Clean up the post and stop with the arguing. Agree to disagree and move on. Enough is enough.

I think we did, as the thread has been dead for a week!

Yep it was enough, that is why the post has been dead.

I am as of now raising 6 quail in a 10/5 foot pen. We are arcing 10 foot pieces of 1/2 inch pvc piping across the pen. I just takes up the spot and sprinkled some foxtail seed on the ground. We are going to put 2 or 3 cinder blocks in because I read that the quail will crawl into the holes in the blocks to get out of rain and snow. We are going to feed them millet and sunflower heads and are putting a waterer in there because we can't have natural water in a pen. We are going to find out if they lay eggs next spring. Any insight I am glad to take.

They may lay fertile eggs next Spring if they're still alive and there are both sexes in the pen! ;) What have you made available in the pen for them to get out of the bad weather that will hit this winter up there?

Pheasant shooter, I suggest you build a decent sized wooden box on legs about 4 ft high with the front at least half closed and set with the back to the prevailing winds in your pen to protect the birds in bad weather. Click on the link below and you can print out info about bob whites from the PGC. You may be surprised about how many eggs a hen will lay. The info will give you an idea of what kind of habitat to create on your land for the quail for food and cover. Don't be afraid to contact the PGC to ask for advice if you run into a snag. Good luck.

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal...=596812&mode=2

The pvc pieces are going to be 2 feet apart and we are going to put a 2 foot piece of plywood in between the pvc pieces and they can get under it to get out of the rain and snow.

I would suggest rather than doing what you mentioned that you do what Oldtimr posted to make a good, comfortable place for them. Quail are very delicate little birds and they can't take much weather like a pheasant can and they don't have fat reserves like a pheasant does either. A pheasant can go quite a few days without food, but quail won't last long without daily sustenance.

Ok will do!

How many square feet are needed to raise
k-thunder pheasants

No idea what K-thunder pheasants are. You can call the Game Commission and ask them what the sq footage per bird they require for a pheasant propagation permit.

They are a smaller type of Ringneck Pheasants that give a lot of action and are quite quick..

Thank you, learn something new every day.

Never heard of them either. Thanks Phil!

so now that I have raised quail, I'm going to upgrade to pheasants. I'm going to have a 12.5 ft by 25 ft pen and have it about 12.5 feet high. I chose this size because I can get 1 roll of 12.5x150 foot 1 inch netting. how deep do I have to bury the chicken wire to stump the predators. and btw I caught a nice red fox in a trap by my quail pen trying to get my quail. my last question; I want to be able to have their sole ration to be cracked corn that I throw out for them to forage in and that would help them be more wild. my plan is that I will raise 30 to 8 weeks where I have heard that they can survive better the younger they are. I and going to release 25. and keep the others, breed them, and do the same thing for as many years as it takes to have a somewhat good population. I am hoping that some will live and be able to teach the newly released ones what to do. slowly I am going to raise more and more. any help is greatly appreciated.

sincerely,
pheasantshooter

Rather than going deep straight down IMHO the best way is to go down at least 12"-18" and then out 3' at that depth with the wire and cover it. That way an animal will have to dig down and then horizontal that far before they can get into the pen. That will probably be difficult for an animal to do in just one night and if any attempts are made to get into the pen I would think you would know it before it got any birds.

