Saw my first pheasant chicks on Tuesday

[BLACKJACK]

Was out mowing some thistles and clover on Tuesday and jumped a small batch, looked like they were about a week old. Had been seeing hatched duckling too, was wondering when pheasants would follow.

Kind of early but with the early spring, looks like the pheasants got an early start too. So much for the biologists and their 'nest timing depends upon day length, not temperature' theory.

[TylerS]

Good news!!! Hopefully the weather is pleasant and resulting nesting success is high.

[PerchPounder]

I seen atleast 5 different groups while weve been out picking asparagus. hopefelly they have a good hatch and start to turn things around.

[fivebucks]

Glad the forecast is for drying out a bit now. Let's hope for warm and dry for those chicks.

[muc33]

Spectacular forcast for most of SW Mn the next week to week and a half.

[Scott M]

Saw my first today...co-worker of mine told me his mother is seeing young pheasants all over south of Windom, she's a rural mail carrier....Hopefully a good sign that holds true.

[TylerS]

Our NAVHDA chapter is hosting a youth day in early August at a game farm. I went to check out the site last week, and the owner showed me the birds he had. Lots of pheasants and some chukars, nothing special. Then he showed me a little area where about 15 small fuzzballs about the size of pears were huddled in a corner.

"Know what those are?" he asked.

"Look like baby pheasants to me," I said.

"Yup," he said. "But they're wild. My brother was mowing the other day and called me to say he'd run over a hen."

Apparently, the hen was sitting not on one, but TWO nests. In total, she had 16 eggs on the ground. They picked up the eggs, brought them back to the farm, and all but one hatched. He's planning to release them when they're a bit older.

I thought that was neat...hopefully nest and brood success is up after such a mild winter.

[R. Miller]

Tyler, that's an awesome story! Cool that he's raising them right now. I think it will be a major bounceback year after the mild winter and decent enough Spring so far.

[muc33]

I have been on the road quite a bit in the last two weeks and seeing lots of little ones with momma! Just what we needed, good temps, good cover, no flooding and enough moisture to prevent much burning or mowing in critical time!! Getting more birds hatched is just part of the battle!!!

[R. Miller]

Nice report Mucc...Fall can't get here soon enough. Good to hear the little ones seem to be doing ok down in your area...