Best place to get pheasant chicks that may survive wild?

[1pheas4]

You have any left Nick?

A few yes. I called you and left a message about 3-4 weeks ago to see if you wanted to go but you didn't call me back. After not hearing back from you I went out to purchase you a dozen roses but couldn't decide if your color was white or red.:laugh:

 

[QuailBob]

Funny how long it took for this thread to come alive? But anyhow thanks for all the replays and recommendations. I'm interested in the macfarlane but also the place in SD sounds good. I am still working toward getting birds but have run into a small problem. Since my last post on this subject I have been doing some predator control, well I knew we had red fox but not anything like what I have encountered. I have caught approx. 50 fox 2 yotes countless skunk ant a bunch of feral cats....... off of my place and my dads place just down the road, we have a serious problem. I'm starting to feel like I'm an idiot for even trying? I talked to the wildlife biologist, they preach habitat and that the birds need to overproduce predatation demands, well maybe?? I'm doing some simple math here and thinking this through here's what I got: 50 fox let's say get 1 pheasant per week each (if they were here to get) so 50x52 weeks in a year=2600 pheasants!!!!!! Hell I only have 75 acres, if I had 2600 pheasants on it people would come here from South Dakota!!!!

 

[FCSpringer]

LOL, don't panic. I am surprised you for one got realist advice from the DNR. Normally they feed you a line of BS and pop out the biologist chest. Telling you your wrong in some way shape or form. Varmints are an issue. But if you keep at it you can have them under control. I trap & shoot as needed here as well. You will get to a point that levels off. I would not give up your idea. I kept track one year and I caught 13 cats for every fox, coon, and skunk combined. Those wild dogs cover a pretty vast area. So expand your sets for a few years in a circle around your area. Like 10 miles. Or get the word out to some trappers about the easy picking. Maybe you can get a few in the county to start trapping your area for you too. This is why I always preach how important trappers are. Many people do not realize this. But, it's fact. If one stopped here to ask, I think I would hug him. 2nd, yes they were right about cover, you do need some. You putting that much of a dent in varmints should do nothing but help out your plan. Good luck.

 

[bricam12]

We have been using Macfarlane as well. I have always got great birds, and no deads in the box yet. I get the deal on 500 hens for 10 cents each. Then you can just buy say 50 or so straight run rooster chicks as well. The key is to take great care raising them. Temp, lights, food, water, meds, blinder timing, moving outdoors timing, room, and so on. Once you figure out how to get chick to healthy adult, then release timing is also important. It is not a real cheap venture. Saving cost on feed buying with a bulk wagon directly from an elevator is a big advantage cost wise. Bag food is spendy. Then absolutely do not release chicks. They will die. Only release spring adults, or if you have mild winters with great food and water, fall adults are OK after hunting season. Here, spring time adults is the only way. Spring provides the time needed for them to find their way around with food and water every where. In just a few weeks they are as wild as any. They have done very well when I have released them at that age and time of year. All other ways failed for me. In 20 years experimenting, it is the only way it worked. But worked well.

Hi there. I know this is an older post but I am wondering how old the spring adults were when you released them? I am also in Colorado and am looking to release some birds. I’ve spent the last two years growing additional grass and weed habitat that is an average of 3ft tall as well as gain food plots next to a wet slough that has mater moving through it all year. It’s around 25 AC and there is quite a bit of adjacent cover as well. I want to build an outdoor habitat that helps them get accustomed to the environment without much human interaction prior to release so that the transition is not a huge change. Teach them to run away from us/my dog into cover but keep predators out until they are old enough. I have seen 3-5 pheasants down by the slough in the winter months. Also, how many would you release at a time? Thanks in advance

 

[FCSpringer]

Hi there. I know this is an older post but I am wondering how old the spring adults were when you released them? I am also in Colorado and am looking to release some birds. I’ve spent the last two years growing additional grass and weed habitat that is an average of 3ft tall as well as gain food plots next to a wet slough that has mater moving through it all year. It’s around 25 AC and there is quite a bit of adjacent cover as well. I want to build an outdoor habitat that helps them get accustomed to the environment without much human interaction prior to release so that the transition is not a huge change. Teach them to run away from us/my dog into cover but keep predators out until they are old enough. I have seen 3-5 pheasants down by the slough in the winter months. Also, how many would you release at a time? Thanks in advance

Almost a year old.

 

[QuailBob]

We have been releasing birds the last two years and have relatively good success. One hen released last year hatched a nest this spring so that was exciting. The birds we released this year were young, just starting to show color and they seem to be doing well, went quail hunting last week and ran into 10 or so, they all looked great, flew well and seemed to be doing good overall! Not like a pheasant farm bird at all…. Pretty self sufficient. We just got back from a 10 day hunt in ND so my dogs are pretty honed in on pheasants at the moment, they weren’t giving these released birds any slack. I was pleasantly surprised at the pheasants behavior. I think 5-6 of 20 survived and stayed on or close to my place through the year and we released another 80 this August. I planted winter wheat in one field hoping to give them some undisturbed nesting habitat next spring? We will see what happens. Also planted a couple of designated habitat areas with Triticale that I plan to leave and not harvest. These birds are from Macfarlane! Good luck