Pheasant broods

[Gordie]

I have been starting to notice quite a few pheasant broods in my travels.

[PurpleFloyd]

I haven't seen as many but interestingly there is a spot about 8 miles out of town where on 3 occasions I have seen a rooster with a brood of chicks right there with him and no hen to be seen.(it was the same rooster AFAIK as it was within 100 yards of the same location all 3 times) I was under the impression that Roosters did not tolerate chicks in their space but apparently that is not always the case.

[123fish]

I have yet to see a brood on my 23 mile drive to work in the morning to Worthington. Last year I saw my first brood on June 30th and that was later than normal. The guys I'm talking to say pretty much the same thing. It might be a localized thing but I think that ice storm and the cool, wet, snowy spring might have took a toll. We'll see what the roadside counts show next month.

[Eric Wettschreck]

I'm with fish. I drive aboot 26 miles to Worthington every day for work. Sometimes I take a different route home as the alternate route passes right by the liquor store.

I've yet to see a brood. I've seen a couple roosters and hens here and there, but no broods.

[benbosh]

In the past 2 weeks I have seen 3 different broods. Any where from 2-5 young seen but could have been more that ran into the grass already. This is south of Mankato

[123fish]

Finally...saw two broods of pheasants and one brood of Huns on the way to work this morning. The pheasants had at least eight in one brood and at least ten in the other. They were both about the size of meadowlarks. There were at least fifteen in the Hun brood and they were about the size of obese sparrows. Guessing these guys probably hatched after the June rains we had around the 22nd. It's been warm and very dry since. Still hope maybe for a decent later hatch. Brood size was big that's for sure.

[harvey lee]

Saw 3 different groups of chicks this am driving in the rural area after coffee.

On average, 7 chicks per group and all were the size of a softball. Saw some last week also.

Getting tough to see now with the crops as high as they are and longer grasses in the road ditches.

[Dotch]

Been noticing the same thing. Saw several broods of pheasants a few weeks ago and now the cover has increased in height, they're getting tougher to bump into. The good news is there are lots of insects for them to eat out there, especially grasshoppers. Many are talking about foregoing the automatic insecticide applications some dealers advocate on soybeans so that should help keep that source of insects available. As some of the prevented plant in the area comes on line it should give them even more territory to forage in as well.

[123fish]

It's the opposite down here as the ditches are being mowed and hayed to beat the the band. It makes the birds that are out there a little more visible.

[laker1]

It's the opposite down here as the ditches are being mowed and hayed to beat the the band. It makes the birds that are out there a little more visible.

You wonder how they get a hatch off at all in many areas with the shrinking habitat.