raising pheasants??

[torpedoman]

Has anyone raised any for release? anyone got any advice? All comments appreciated,.

[mrbigtexan]

i read an article that said to release them at 3 weeks of age. it sure seems early to me though.

[crustylicious]

If you've ever raised chickens, pheasants are nothing like them!
They are WILD monsters, all leg and beak and grow at an unbelievable pace (3 weeks is about all you'll be able to stand ).  Their favorite past time is FIGHTING for position under the heat lamp and KILLING each other. I tried clipping their beaks but that only slowed them down for a week.
Everybody should do it once just to see how much of the wild animal we've bred out of chickens!

[FourBee]

I tried it when I was a young man.   Didn't take long to get out of that business.   It is probably a bit different than raising Quail, and that takes some doing itself.  

[a4beltfed2000]

Pheasants are tough to raise, hard to keep warm, will fight like two dogs in a burlap sack! even tougher to keep in even with flight netting. 3 weeks, your a better man than me if you can stand them that long!!!

[a4beltfed2000]

Here is a pic of our setup/ CRAP!!!! wrong picture!!!!don't try to keep pheasants in here they won't make it how do I delete a pic and reload it! BTW thats my daughter

[FourBee]

Here is a pic of our setup/ CRAP!!!! wrong picture!!!!don't try to keep pheasants in here they won't make it how do I delete a pic and reload it! BTW thats my daughter

find the location of the pic you want, right click , copy, goto modify on your post, highlite the location of the pic in your post, right click, paste.  Your previous pic will be replaced by the new one.  Save and that's it.

[slim rem 7]

 i hope you just leave the pic of your daughter..sweet,, an looks like a person that will do what she decides to do.. my compliments..slim

[snapcrackpop]

Pheasants Forever's stance on releasing raised birds is that it's a loosing game.  Very poor success rate (~1%) of survival after one year.  Basically the pen raised birds are "dumb" and don't have the skills to avoid predators.
That's why their mission is on habitat improvement and acquisitions.

Good luck, but maybe improve habitat in your area instead....

[a4beltfed2000]

First, thanks for the compliments on the daughter. Shes a great kid! Shes studying to be a vet! The picture is her with two wolves that were injuried and rehabatated. If they are not going to make it in the wild they are brought in and cared for but as pointed out about the pheasants as well, they do not do well being released back into the wild and end up living their life out in a santuary under the care of some great people.  My daughter was fortunate enough to get to spend part of the day with a very large pack (57 animals) compared to the few that we have at our home.

[buck460XVR]

Most pheasant chicks available to the average Joe are domesticated  Game Farm strains. These strains are not bred to be wild and are little more than colorful chickens. They are excellent birds for dog training and pay to shoot situations, but generally if they are not shot soon after release, they don't make it past the owls, barn cats and coyotes for more than a week. Most head towards human dwellings cause that's where they expect to find food and shelter. Wild strains that do better upon release are generally not available to the general public. Many states do not allow the general public to release birds into the wild unless they are approved or have a permit of some kind. For years, I used to incubate, hatch and raise pheasants for release under Wisconsin's bird dog training permit rules. I also had to have a game farm license. It consisted of paying x amount of monies and having a warden come out and inspect your pens and raising area. As the years went by it became increasingly harder and harder to meet the requirements as the rules changed. It got to the point where it was cheaper and easier to go to the local shooting preserve and drop the money for their birds as it was to raise my own. Pheasants are hard birds to raise. Survival rates are low and if you intend to keep the birds till they can fly for training puposes you will need to goggle them to keep them from pecking each other to death. Even domesticated birds will frighten easily and will fly up into the netting and break their necks when surprised. Had several over the years die of fright when handling them to put the goggles on or just transferring them from pen to pen. If I had 30% left by fall to train the dogs on I thoght I had done good. I can get 50 birds for $600 from the local shooting preserve.......I know for a fact I couldn't raise them myself for that.

[GeneRector]

  Howdy! You might call or email the wildlife department in your state and see if they have some wild pheasants to release in your area. You need to have adequate quality habitat for their survival as well. There is something called a "pheasant restorator" that you might want to read about. Just do a Google search to find the website. At one time I wanted to raise pheasants; however, as was said by others, pen-raised birds survival in the wild is very low. Best of luck!  Always, Gene

[torpedoman]

 they have hatchlings to give you to raise and release here and i signed up for 50 , i've got a large house and fenced area to start them in and will release them in good cover.

[Ron 1]

my ol lady has 30 pheasant eggs in the incubater and 30 under the chickens.  she contacted the dnr here in michigan on qeustions about releasing them.  it is illegal to release ringnecks and also called pheasants forever and they told her there is no intrest in babies for release as they do not make it long in the wild     what to do with 60 babys if they all hatch.

           rw

[snapcrackpop]

Someone's going to eat well!  Either you or the foxes.  Win-win.

