any DU gardeners raise pheasant?

[Gato Moteado]

i'm getting interested in golden and lady amherst pheasant and want to talk to DUers who raise these.

[BOSSHOG]

1. Way back in 1967

we lived in Northern Scotland and I got a job with the local gamekeeper feeding Pheasants. The Momma was on something a kin to a leash near a big "birdhouse" and the babies were allowed to run loose. Eventually when they reached maturity (A couple of months if I recall) they were transported to hunting fields. The pheasants were kept out in the woods and there must have been thousands of them. The feeding process was quite labor intensive.

I know this doesn't help you but I appreciate the opportunity to take a stroll down memory lane.

[Gato Moteado]

9. well...we're always glad when you share a walk down memory lane with us!

do you recall what type of pheasants they were?

[ThomWV]

2. We had them slightly more recently than that - 1980 I believe it was

I bought a bunch of them, don't recall how many but it was probably just a dozen. They were whatever common ringnecks are called. Back then according to a state law that I somehow found out about (County Extension Agent?) I had to get a permit that was issued by the local game warden. When I contacted him he knew nothing about it but said go ahead and raise them.

Nothing about them sticks out in my mind so they must not have been any different than raising chicks of any sort. Ours had clipped wings so all we intended to do with them was use them for breeding stock for birds we intended to release locally. As it turned out about the time they matured a dog got to them and killed every one of them. And that was the end of my experience with pheasants. Like I said, I don't recall that there was any great difference between them and any other bird - so basically all you need is a big plastic bin, enough mesh fencing to cover its top, something to use for bedding, and a light to drop down through the top if you're just raising a couple of dozen birds. The latest thing we've raised are Guinea fowl, which are a wonderfully insane creature to have running around your house. No one will ever sneak up on this place.

[bvar22]

4. We got some Guinea chicks (keets) in March.

Starkraven and myself are in total agreement. They are delightfully insane.
They are in the hen house now, but we plan on letting them free range during the day when they get a little older.


As for the OP, neither Starkraven nor myself have any experience with Pheasants beyond the dinner table, but we talked about it and may get some next year if all goes well with the Guineas. There may even be a peacock in our future.

[ThomWV]

5. That they are! Here's some blurry adults out near the new grape plants

[ThomWV]

6. By the way, if you had ticks in the past they will soon be gone

I should have told you the sad tale of our birds - it will give you an idea of what they can survive. Anyway they eat ticks, which is why we got them in the first place. My wife had/has Lyme's Disease and is scared to death of ticks now. I've always hated the blood-sucking-bastards. So we got the Guineas.

We originally had 15 (split an order of 30 with a neighbor) but two died before they fledged. We had moved them out to a shed and I was acclimating them to the outside by increasing the spread of a movable 5' tall fence. On the day they were able to fly over it I took it down and they were free range from that day forward. We continued to provide feed and water inside the building but other than that they were on their own. They all returned to roost every evening although as a flock they roamed at great distance from the house during the days. I have no idea why something didn't eat them; they would wonder 1/4 mile from the house.

Everything was OK and the 13 had just reached adult size when my wife and I left for a couple of weeks at the beach, our son was in charge of feeding the dogs and generally taking care of things, including the birds. When we got back home we were down to the three birds you see in the picture. I saw a couple of the others a mile away from the house but I was never able to catch any of them. The remaining three have been with us these next two years. They abandoned the building long ago, they roost in a pine tree above the wood pile most nights. They stay up there no matter what, in temperatures down to -20. The hardest thing on them is prolonged snow cover. We keep feed out for them in trays all winter long, they have access to running water too. What can I say, hardy birds. And as a last note, in total our yard is probably about 3/4 acre, maybe a little more, other than that we are surrounded by woods. We have 5 large dogs. Ticks are no stranger to us. In years past by this time of the season we would be picking ticks off of ourselves and the dogs every night, I've only seen 2 so far this year. So it seems that just a few birds can take care of a substantial area.

[bvar22]

7. Thanks.

Ticks and chiggers are one of the reasons we got the Guineas.
They are a popular bird around here (Arkansas Ouachita Mtns).

[Gato Moteado]

10. when i move to my big property....

...i will surely get some guinea fowl.

[Shoelace]

3. I tried years ago but it failed

it was so long ago, I barely remember, just that we had a rather large pen for them and they kept trying to get out. We bought 5 of them from a man we knew and I think that if they'd been raised as babies, it would have turned out much better. As it was, some sort of beasty got in there and ate them!
We never tried again. My advice, get them as babies and make darned sure you have good protection for them.

[Quantess]

8. I successfully raised one pheasant from a chick.

He had been pecked on by the others, so the people at the feed store let me have him for free, while I bought some baby chicks. The pheasant grew up with baby chicks! I purchased another pheasant baby, but it died. Compared to the chickens, the pheasant was far more skittish-- make that terrified of humans.

When it was time for the chickens and pheasant to live outdoors, the pheasant kept taking off, and returning at night to sleep with his chicken buddies. But one day, he left and didn't return. I saw him a year later (I think it was him, but it could have been a different one). He was gorgeous. It's too bad he didn't want to stick around, but I can understand he wanted to go be with other pheasants in the wild, instead of hang with chickens.