raising pheasants

[TwinkeeDink]

looking for some info on raising pheasants, i've heard its difficult, but will have incubator with automatic turner to use. any help is appreciated.

[Walleyehooker]

I raised some a long time ago. Big thing is they need a lot of room and cover if you raise them in a pen or enclosed area. Otherwise they will peck and kill each other. I think there are things you can buy and put on their beak to help prevent that to.

[harvey lee]

You can purchase the blinders to help curb the picking issues. The more crowded they are, the worse the pickin will be.

When they are very young, keep them warm or you could have some loss.

I use to hatch and raise approx 1500 a year and I had very little death.

If you are going to incubate them all, make sure the temp is consistant and the moisture or humidity is always correct and you will have a great hatch.

When they start to hatch, you may see a few eggs that the chick and pecked about a 1/3 of the egg but cannot get out. Wait another day or a few hours more than that and you can gently open the eggg and help the chick out.

[muc33]

Tom is pretty spot on. Space, warmth, and yes, they are very cannibalistic and once it starts it's hard to stop so if you raise them much more that 6 to 7 weeks, blinders are a key factor.

[rundrave]

dont forget to get a good critter proof pen area.

I know from experience that its hard to prevent all kinds of critters/rodents from getting in and killing your birds. Just when you think you have them beat they manage to wipe out birds again.

[harvey lee]

AS far as mink and such getting into ones pens, I use to dig a trench about 12-16 inches deep around the perimeter of the outside pens and then run 1" chicken wire in the trench and then I added rocks also. On the top of my flight pens, I would use the cloth type wire and cover the top of the pens.

Never had a mink or any other critter get in the pens.

As far as stopping the picking, one can use a debeaker if you are going to have many birds and this also works as well as blinders. If you have only a few dozen, place a few mirrors in the pen as the birds will peck at the mirror and that can help with this.

If they do draw blood on another bird while picking, they will more than likely kill the bird 9 times out of 10.

Best defense against picking, DO NOT overcrowd them.