Where to get pheasant chicks for huntiung

C

captaincoot

Banned
Thinking about raising some pheasant for my nieces and nephews to hunt. Wondering if any one on here has done it before and where to get them at.
 
I would go on line and look for breeders in your area. If you’re getting birds for the young ones to hunt, I'd look for a breed such as the standard Chinese, Kansas blue back, melinisitc mutant, and black neck. These birds tend to fly a bit slower than breeds such as the afghan white wing or Manchurian breeds.

If you can't find anyone near you, most pheasant breeders ship birds. Pheasants.com is one of them.:thumbsup:
 
Murray McMurray Hatchery, Webster City Iowa.
Check out their web site.
 
You can go to the North American gamebird Assoc. just google it and it will show a link for different states, what type of birds, breeders, growers, etc. All over and most likely someone near you. I know of some in fairmont MN which is not too far from ya.
 
I am lucky to be able to get them at several places really close. I have done it for years, and now plan to do it again because of winter. I have a Sportsman incubator that holds up to 360 eggs, so I plan on buying the eggs, which are cheaper yet. I do have a Little Giant incubator I would give away for something like that, if its not chewed up by mice in the garage. It is Styrofoam and holds roughly a 80 eggs, but you have to turn them yourself. It is kinda neat for the kids though. My sportsman, you just monitor and add water once and a while. It does all the turning for you. I have learned allot of do's and dont's raising them over time and can give you several good tips, If you have a bunch of ?'s feel free to PM me as well. It can be allot of work and monitoring, with disappointments of loss for no good reason, but when it works it's rewarding.
 
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FCS, do you get a decent % with your sportman? I have 2 of those round foam type with turners in them. Sometimes get 80% sometimes 0.
I keep trying though.
Might also buy some chicks this year.
 
What I found that works best is some Cochin chicken hens. A couple days before they hatch pull them and place in your incubator. Be sure to replace the eggs you take with new ones, as those hens will keep setting. Damn good surrogates. Best % hatch I ever had and I have a sportsman too.
 
mnmthunting said:
FCS, do you get a decent % with your sportman? I have 2 of those round foam type with turners in them. Sometimes get 80% sometimes 0.
I keep trying though.
Might also buy some chicks this year.
Click to expand...

The sportsman worked better for me then my styro. I would say 75-80-% is about right. It's tough to get any better then that even with a comericial hatcher. Janet the gal who I buy birds from has a walk in job that holds several thousand. She has told me the same thing. But it depends on so many things. The fertility of the egg is the first thing, hens will lay with or without a rooster, and the rooster may not servise all the hens at the key time either. My biggest problem was having too many hens in with a rooster, therefore too many dead eggs. The next thing is humidity. That and the temp have to be perfect for optimal hatch, too much humidity, they drown in the egg, not enough and they can't pip out. Having a few exterior thermometers helps in case one is not reading right. Also a humidastdat to read the humidity is a big pluss, you can add more water when needed instead of guessing. And a way to add water without entering the environment, I modified mine to put water in without opening the door. I don't candle them anymore either, I have never had a bad one blow up. Candleing takes time out of the environment. All those little things help, and one of the most important is to do it in a room with a consistant temp, and not in like a garage or something. Before all the little things I had the same trouble up and down, now it seems to be consistant. It is a make or break deal for sure. They are the dumbest critter on the planet to keep alive after they hatch too. I have lost big #'s over the little things, but have had times when we never lost a chick. Keeping things regular at perfect temps is the key to sucess after hatch,along with no corners in your containment area, block the corners off so they don't pile.Fleet farm has those thick card board dog biscut pallet boxes that work great for the early stage. Also putting river rock in the waterers so they don't drown on one of there frequent power naps. Never heard of the bird or serogate thing before. I spose it would work, but you would then have to have a bunch of chickens wouldn't ya? how many do you put under 1 hen?
 
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They are about the same size as a hen pheasant, I put 16-18 eggs under each one and I had 8 hens.
 
Yes, then you can replace the ones you took from the hen and start over. We did this because we always seemed to lose power a couple times during storms, this way they are only in the incubator a couple days and did not have to worry about a generator. It works pretty darn well.
 
Ahh yes the generator thing, that is an issue isn't it. Had the same thing. I do have one and have it ready. Had to use it most years. Thats pretty cool that they will take care of that many pheasant eggs. Do you collect for 7 or so days then put them in in batches
 
AS you know, you have to keep them in a cool spot and even turn them, so the germ does not stick to the side of the egg. The longer you hold them, the less fertile they become. I have gone as long as 14 days. Collected for the chickens first and then the incubator. By the time I had the incubator about 1/2 full, it was time to replace eggs under the chickens. Those chickens are pretty cool. They are black skinned with white feathers. There feet have feathers and their heads have a tuft.
 
I'm up to speed on the hatching and brooding of the chicks, but I've always heard that pheasants require A LOT of room in the flight pens. Like you could have 400 quail in the same area that 15 pheasant need. Any thoughts as to the validity of this? I'd love to raise some pheasants, but not bad enough to miss out on 400 quail.
 
Ken, I apologize, those chickens were Bantam White Silkies. Sorry, I am not much of a chicken farmer!!!! LOL
 
DANNIEL77, the more room the better, if there are too many, they tend to peck each other to death. That is why you see beek or eye shields so they can't see well , in those big operations where it is all about numbers. Cover in your pen helps a bunch also. Sometimes they even clip that top portion of the beek back so they can't do as much damage. I had a 25 by 75 foot pen 12 foot high and I had 50-60 birds. Had alot of sturdy cover though. Mine had good tails still, and were not ragged or beat up looking.
 
I've had the best luck with 8 hens 1 rooster, doesn't work well with 2 or more roosters, you have the dominant rooster that will breed the hens when needed without injury to the hens. The satellite roosters are opportunists and will be constantly working at getting to the hens being very rough.

Yeah any Bantam type chicken will set. The big heavy breeds too just not as dependable. I've used chickens to hatch ducks to.
If you have a decent incubator sure is a lot less hassel.
 
MNM, did you ever rotate roosters? I used the top 3 or 4 roosters I had and would rotate them. Usually had 1 rooster per 6 hens and had 12 hens, so 2 roosters were busy and 2 would have to wait a while. Your right on the money with not letting more than one rooster in the pen. They will wear those hens out to death.
 
true!! a neighbor of mine has chickens and has two roosters... they fight... if you had one.. youre better off.. however depending on if you keep the baby roosters.. they will grow up and fight the main dominate rooster to gain domination position.

UNLESS you sell the roosters that are born.. then you shouldnt have an issue, or build the second or third tent and set those roosters to be the dominate bird in that tent with of course another set of hens that arent from that original birth.
 
Blue, I haven't tried to rotate, good idea. Seems like the regular rooster gets good with the hens breeding only when the hen is ready. It's curious how she knows? just squats down when the rooster approaches, the rooster is fast and gentle.:cool:

For sure, when the set up is good. Have a couple roomy pens with cover inside. 1 rooster for 8-12 hens. Talk about eggs! hens will lay an egg a day [slowing down some later]. With good nutrition what? about the 1'st of April thru July even into August.
 
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