Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1904-02-19
WINTER CARE OF QUAIL
How They May be Protected and
Birds Kept 70 Propagate

How They May be Protected anC
Birds Kept 70 Propagate
In regard to the eare ofqnail during
the winter months. In the first place
we must catch them. This is very
simple when the snow is on the ground,
as they viii 60 into any small trap.
There are several kinds of these,
which any boy can make. Take a
board six inches wide and sixteen feet
long, and saw it into four pieces. That
viii make a box four feet wide. Nail
some lath across the top, close enough
that the birds can not get out. Then
make the old-fashioned 'fgure fourp
dead-fall. Set this under the center of
the trap with a few wheat heads tied
in the trigger part. Place some wheat
or corn under the box, also, and you
can catch the whole covey.
Another very good and successful
plan is to use the common fish set net.
They go into it very rapidly, when a
little wheat Or chaff is thrown around
to entice them. 1t can be set any
where in a few minutes, and there is
no doubt Of success.
The care of the birds is very simple.
l just take four boards, eight or ten
feet long and ten inches wide, nail
them together and place the box on
the lawn, right On the grass. Place
some old boards over it with the
exception Of a foot or so, which l cover
with guaze wire. This is a place to
give them light and to feed them.
Then cover it over with corn fodder on
top and around, 50 as to make it
warm. Place some chaff screenings,
etc, or seeds of almost any kind for
them to scratch after. This gives
them exercise.
I have had one hundred in a box
twelve feet square, and never lost
bird. When they are to be liberated,
l would advise to just open one corner,
and they will take care of themselves.
Another good idea, which anyone
can employ to help care for them, is to
make shelter for them in different
parts of the farm by taking four
forked Y-shaped limbs and driving
them into the ground, the length of
rail apart, and have it about a foot
from the ground. Place rails over it,
and pile corn fodder, brush or straw
over and around it, except the east and
south Sides Throw some feed under
it, and the birds win go there and be
protected. They should be fed every
few days during extreme weather.
There are many good farmers who
feed the birds and look after them, but
unless they have protection from the
blizzards there is no certainty of their
wintering here. We had an abund-
ance Of birds in $50 and '6l, when l
was congratulating myself ON their
safety, but that February blizzard
nearly wiped them out. Thousands
were found in piles in fence corners
and under brush, dead, when the
spring opened.
l must condemn our town sportsmen
for not taking more interest in protect
ing the birds, which they could do by
encouraging the farmer boys to catch
the birds and take care of them. A
very few = dollars would bring the
answer every time. / had one hun
dred caught for ten dollars and kept
over the winter, and yet some of our
most enthusiastic farmers fail to do
anything toward keeping up the sport.
If the season should be like last year,
we would not need to look after them,
but we should use every means to pro-
tect them all the same, blizzard or no
blizzard. HENRY J. DUKE,
shippensburg, Pa, Jan. I6, 1904.