# Raising Pheasants



## Philbee (Jul 5, 2004)

I have been thinking about raising Pheasants to turn loose in the wild and maybe even raising Pheasants for hunting clubs etc. Do any of you folks have any experience at this sort of thing or know where I could get information on such an endevor? Any information that you could pass on to me will be appreciated. 

Thanks, ----------- Philbee


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## pancho (Oct 23, 2006)

There is a lot of info on the net about raising pheasants, just type in raising pheasants. One place to find out about pheasants is www.gbwf.org
There is a lot of difference in raising pheasants and chickens. There are many different species of pheasants. First you will have to choose what kind you want to raise. Then you will have to have the pens, pheasant will eat each other if crowded. They have to have plenty of room. The flight pens will have to be big enough for the bird to develop flight muscles. Hunting clubs usually only buy mature flight conditioned roosters and the going price is about $7 each. Not much room for profit unless you raise thousands.
The survivable rate on pen raised pheasants is very low, around 2%. They have no defense against predators.
They are great birds and there are so many different types and looks to choose from.


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## shadowwalker (Mar 5, 2004)

I only know one person that raised them. He did it for three years, he finally quit and started raising qual. More money. More birds for the money. Easier to raise.


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## hunter63 (Jan 4, 2005)

I bought 10 pheasants from a guy that raises them. $8 bucks apiece.
5 hens and 5 roosters.
BIL and I were going to use them to train our dogs, but turned out that the dog I have is gun-shy (rescue dog) and BIL didn't make it out to "The Place" that week end.
I put them in a large 12 X 12 dog pen, covered the top, put out cracked corn and water.
The first two found a spot where the pen was open a little bit and took off, another flew up against the fencing and broke her next (was supper).
Mesh fencing would be better I think.
That left me with 7 in the pen.
Next morning the were two more roosters dead? One looked like he just keeled over, the other didn't have a head? So as there was not going to be anyone there for the week, I turned them loose. Total of 7.

That was in the first week of Nov, last weekend there was still a couple of them still hanging around, so maybe a couple of them will make it till spring? Put out more corn, and everything was waiting for it. Pheasants, blue jays, cardinals, deer, mice, rabbits, squirrels and about every else you can think of. Even hawks in the tree over head waiting for some small to venture in the pen.

Guy I got them from raises them for himself, one hunt club, and a couple of guys (like me) that wants them for training. He lets quite a few loose at the end of season also.(20/30 birds) 
He will quick to tell you that money isn't the reason he does it, but like anything else they are some work to keep alive.(he raises his from purchased chicks).
Good luck


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## giffy (Jul 22, 2005)

You might check out a few of the clubs and see where they purchase the birds from and then see what the pheasant breeders are getting for them, you might also be able to visit some of the breeders and get some ideas for your setup.

Like the others said, I don't think you are going to find any profit in raising them unless you raise large numbers and it is true that very few pen raised birds make it through their first winter in the wild.

I have been raising a few varieties of wild waterfowl (bantam size) as a hobby. It is alot of work but I do enjoy it. 

Here is a photo of a pair of Wood ducks I took a few days ago.

giffy

---------------
GiffsFarm


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

Release usually doesn't work. If I did it I would get the wildest strain I could, release in the spring, and only release hens, so they breed with the wild roosters.


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## pheasantplucker (Feb 20, 2007)

Try www.mcmurrayhatchery.com. They sell all kinds of fowl and have an extensive assortment of gamebirds including: Chinese pheasants, Jumbo ringnecks, Reeves pheasants, Silvers, Yellow-Goldens, Red-goldens, and Lady Amherst pheasants. You can also order Chukar partridge, Texas blue quail, Tennessee red quail, gambels, and wild turkeys such as Rio Grande Wild Turkey, and Eastern Wild Turkeys. Good luck.


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## pancho (Oct 23, 2006)

pheasantplucker said:


> Try www.mcmurrayhatchery.com. They sell all kinds of fowl and have an extensive assortment of gamebirds including: Chinese pheasants, Jumbo ringnecks, Reeves pheasants, Silvers, Yellow-Goldens, Red-goldens, and Lady Amherst pheasants. You can also order Chukar partridge, Texas blue quail, Tennessee red quail, gambels, and wild turkeys such as Rio Grande Wild Turkey, and Eastern Wild Turkeys. Good luck.


McMurray charges more than twice the price for their birds. Ringnecks can be bought for less than $1 each in many places and the hens are even cheaper than that. In some places they will even give away the hens.
Just do a search for pheasants for sale. You will get many different places that sell all types of pheasants at less than half the price of McMurray.


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## A'sta at Hofstead (Sep 20, 2006)

So I guess the 30 I ordered from McMurray are doomed, we will just have to eat them right quick!


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## PyroDon (Jul 30, 2006)

I raised a few for meat and pickling eggs , those OD Green eggs are real attention getters . also raised quail Quail are much easier and have a better survival rate when released provided you keep contact to a bare minimum .


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## mwhit (Jun 8, 2006)

Hill Crest Farm said:


> So I guess the 30 I ordered from McMurray are doomed, we will just have to eat them right quick!


No they aren't doomed! There probably isn't any money in it but they can be raised in captivity without eating each other, breaking their necks etc. so don't panic  Gramp raised pheasants (wild and ornamental) for years and he released many that propagated quite well in the wild. I'm planning on some red goldens as soon as I make them a nice aviary  

What type did you order?


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## uncle Will in In. (May 11, 2002)

I know guys who raised them with a chicken hen. They will follow the hen around the farmstead until they get about a third grown, then go off on their own out in the fields. They kept feed and water where they could come to it if they wanted to. I raised 25 hatchery ringnecks. I feed them turkey feed which is a little different in makeup from chicken feed. When they got big, I turned them loose in my haymow that was about half full of bales. They done Ok except they would eat their eggs. When a hen would get off the nest another one would go right in and eat the egg. There were only 4 roosters in the group. In the haynow there would be a rooster up on the hay in each corner. Sold them to a neighbor, and he took them to an auction.


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## jamesdel (Mar 21, 2006)

I know this is for Quail but dont see why it wouldnt work for pheasents also.
Jim
http://quailrestoration.com/


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## pancho (Oct 23, 2006)

jamesdel said:


> I know this is for Quail but dont see why it wouldnt work for pheasents also.
> Jim
> http://quailrestoration.com/


It really doesn't even work for quail. It is a sales gimic. Every few years someone will come out with a way to restock game birds. 99% fail as the people who do the inventing do not have the necessary experience with game birds. None of the quail restoration ideas take into consideration the quail do not learn about predators without being exposed to them. In most areas the quail or pheasants brooded in that would never reach the age to release. Predators would break into it before the birds matured enough to release. If by some miracle no predator found it they would find the young quail soon after they left it. Hawks, housecats, and owls would soon clean out all of the young birds.


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