I agree with what Topgun told you regarding burying the wire. The following is what the PGC requires for people who participate in their day old chick program so far as the sq feet of space required for the covered pens and brooder house for bird health and to reduce cannibalism. I recommend you do not go less than what is specified below. You would need at least twice the sq footage than you plan for 30 birds. Additionally, the Game Commission requires that the birds be released at 12 weeks of age, 8 weeks is a little young. I also recommend you contact a pheasant breeder or the wildlife management unit of the PGC in HBG and ask what they feed the birds. When I was still dealing with delievering pheasant crumbles to cooperating sportsman's clubs they fed a medicated food for a while because disease can spread very quickly through birds crowded in an enclosure. After the chicks are off mash and on larger food, feeding food specifically made for growing pheasants will provide a lot more of the nutrients that the growing birds will need to grow well and to feather up nice. Cracked corn will not provide enough nutrients for growing birds. I am glad your quail project worked out and wish you luck in your pheasant endeavor and if you want a name and phone number of someone involved in raising pheasants on the PGC game farms contact me and I will get you a contact person and phone number. Something else you should give serious consideration is to plant a tall grass that is at least a foot high before you put the birds in the flight pen and keep all human contact to a minimum, rig your water troughs or pans with a hose so you don't have to go in the pen every day to fill it. the less human contact, the wilder the birds.



To be eligible to receive pheasant chicks, all applicants are required to have a minimum of 25 square feet of covered pen space available per chick.

In addition, 1/2 square foot (72 sq. inches) of floor space is recommended in the brooder building per chick. This promotes a healthy environment and reduces cannibalism.


Organizations should not release pheasants until the birds are 12 weeks of age or more.

Pheasant chicks can be raised at the cooperators facility or by a designated caretaker with the proper facilities.

Maximum returns will result by releasing pheasants as close to the opening of small game season as possible and no later than the end of the second week of the season.

this is not the day old chick program. I am going to buy the chicks by myself, and raise them myself, and release them at 8 weeks. I would like to know if I need a propagators permit to raise 30 of them. I was going to get them from delps hatchery. and thanks for the info about the burying part, and the sq footage.

I understand you are not in the day old chick program. However, the size of the pens is the same if you are in the program or doing it on your own. I copied and pasted the PGC's requirements because that is what you should have to be successful in raising pheasants. You are of course free to crowd the birds but you will pay a price for it. You do not need a propagators permit unless you are selling or giving away your birds. No permit is required to raise and release birds on your property. I gave you the information I did because I want you to be successful in raising your pheasants, not because you had to do what I posted, but because it is the best road to success. If you want to release at eight weeks, there is nothing to prevent you from doing it, however, the birds will be better prepared to survive at 12 weeks.

ok thnks oldtimr, I will keep them to 12 weeks then. I wasn't going to put blinders on them because I thought it would make them wilder, and I figure that raising less in a good fashion is way better than raising a lot in a bad fashion. anyway, thanks for the advice. and ill do that

I hope you have success. Good luck.

thanks, ill need it

Just got back on the thread and need to comment after seeing what Oldtimr mentioned about pen size and getting a PM from him. According to what he mentioned the recommended size of the pen to raise birds should be 25 square feet per bird. The size you mentioned that you're planning is nowhere near big enough for 30 birds. Even if you double the length to 50' that still doesn't give the birds the room the pros say is needed. I think you could probably get away with one 12.5'x50' even though that doesn't quite meet what the pros say, but IMHO the size you're talking about is way too small to give all the birds any kind of sufficient room to remain healthy and be in good shape to release at 12 weeks. When birds are crowded they tend to fight and they also are more susceptible to various diseases that can wipe them out pretty quick. I would either double the size of your pen if you can afford the materials or cut the number of birds in half for your smaller pen size.

I have decided that I am going to raise until 8 weeks. that is what I meant when I said 30 birds, but thanks.

You need to go on the internet and read up on raising the birds. We've tried to give you some solid advice here and it appears you aren't listening. First off, pen size is very important. Second, the birds have a much better chance at survival if you raise them to 12 weeks of age. Third, the corn you say you're planning as their sole food source is not the route to go. You can get the mix you need at a decent feed mill and if they don't have pheasant specific bags of feed I have read that a turkey feed will suffice. You are going to a lot of work and going to some expense to do your project, so I would highly suggest that you do it right to give the birds a humane environment and chance at survival. We aren't talking about tiny little quail here. Pheasants are a big bird and need room and the proper diet to survive.

I hope it works for you but I suspect you will have problems with crowding caused cannibalism.

