—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