Raising Pheasants for the First Time

May 9, 2008 The pheasant chicks arrived at Paris Farmer's Union today. We ordered 4 pheasants (along with 6 Barred Rock hens) however when my dad went to pick them up there were 3 extras so he bought those too. Unlike with chickens pheasants can't be sexed soon after hatching so we have no idea at all what sexes our seven pheasants are.

The little yellow ones are pheasants, the big dark ones are chickens.

May 12, 2008 Tragedy. The heat lamp blew a bulb during the night. We lost the four smallest chicks from the cold. The remaining 3 seem to be doing well but they're being watched closely.

May 25, 2008 Chicks are now 18 days old, growing rapidly, and no longer need the heat lamp during the day (though they still need it at night). They're more than triple the size they were when we got them and most of their pretty juvenile feathers have come in.

An interesting fact I just learned is that pheasants can fly at 2 weeks old. I learned this when one of my chicks escaped the pen while I was giving them fresh water and flew about 6 feet across the living room while I was trying to catch it. I had no idea they could start flying so young.

Two and a half weeks old.

October Update The pheasants are now mostly grown with their adult feathers. I have 2 males and a female. Had to separate the males into different pens as they were fighting over the female. Hoping to find a few more females (young but grown) so each males has at least 2 females.

Pheasants originated in Asia but have since been introduced to many areas of the world including Europe and North America where they have naturalized in some areas. They are a popular game bird for hunting that also adapts well to domestic raising. It's main use is for meat but males also display beautiful plumage which is used for many decorative purposes and for making fishing flies.

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