The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1894-04-12
PHEASANT-BREEDING,
Early Stages of Very Profitable Industry
in the United States.

~ HNAetS arc al lCuCtu Ill WlUu
wire netting with two-inch meshes,
and from the surface, in which tits
securely embedded, it rises to height
bf ten feet. In the summertime one
can hear the musical ''peeping" of the
little tiedglings, and the answering
''clucking' of the mother hen, with an
occasional cry from the cocks in the
breeding pens as something startles
them. The noise they make sounds
like the first tentative efforts of
young rooster, except that whereas
the latter flaps his wings and crows
afterwards, the former drums" ana
then sounds his note. In drumming
they move their wings so rapidly that
they seem - gauze.
The laying season begins about the
middle of April, and before that time
all the birds that are wanted for this
purpose are caught from the open field,
where they have run all winter, and
put in huge pens. These are eighteen
feet square, or whereabouts, and are
arranged in one large rectangle, with
alleys between each alternate double
row, so that access can be had to them
through doors or gates left il the iyire
meshing for that purpose. The Acor-
ners are darkened with waterproof
hoods smeared with disinfect1ng NIX
ture, as indeed is everything about the
place. These retreats are for the birds
to lay under. The pens being in an
apple orchard, the leaves afford shade,
and worms and larvae also, for the
Unsuitable CROPS beneath. Clumps of
grass are left to grow about in spots,
the rest of the ground being loosened
to encourage ''bathing'' and scratch
ing. Five hens are put with one cock,
and unless they do not get along well
together, the family is not disinte-
grated until the end of the season
and not then, for all are kept in one
field. Birds one year old are preferred
for laying, the older ones being sold
off to preserves where they will be less
confined. Two or three years in such
small quarters make a difference in
their powers of propagation, but they
recuperate rapidly in the woods Great
care is exercised in choosing healthy
birds but if a weak one should be dis
covered-and they are rare-his neck
is wrung on the spot, for Mr.. De Guise
has no hospital for contagious dis
eases Sickness, to reiterate. is not
frequent enough to require one. The
manner of catching the birds to put in
the pens is simple. They are driven
into large box, commodiOus enough
to allow two attendants to get inside
comfortably, with the top and sides
covered with bagging to prevent in
jury to the captives in their efforts to
escape. Wide wings" of wire netting
extend out into the field from the en-
trance to the box, and when man is
sent to walk slowly towards the birds
all within the radius of the wings run
wildly to their fate. They do not try
to fly unless startled, but their legs
carry them along very fast Once in
side they are handed out one at time
to have wing clipped. Even in this
condition they make strenuoirS--st-
tempts to fly when alarmed in the
pens, turning ludicrous somersaults in
the air, only to come down uncere-
moniously and try again.
The average hen will lay about forty
eggs in the interval from the beginning
of the season to the middle of July,
when it is practically over. During
this period the birds are fed twice a
day-in the forenoon on a mixture of
cracked dog-biscuit meal and pulver-
lied oyster shells, softened with milk,
and in the afternoon the diet is changed
to grain. With the appearance of the
first eggs attendants begin to go around
in the late afternoon, near sunset, with
iat-bottomed baskets in which to col
lect them. This is done every day, as
regular as cloclworll, for the Matching
is not done by the pheasants, but by
common barnyard hens.
| Several weeks before the first eggs
are laid the farmers in the neigh bor-
hood are notified that sitting hens will
be needed at the pleasantly, and soon
after All-Fools day they begin to bring
in all their surplus stock. These are
purchased at market price, and con-
fined in ventilated boxes arranged in
tiers inside the barn, the hens being
satisfied to sit on porcelain eggs until
needed Tor actual utility. When the
| EiiShotlhoo nave ouppilCu cHOuOu eggs,
the work of putting the latter down is
begun. Back of the barn. on gentle
slope, are long rows of oblong coops,
each one consisting of closed box
with a removable lid for the nest. and
4 diminutive yard few square feet
in area for the hen to exercise in.
| This is enclosed by wire netting, and
provided with a separate drinking pan
Of earthenware From fifteen to eigh-
teen eggs are set in each nest the
number depending upon the size of. the
hen, which may be bantam or a
| Plymouth Rock. When she is very
large she may take twenty, for they
are smaller than her own, light green
n color, and so rich that only their ex-
| oensiveness precludes their coming
| INTO general use for salads and mayon-
1aises. Each one is tested to see that
t is not cracked, and the date of the
setting is marked on the top of the
1est-box. The period of incubation is
;wenty-four days, and should, in the
laily inspection, any hen show dis
| position to shirk her duties, she is
promptly disqualified, and another is
substituted. But generally they are
lssiduous, and remain at their posts
| ill the end