Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 92.djvu/448

 Raising Birds for the French Hunter

��Pheasantries are maintained at great expense so that the bird-hunter may have his sport

���The aristocratic pheasant is bred in much the same way as the ordinary un- pretentious, domestic fowl

THE pheasant, which is commonly bred in France for stocking the woods for the hunters, is raised, in a general way, like the common fowl, but it requires much more careful feeding. The pheasantry is located on some dry, slightly elevated ground not far from the woods where the birds are to enjoy their short span of life. If the breeder has not secured his cocks and hens during the hunting season, he buys the eggs for breeding from a reliable dealer. But if he has the birds, he is surer of results. The egg-laying period varies with climatic conditions, but ordinarily the hens begin laying in captivity about the middle of April, each lay- ing about a dozen eggs during three weeks.

During the laying time the birds are fed plentifully on oats, barley, hemp seed and a mash made of honey, bread, herbs and chopped eggs. Green food, such as lettuce, dande- lion and chick- cry is also giv- en generously.

���The pheasantry is located on some dry, slightly elevaced ground not far from the shooting preserve

��riiotos by JacQuea Boyer

��The eggs are marked with the date of laying and deposited, large end up, on a bed of bran in a wooden box. The eggs are placed under ordinary domestic hens for hatching.

At the Rambouillet pheasantry, in France, the incubator chamber is a her- metically sealed compartment on the ground floor. Round or oval wicker baskets are arranged in rows in this chamber and buried to three-quarters of their height in the fine sand with which the floor is carpeted. The bottom of the basket is then covered with finely chopped straw and hay, and from fifteen to eighteen eggs are placed in it. A hen is placed over

them and a cover intended to keep the hen on her job is placed over her. Incuba- tion lasts twen- ty-four to twenty-six days.

In large pheasantries, artificial incu- b a tors are sometimes used when set- ters are lacking or to com- mence and fin- ish the work. The best types of apparatus,

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