed some rats, but this
method is uncertain, likewise the carbon bisulphide.

Cats are an abomination. Government statistics tell us that not
two per cent of the cats are ratters, and no cat ever lived that would
not kill a young pheasant, if given an opportunity. One-inch mesh
wire netting sunk two feet into the ground around a pen will keep
out rats for two or three seasons, or until the wire begins to corrode.
The sides and top of pen must also be of one-inch mesh wire, other-
wise the rats will get in over the top.

If all buildings are up from the ground high enough to permit
a dog to have full access, and you have the right kind of a dog, he
will take care of the rats as fast as they come. Whenever a rat hole

Airedale, the Pheasant Breeder’s Dog

40

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o}8¢6 PHEASANT FARMING ayo(o

o °o

is found in any part of the yards, no time should be lost in digging
it out. With the help of a good dog, a rat will rarely ever get away.

In my many years of experience in raising pheasants, compara-
tively few birds have been lost through rats. I attribute this mainly
to the presence of one or more Airedale dogs. ‘These dogs take to
the hunting and killing of rats naturally and willingly, without
guidance or training. With persistence and un-
daunted courage, yet quiet and even-tempered, the
Airedale is the pheasant breeder’s dog. He com-
bines, more than any other breed, everything that is useful for the
pheasant farm. R. M. Palmer, in his book “All About Airedales,”
says:

The Pheasant
Breeder’s Dog

“Airedales were seemingly created to fill a well
defined want and need for just such a dog as they
are.”’

Pheasants soon become accustomed to one dog around their
yards, but become greatly alarmed upon the approach of a strange
one. At the present time I have a pair of Airedales that have the
full run of the farm. With many visitors during the day time they
are always quiet and agreeable, yet at night they never permit a
stranger to enter the place. ‘

Of the various members of the hawk family that prey upon game
birds, perhaps the western red-tailed hawk, because of his abund-
ance, is the most difficult to control, notwithstanding the nice
things said of him by our leading ornithologists. The
Cooper hawk is another offender. When it comes to
destroying both game and other birds’ nests, the com-
mon crow heads the list. The Department of Agriculture has
classed the crow as a desirable
citizen. Since the crow him-
self is a great destroyer of bird
life, by his persistent hunting
for and destruction of nests,
it is hard for those actually
familiar with the subject to
place him in the beneficial
column. 'The examination of
any number of crow stomachs
during the year does not prove
the crow beneficial to the
Crow Eating Pheasant Egg farmer, the poultry raiser or

4]

Predatory
Birds

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IC) PHEASANT FARMING geoto

fa) Oo

the experienced sportsman. The birds killed may have had very dif-
ferent meals on consecutive days. It is such reports as this that
cause the general public—at least that portion that resides in the
country—to lose faith in ornithological lore in general. Certain it
is that just as sure as a crow finds a breeding pen of pheasants in
an open yard, he will get almost every egg if you don’t get him.
You can usually fool the pheasant hen with a cast iron egg painted
as nearly the color of the real egg as possible, but you can’t fool Mr.
Crow. To get within gunshot of a crow is not an easy task, but he
will partake of a pheasant egg that has been carefully dosed with
strychnine. When one crow has been poisoned, the balance of the
flock will fly high over your premises for some time.

Prowling Cat—The Enemy of Game Birds

°

oJoRo PHEASANT FARMING onOfo

fe} o

The prowling, semi-domesticated cat is the greatest destroyer of
game birds among our four-footed animals. In this, perhaps the
ereatest Chinese pheasant country in the United
States, the marauding cat kills more pheasants than
all the illegal hunters. He is afield three hundred
and sixty-five days in the year. Having been raised in domestica-
tion, perhaps on your own premises, he knows your habits and takes
advantage of you only under cover of darkness. He takes not only
young birds during the breeding season but full-grown Chinese
pheasant hens as well. Only in one instance have I known a cat to
attack a full-grown pheasant cock. Aside from the loss of a handful
of feathers, the cock was unharmed. ‘The next night this same cat
caught a full-grown Chinese pheasant hen and carried her over a
six-foot wire netting fence before a load of number four shot stopped
her. Occasionally a cat will take strychnine when placed on fresh
meat, but in doing so may carry the poison where it may do great
harm. We have caught several exceedingly wild and vicious tomcats
by baiting with a piece of fresh meat a trap similar in construction
to an early day grizzly bear trap, but of course on a much smaller
scale. The trap is made of a coal-oil case, one end of which is a
trap door which drops behind the cat after it has gone in and
sprung the trigger, arranged on top, by pulling the bait from the
end of a nail in the rear end of the trap. I have found no better
means of ridding my premises of cats than the presence of one or
more good Airedale dogs, with which a cat has no chance whatever.

Kill the
Stray Cat

Airedales at State Game Farin After Rats

43

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ojego PHEASANT FARMING PRO

° = co)

The first edition of “Pheasant Farming” was criticised by a
lady in Kentucky as follows: “The subjects treated are admirably
handled and leave no doubt in the mind of the
amateur how to proceed, but you mention nothing of
the ailments of pheasants and necessary treatment.”
Under natural conditions pheasants are not subject to disease. We
know they have no diseases in their wild state. Ninety per cent of
the so-called diseases of common poultry is the result of unsanitary
quarters, improper feeding and lice both on young and old birds.

