—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 24,1978 18 - -•*>< > Posed at the edge of the brooder house door, these young pheasants can’t seem to make up their minds whether they should stay in the safety of their home or venture into the great outdoors. By KENDACE BORRY MOUNT JOY Living on a farm of 13 acres, Edward Sweigart and his wife Daisy, who are located near Mount Joy in Lancaster County, decided many years ago to take up a different kind of farming. Their crop is ringneck pheasants and they raise close to 10,000 of the birds a year. On a pheasant farm, things start to get busy around the end of April for that’s when the hen birds start to lay their eggs. From then through mid-July, they THIS WEEKS SPECIAL ♦ - , TRAVEL ♦ ♦26 TRAILER AAR i 4 FULLY Of 7 7j! ♦ EQUIPPED ♦ ALSO sth Wheel 30’ Lack 1973 26' 1972 Chatecu Travel Trailer 1977 Chevy Vantastic Van, Fully Equipped Ic&AescA; ♦ - i«p M i ▼ RECREATIONAL • VEHICLES ♦ 3608 Nazareth Pike (215)691 3070 Bethlehem. PA ♦ Their main crop is - *»», -v . V/ **,<* ''V- ~ *i* ~ * v - v ’V**'* , \ y % «- V »- ~~ v ■* *.«■*'’*'**'• * * - will continue to lay, and the first chicks are born May 15. Five hundred hens and 50 cockbirds are selected each Fall for use in the egg hat ching operation. Kept only one year, a new selection of young birds will take place during the Autumn months and these will be the parent stock of the next year’s crop of young pheasants. The pheasant eggs are gathered by hand from the egg laying cages which are modelled after chicken laying houses. Then they are taken to the incubator where they are kept for 21 days. From there they move to the hatchery, where for three days they remain, until they hatch. Because of the capacity of his egg incubator, Sweigart tries to hatch all his pheasant eggs. He stated that approximately 60 to 65 per cent of his eggs hatch live birds. After hatching, the young birds are taken to the brooder houses where the temperature is kept at 100°F. for the first week, and then dropped five degrees each week thereafter to harden the young birds off. After four weeks, the birds receive no heat at all. When the birds are three weeks old, Sweigart starts to leave them ouside in wire enclosed pens which allow them to return to their brooder houses, giving them >wv *4,495 *3,800 *7,995 High Performance ©SAFETY COLOR-CODED VOLTMETER Quickly tells operator when voltage is sale warns against low or high voltage • : * MAXI POWER IOKWOnan lOKWWinco 46 KW Martin generator 18 KW Katolight 18 KW Katolight w/trailer 35/20 KW Winpower w/trailer 15 KW Winpower LEONARD MARTIN CO. 330 FONDERWHITE RD. r LEBANON, PA 17042 ringneck pheasants the choice of either their natural environment or the safety of the shelter. But when these young pheasants are first allowed out, they need special care. Each night and before any rainstorm they must be driven back into .their shelters. The wetness and chill of the night and storms can greatly harm un protected pheasants, wiping out the majority of the flock within a short tune. By age six weeks, the pheasants, which are now beginning to resemble the parent birds, are given free choice to roam in and out. And at eight weeks of age, they are driven out into the growing pens,' where they will live until the time comes for them to be sold and delivered to their new homes. (Turn to Page 23) pro GENERATOR 15-65 KW Power HANDY RECEPTACLES 115/230 Volt lor welders heavy motor loads and standby connections 115 Volt for • convenient plus in of electric tools and liChts — USED UNITS 717-274-1483 Named after its owners, the D. & E. Pheasantry sells its pheasants both live and dressed. The owners also run a boarding kennel for pets. w \ ~ 1 S I 0 " 8 Generator Sets 20 thru 500 KW ENGINE DRIVE 25 KW Maxi-power w/200 amp. Automatic switch PTO DRIVE 20/12 KW Winpower w/trailer 20/12 KW Winpower 15 KW Surge 40 KW Fidelity w/trailer 1-12 KW Onan w/trailer THE OCTOPUS WINCO’s exclusive new power piug>connect or disconnect the standby load with one convenient plug This plug on in staltation costs It is rugged and heavy duty for years of long service and is the ultimate inconvenience '• PTO GEAR DRIVE MECHANISM Precision {round helical gears eliminate potential service problems of shorter lived *i chain link drive Auto
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