I never had the problem with cannibalism in my pen which was only 15 feet by 75 feet and had 50 pheasants in it. The problem I had was raccoons climbing my fence posts and chewing threw the netting on top of it. The bigger area may help you out that way. Those coons can wipe a pen out over night once they find a way into it. The other problem I had was trying to get them to nest on their own. They would build the nests alright and lay the eggs. Then they would just walk off and come back later to lay another egg ect.. They wouldn't lay on the nest. I am thinking it is because so much hatcher raised chicks had taken the nesting part out of them.. Anyways good luck with your project..

Phil---Your pen size would be pretty close to what Oldtimr mentioned is suggested. Three birds across the 15' width of the pen for each 5' of the 75' length would allow for 45 birds under the formula Oldtimr mentioned, so I can see why you wouldn't have had that problem with 50. Did you do anything at all with their beaks? By my math the boy shouldn't even have 15 birds in his 12.5'x25' pen.

No I never done a thing to them that way.. I even had roosts all over the pen for them as well. But those damn coons got in there and over night wiped my birds out.. That happened twice to me so I gave up on them.. I even live trapped them and removed them so The first year of live trapping them I had removed 15 coons due to and old abandon house that is close by. Myself as well as several others went to the town about it.. But, because the owner who is out of state pays taxes they would not do anything about it. I do know it is important for them to have a place to roost though even though this case the coons won out..

Phil you had 22.5 sq. feet of space per bird with 50 birds, which is just short of the 25 sq. feet recommended. I wouldn't have anticipated any problems but the young OP has only about half the recommended space and I would be surprised if he doesn't lose a bunch of birds.

Your right Oldtimr my mistake as I never noticed exactly how short his flight pen was going to be.. He really needs to cut back on the number of birds as well as install some roosts for them.. At least here you need to have roosts in your pen. I do not recall if he was going to or not.. The birds need to get off the ground at night..

ok thanks phil. I was gonna put our Christmas tree in there for them to roost. also in the Sullivan raising tips and info, it said that for 5-8 weeks you only need 10 feet without blinders. also, I heard that pheasants survive better when they are 8 weeks old. so I figured that I should raise more 8 week old ones. so I did 12.5x25=312.5/10=30. so I guess that I am gonna do that. also, they take less feed. and if I put blinders on, I could put in 60. any other tips. because I sure could use 'em.

Do your own thing boy! Hey, here's an idea. Why not just raise them to 4 weeks and put 100 of em in that pen? I'm done here! :throw:

Good Lord! 60 birds in a 12.5 by 25 foot pen. What a recipe for disaster. I tried and I am done after this post. I will say this and just perhaps it will get through. The size of a covered flight pen is so the birds can exercise their flight muscles so when they are released they can fly and elude predators as well as not putting birds that do not like to be close together, close together. When blinders are put on birds they have to be removed before they are released. Too many birds in a flight pen will discourage flight practice because of mid air collisions in addition to encouraging cannibalism and disease. I continue to wish the lad good luck but I wouldn't bet on his chances.

ok, new plot change, 25x25 is what its gonna be. then I can put 25 birds in by your standards. and thanks for more of the tips. I'm done.

That would be right on the money. it will benefit what you are trying to do.

well I guess that's a good thing;) and I'm gonna release the 20 at 12 weeks and keep 5 to breed.

Atta boy!!!

Yeah haha.:)

I really hope that boy does not pay attention to your posts because you have not a clue about what you are talking about, Period, what you posted here about rasing pheasants is nonsense, period. Maggots and meal worms, give me a break. It takes about 100 lbs of food to raise 50 chicks to 6 weeks old, 2 lbs a day of feed for the 1st 6 weeks of a pheasant chicks life and about 1 lb a day from 6 weeks forward. All those maggots and meal worms would break you. Game bird feed has all the proper nutrients they need to grow. Pheasant shooter, please for your sake, ignore whay this guy says.