Bear in mind that stale and decaying food and unclean drinking
water in unclean drinking fountains are just the causes that breed
disease germs. Pens in which birds have been kept for long periods
of time also invite disease germs. You cannot successfully keep
full grown birds in a small pen for a year at a time. Even though
they do not succumb to disease, they will not be in vigorous con-
dition and the best results will not follow. This applies with greater
force to young birds; and in the matter of feeding greater care is
necessary, if you feed custard and similar foods. All such food not
consumed should be removed from the pens each day. Whether
you have many or few birds, arrange your pens so that the birds may
have fresh ground to run on occasionally. The pen sixteen by
thirty-two feet, with partition lengthwise through the center, as
uggested in the preceding pages, will accomplish this end. Keep
the pens, coops, and everything else connected with the pheasants,
clean. ‘Then, if you use care to keep the food and drinking water
clean, you will have no trouble with disease or lice.

All birds in their natural state frequently indulge in a dust bath.
Lice and dust cannot exist together. The phyrethrum powder sug-
gested is particularly disastrous to lice. Common road dust works
im much the same way, though perhaps less effectively; but the
use of pyrethrum is impractical except in the case of the setting
hens. It is an excellent plan from time to time to place a quan-
tity of road dust in a dry portion of the pen. The pheasants will
avail themselves of its use. Even the very small birds delight to
wallow in this dust. It will be a good plan if, in the fall of the
year, you will store away ina dry place a few barrels of dust to use
the next spring before dust is obtainable from the roads.

Not Subject
to Disease

Nn

44

oJOK0 PHEASANT FARMING wore

li neg
RrBIUCE HORM

Chinese Pheasants Hating Grasshoppers
CHAPTER VIII

Advice to the Beginners

N THE foregoing pages I have treated the
subject of pheasant farming in a manner
applicable to the rearing of a few or a large
number of pheasants. 'The average person,
however, will probably begin with a smail
number of birds. Now, for the benefit of
the amateur beginning in a small way, I
would advise the following procedure: First,
build a double pen sixteen by thirty-two feet,

with partition in the center, as described in the foregoing pages.

Into this pen place four or five pheasant hens with one cock. Pur-

45

i) 9

of9.e0 PHEASANT FARMING oreo

fe} fe}

chase your birds in the fall of the year in order that they may be-
come acquainted with their quarters and feel at home before the
laying season. ‘Then before the first of March secure two dozen
Cochin bantams. While the “near bantam” I have described is bet-
ter, still you will be unable to procure these, and there is no ques-
tion but that the Cochin bantams are a success for pheasant rearing.
Tixercise care in the purchase of your bantams that they are not
infected with lice, and use those ordinary precautions known to
poultrymen to keep them free from these pests. Give them good,
healthy, sanitary quarters to live in, and keep them away from your
other chickens so that they may not be contaminated with lice or
disease. Lice on your hens means lice on your young pheasants.
Prepare a place for your nests as heretofore described and follow the
directions as to setting the hens, care of setting hens, etc., until the
birds are taken off the nest.

There is no trouble about hatching pheasants. Feeding is prob-
ably the most serious problem. Don’t try to experiment with foods.
Follow the directions I have given, and if you will take my advice,
for the first year at least, you will feed your birds until they are a
month old on the fly larvae. I recognize that this may appear to
you as offensive, but following the directions I have given, you will
find that this is an imaginary offense. The reason I so strongly
advise the use of the fly larvae is because it is the natural food of
the pheasant, and with its use you cannot fail, if you exercise other
ordinary precautions which I have suggested. From your first
year’s experience with pheasants you will learn of their nature and
disposition and be better qualified to act on your own initiative.

While I have tried various methods of feeding and have been
successful in feeding the young birds custard, still, after all my
years of experience, | am still feeding fly larvae. The mother hen
being kept in the coop enables you to feed her with ordinary food
and to supply the fly larvae to the young birds alone. You cannot
afford to place the fly larvae where the mother hen can reach them.
A good plan in feeding larvae is to have a shallow pie tin with ver-
tical sides in which is placed some fine dirt. Then with a long-
handled spoon you can place some of the larvae on this dirt. They
will immediately bury themselves in it, but the pheasant chick soon
learns how to find them. The young pheasant, after eating a few,
will run about, returning occasionally to the pan. With the “bugs”
thus constantly before him, the young chick will not overeat, but if

46

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o}S<0 PUG A RAINE IU/L IRIN! OSE o}920

°o fe}

he does it will not hurt him. The sides of the shallow pie tin being
perpendicular, the larvae will be unable to crawl out of the pan
unless there is too much ditt.

After the pheasants are a month old, feed the chopped meat
rolled with shorts, as I have described, and gradually change to a
wheat diet. Your pheasants, like chickens, will enjoy a change of
diet. A stalk of lettuce hung in the pen so that they can reach it
will be relished. A tuft of grass sod will be a pleasing variety. A
few fish worms or grasshoppers thrown into the pen will be eagerly
devoured. Pheasants, like chickens, require grit. It is also a good
plan to give them a little charcoal occasionally. In short, the grown
pheasant may be fed the same as a chicken, but, being insectivorous,
meat, insects and worms given occasionally are desirable additions
to his menu.

After the first year’s experience, you will be encouraged to
branch out and rear pheasants on a larger scale; and-if you have
any love for birds, and particularly if there is any blood of the
sportsman in your veins, you will surely enjoy raising pheasants.
It is a most interesting occupation and the little time you will give
to it will amply repay you in the pleasure you receive.

Hen Pheasant and Young

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NOTES

48

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NOTES

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