[Jane308]

Pheasants forever works on Habitat only. Making a suitable habitat for them so that the animals you make your arrangements for will visit, like and then stay. I call 2 local chapters and they will not release them, that's 'not what they do'. Or know anyone who would want some... ok then.

Contacted DNR of Michigan, got 2 biologists to call back and say they have no programs that hatch, raise or release them into the wild. Only a numbers person for volunteers to tally where and how many were taken, sex of bird, etc.

I've read that a great age of release is 3 weeks. Blinders are put on birds over that age to stop picking and fighting. I don't intend on keeping mine much longer then to sell them.

Thru out over 40 eggs I bought that never were fertile, royally peeved me. I candled the eggs tonight in the incubator and have movement. Today is day 23. Can hatch past 26 days.

Crossing fingers. It'll be my first experience with Ringnecks, mother-in-law has Lady Amherst Pheasants. They seem to tolerate confinement. But always have paced the fences wanting out.

Ol man is working on the coyote population around here so I hope to release some down the road in a grassy field where I have only seen 1-2 the last few years. Seems like a great habitat. I live in the woods, so not so much.

[FourBee]

I didn't have any major problems hatching and raising the chicks.   That's the easy part.  After releasing them, they're totally at a loss on how to survive.   They won't come back to their pens either.   After a short while they all disappeared.

[RB1235]

 I raised them and they were problematic. Had heard a lot about cannibalization so I trimmed upper beak and put blinders on them. No problem with them eating one another. Once it starts they say it will not stop. I never released, just ate them. If you live in an area that has chiggers, they are supposed to kill them in the wild. Mine would always have skinned bloody heads from jumping into the top of the cage. I put cedar tops on the wire and it stopped them from knocking the skin off. I also had them on the ground with a 1" chicken wire bottom. They love to dig holes with their beaks. They chewed big holes out of the wire on ground only. Didn't try to chew out on sides with same wire. If up on wire I imagine a hardware cloth that is thick would be needed for their strong bills.
Quails are so much easier. They don't hurt themselves every time a leaf blows by.

[Empty Quiver]

Here is a short answer. Though well intentioned you are wasting your time and feeding coyotes. Call your local DNR or Cooperative Extension Agent for more details.

[Jane308]

The DNR does not have a release program, or anything to do with managing pheasants. They redirected me to 2 pheasant farms that raise them for food consumption and shooting farm.

[RB1235]

http://wfs.sdstate.edu/wfsdept/Publications/Other/2-W%20Raising%20Pheasant%20Chicks.pdf
Just a simple little sheet. You could try raising pheasants or pheasant production on google. BTW a similar taste to me is Chukar. They too are much easier to raise. They are prone to disease so they have to be on wire though. 1/3 the size of a pheasant, comparable in size to a Georgia Giant Bobwhite.

[Jane308]

Hey thanks for the great information!

Wish Michigan had something like that!

I have Bobwhite and Tennessee Red Bobwhite quail eggs coming for the incubator. Got a great 8 foot rabbit hutch from Freecycle. So its gonna be great!

Thanks again!

[snapcrackpop]

The DNR does not have a release program, or anything to do with managing pheasants. They redirected me to 2 pheasant farms that raise them for food consumption and shooting farm.

Correct, because the way to "manage pheasants" is through HABITAT, and there are programs and information available for that.

And I have seen information that states coyotes are GOOD for pheasants.  Why?  Becasue coyotes are poor bird hunters and they kill foxes that are good bird hunters.  One biologist commented that he has seen a fox find a bird nest, wait for the bird to return to kill it, THEN eat the eggs.  Whereas a coyote would just eat the eggs and not wait for the hen to return.  Also cats, skunks and racoons are high on the list of pheasant preadators.   

[RB1235]

Hey thanks for the great information!

Wish Michigan had something like that!

I have Bobwhite and Tennessee Red Bobwhite quail eggs coming for the incubator. Got a great 8 foot rabbit hutch from Freecycle. So its gonna be great!

Thanks again!

Good luck with your birds. You may want to divide the pen in half and keep them separate. Reds are a little nastier than bobs. They will be doing a lot of picking. Bobs fight as well. I have some in a chicken house and the little boogers will beat up on chickens. Beak trimming is the way to go with any game birds raised in captivity. This one will have some info on that. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps017

 A place to learn to raise and resolve any problems. http://www.thatquailplace.com/smf/

A good place to order supplies. http://www.cutlersupply.com/cart/

A good place to buy chicks and eggs. http://www.eggbid.com/

Good Luck

[Jane308]

I am an eggbidder  Bought my bantam dark Cornishes on there. The Hutch has separate rooms.

Heard cheep cheep in the incubator, getting excited!

[Ron 1]

i am tryin to keep the yote pop..to a mini..  and fox    but i might need a reloader ....
                rw