Newark leader. ([Newark, Ohio]) 1917-1946, 1940-10-24
Fred HarloeV's Fame Spreads in
State Conservation Circles

Matching process is completed.
At the time the eggs are remov-
ed from the Incubator to the
hatcher, they are candled and all
infertile eggs are removed. A
strong light will show through
an infertile egg at the end of the
eighteen day period, while it will
not show through fertile egg.
By doing this only fertile eggs
are transferred to the hatcher
where the Matching actually
takes place.
The pheasant chicks begin to
come out of the egg on the 22nd
day and the hatch should be en-
tirely completed by the oath day.
To an individual unacquainted
with the Matching of pheasant
eggs, all eggs might look the
same, but experience has shown
many times that while eggs
might look alike, their quality
differs greatly. In other words,
a pheasant chicken coming from
a good egg will be out of the
shell within an hour or two af-
ter the shell is first pipped. If
the germ in the egg is weak due
to poor quality in breeding stock,
improper feeding of breeding
stock, or other reasons, the eggs
do not hatch we'll and when
Matched the chicks are not as
strong.
Good quality eggs should run
approximately $50 fertile, but
even with this fertility, the germ
in a number Of the eggs would
be so weak that the chicks could
not get out of the shell. A hatch
of 70 healthy pheasant chicks
out of 100 eggs is considered eX-
cellent.
The most important feature of
the Harlow system is combina-
tion brooder and rearing pen,
which is three feet wide by ten
feet long and two feet high in
size. The brooder unit of this
combination pen which is enclos-
ed with sheet metal, has a wood
en- floor, an electric heating
board, and feather board moth
er. 1t is into this part of each
pen that 25 chicks are immedi-
ately placed.
They are fed almost immedi-
ately on sour milk curd. On the
second feeding the curd is we'll
mixed with commercial game
bird starting food. Clean fresh
water and grit in the form of
fresh washed sand are also made
available.
These 25 birds are confined
within a space approximately 2
feet by 8 feet for Z days when
by removing partition they are
permitted to run out onto the
ground in the open part of the
pen where previous paintings of
lespedeza, timothy, lettuce, and
similar paintings have been
made.
This open part of the pen is
enclosed with one inch chicken
mesh wire. A shelter board also
provides protection for the birds.
They are held here until they
reach the age of 21 days when
they are ready to be moved to
the pens which have been built
by sportsmen's organizations.
However, it is possible by re-
placing the afore mentioned par
tition to exclude chicks from the
heated part of the pen and by so
doing it is possible to start
another 25 chicks. The older
birds confined to the open part
of the pen would be released to
sportsmen's organizations by the
time the young birds in the
heated portion would need be
given access to the open part.
These pens furnished by clubs
after designs recommended by
the Conservation Division, are
four feet wide, 10 feet long and
two feet high. There were sew
eral reasons why pens were de-
signed to hold only ten chicks
each. First, the location of these
pens should be changed at least
twice week for the sake of san
itation and providing of new
green feed. This is done by
sliding the pen to one side onto
new sod. This can be done read
lily by one individual. A second
reason is that pheasants when
crowded develop a very serious
habit known as picking. By pro-
viding birds with ample space
this can be eliminated. A third
reason is that when pens are not