mrfishy34

i have thought about raising some phasants so i can release them up here and hopefully they prosper. up here all we have is grouse. about 200 miles from here in other parts of the state have phasants but i was hopin to get some started on our land and hopefully one day have a good population. we have alot of grouse here but no phasants. if you raise them are they hard to raise. could u give me some info on it??? thanks alot

drgildy

Have raised a lot pheasants in the past. You have to turn them out quite young or they will not learn to eat grass, insects etc to survive. By quite young I am talking about 3 1/2 weeks old. If you have some grass or weeds so that you can set up a pen near this for cover it will work best. Open the pen up but keep water and feed in the pen for them for a couple of days. Also helps if you mist them down a couple times to get them to preen and oil their feathers. This will help them to waterproof themselves for the dew in the morning or a little rain. Don' t expect too much for survival as no matter what you do nothing will replace a hen pheasant teaching them what to eat and what to do when a predator arrives on the scene. I know that some will tell you that stocking works but my opinion after trying it many times over the years and seeing the so called preserves work I think if you could obtain some live trapped birds from the wild you would do better. Try talking to your local game warden and see if he can help you.

jerseyhunter

Just got my March issue of Fur-Fish-Game and in it was an add -Day old Pheasant Hen Chicks order 500 or more $.25 cents ea. www.pheasant.com MacFarlane Pheasant Farm Inc Janesville Wi. 1-800-345-8348 Good Luck Hope this helps.

nulle

They will do good at a release age of 7 to 8 weeks. Room - Room - Room these birds need plenty of pen space. 5 weeks and up take the commercial feed away and replace with grain greens and items they will get in the wild

mrfishy34

ya that info helps alot. i dono though. if its alot of work then i might not do it. i work on the family farm every day. so if i have to watch them alot and feed them alot during the day then it will be to hard workin for my dad on the farm.

nulle

Sorry to burst your ideas but it is alot of work. We started out as a hobby to work my dog on some birds and the thing exploded and now its full time job for more then one person.
You just have to weigh the options on what you want I guess. Another way is don' t buy 10,000 chicks = just get a few 25 - 50 whatever and see how it goes and you can work the bugs out and maybe expand later. I am sure us on this site and others will help you with problems that may come up.

stew270win

Pheasant rearing is common place in the UK , we raise approx. 15000 pheasants and 5000 partidges we sell some and release the rest we sell most of our shooting which is driven (a team of 8 or so guys drive the birds over 8 to 10 guns) the birds fly hard anfd fast and it is very good sport, we sell our shooting at £25 a bird with days bagging 100 to 350.
Agood web site for info is
www.game-conservancy.org

good luck in your venture and e-mail me if you have any questions.

stew

p.s
We buy in pheasant eggs from france, as they seem to have better stains at the momment.

stew270win

I forgot to say above that I have 3 guys working for me . There is a lot of work from rearing to actual shoot days.
stew

X-LINY

mrfishy34,

I am in West Virginia, and raise Chinese Ring-necked Pheasants. It is not as hard as it seems. This is my third year. I have raised from chicks. This will be my first year at trying hatching out my own stock.

I sell to farmers, hunting clubs or just individuals looking to stock there farm lands.

You will never get rich in this business, but if you enjoy raising and releasing the bird on your own land, the enjoyment superseeds all costs.

Check out the link on Pheasants. There is a ton of information for you here.

http://ndsuext.nodak.edu/extpubs/alt-ag/pheasan.htm

http://www2.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/pub...L/FSA-9083.asp

Good luck!

X-LINY
Pheasant Hollow Farm

mrfishy34

thanks for the info. i am going to check out them websites. like i said. i want to release them on my land for future hunting