Ron Faulkner
New member
I'm a newbie to the pheasant world. I'm thinking of raising the beauties for fun and profit. Anybody have any thoughts or resources?
Thanks.
Thanks.
Hello all!
- Thread starter Ron Faulkner
- Start date
quail hound
Moderator
Welcome Ron. Pheasants are a pain in the @ss to raise, that being said I raise 10-30 birds a year from egg to adult just for fun and to hear them crow. I have not yet figured out how to turn a profit on my birds so if you figure out let me know.
I'm sure raising them in volume and buying feed in bulk will help you turn a profit but in small volume (less than 150) I don't see it working. If you would just like to have a few to hear crow and train the dogs its well worth it though. Caution raising birds is addictive and expensive so be careful.
This year I raised 25 wild Rio turkeys from day old. 10 I raised for 2 months for a rancher who lets me quail hunt. Invested 25 dollars per bird, but get to hunt 1800 prime acres. The rest I had for another 2 months or so, another 15 dollars per bird. Gave 3 away to friends, slaughtered 2, and sold the rest for 20$ each. I lost over 500$ on those damn turkel birds, not to mention my time invested.
Hope I didn't discourage you, it really is fun (to me at least) raising them.
I'm sure raising them in volume and buying feed in bulk will help you turn a profit but in small volume (less than 150) I don't see it working. If you would just like to have a few to hear crow and train the dogs its well worth it though. Caution raising birds is addictive and expensive so be careful.This year I raised 25 wild Rio turkeys from day old. 10 I raised for 2 months for a rancher who lets me quail hunt. Invested 25 dollars per bird, but get to hunt 1800 prime acres. The rest I had for another 2 months or so, another 15 dollars per bird. Gave 3 away to friends, slaughtered 2, and sold the rest for 20$ each. I lost over 500$ on those damn turkel birds, not to mention my time invested.
Hope I didn't discourage you, it really is fun (to me at least) raising them.
Ron Faulkner
New member
Thanks for the info, Quail Hound. And thanks for the reality check. Discouragement is sometimes another word for reality. But that doesn't mean I've given up.
quail hound
Moderator
Ok now a few tips. I use ply wood for the bottom portion of my pen walls. I sink the ply wood about 18'' into the ground to deter digging predators. Chicken wire will work sunk this deep but offers no wind break ant the dogs will raise hell with them. Build a brooding house near your pens to keep the chicks out of the garage.Grow some cover/ food in the pens for the birds, corn or sunflower holds up well and will teach the to forage. Make your pens tall an long to get those birds flying good. A Long narrow rectangle is better than a square. Put in a water faucet in each pen on automatic waterers to save yourself some work. I raise my birds without blinders but you can put more birds in each pen if you use blinders. Try raising some exotic breeds, reeves, golds, lady amherst etc, you may be able to sell these for a profit. Good luck and have fun. I'll give you some more tips if I think of them.
quail hound
Moderator
thanks Qh, I knew you would be the one to answer.
I do what I can.:cheers:
FCSpringer
Moderator
QH has some good points. And yes they can be feast or famine. I did it for 9 years straight, releasing adult flight conditioned birds, educated by Spaniels. The dogs harassing them made them jumpy at release time. I got it down pretty good. You want to get an incubator that does the turning on it's own so you don't have to go in all the time changing the atmosphere. I have a GQF Sportsman. It holds about 400 eggs. with 4 roosters and about 30 hens you can get about 1,000 chicks give or take a few. I have an average of %80 success rate, when things go good. An incubator with a humidistat would be the best. I plan on an add on for mine when I do it again. Good success is weighed heavy on the proper humidity and temp. once it is set it works great. Then keeping the chicks at 100 degrees is tricky. Thermostat controlled heat lamps would be the way to go. with one regular light that stays on all the time. If you want to profit from it you will need to do all these little steps to keep live rate high. And get food in bulk as said. You will have to sell birds at $6 or higher, and the longer you have them the more they cost. You will be better to give a fair attractive price right off and sell all right away as good strong fully feathered fliers. Say 14-16 weeks old. There is ways the big growers start them laying earlier on lights, this helps them get a jump and older birds sooner in the year. In order to make good you will have to have things go well and raise a few thousand birds. I have not went that big and just buy the feed at the elevator or fleet farm by the bag, that costs too much. You can use some grain screenings free from someone if you clean it up at an elevator, or cracked ground spillage in the roller mill. This can be fed to adults later and will save there. But chicks need good stuff. Cocksidosis can set in and wipe you out, so you want to know how to medicate for that if you see it start in on the flock. They are the dumbest creature on earth to raise, very good at killing themselves. After I tweak what I have doing what I said above I will do it again, but not until then. I have had up to 90% hatch just to have 250 die 4 days later because they get too hot while your at work. You need river rock in the water so they don't fall asleep and drown in it, and fresh greens and sod, along with several things to let them peck at, or they kill each other. When they first go out, you need to chase them in and out for awhile, and in at night so they don't pile and die. You need to mist them to generate oil. If a storm comes you want them back in. All until they have full plumage and have been wet a few times. At about 8 weeks they can be left alone with out side shelter. You want plenty of room and use blinders. The bigger the pen the better, or they will cannibalize. This is just a beginning. But no matter what anyone says, a propper release program works very well. I can show you dozens of places that had nothing much, and after a few years there self sustained and flurishing, and lots of em. It flat out works. Good cover, a few to start with. A good # released after season closes, food for the winter and preditor control. Along with the land owner not letting people go murder the first couple years. Always have 1 strong area they like you never go. That, if they fly over there spot, its there safe spot.
The dogs harassing them made them jumpy at release time. I got it down pretty good. You want to get an incubator that does the turning on it's own so you don't have to go in all the time changing the atmosphere. I have a GQF Sportsman. It holds about 400 eggs. with 4 roosters and about 30 hens you can get about 1,000 chicks give or take a few. I have an average of %80 success rate, when things go good. An incubator with a humidistat would be the best. I plan on an add on for mine when I do it again. Good success is weighed heavy on the proper humidity and temp. once it is set it works great. Then keeping the chicks at 100 degrees is tricky. Thermostat controlled heat lamps would be the way to go. with one regular light that stays on all the time. If you want to profit from it you will need to do all these little steps to keep live rate high. And get food in bulk as said. You will have to sell birds at $6 or higher, and the longer you have them the more they cost. You will be better to give a fair attractive price right off and sell all right away as good strong fully feathered fliers. Say 14-16 weeks old. There is ways the big growers start them laying earlier on lights, this helps them get a jump and older birds sooner in the year. In order to make good you will have to have things go well and raise a few thousand birds. I have not went that big and just buy the feed at the elevator or fleet farm by the bag, that costs too much. You can use some grain screenings free from someone if you clean it up at an elevator, or cracked ground spillage in the roller mill. This can be fed to adults later and will save there. But chicks need good stuff. Cocksidosis can set in and wipe you out, so you want to know how to medicate for that if you see it start in on the flock. They are the dumbest creature on earth to raise, very good at killing themselves. After I tweak what I have doing what I said above I will do it again, but not until then. I have had up to 90% hatch just to have 250 die 4 days later because they get too hot while your at work. You need river rock in the water so they don't fall asleep and drown in it, and fresh greens and sod, along with several things to let them peck at, or they kill each other. When they first go out, you need to chase them in and out for awhile, and in at night so they don't pile and die. You need to mist them to generate oil. If a storm comes you want them back in. All until they have full plumage and have been wet a few times. At about 8 weeks they can be left alone with out side shelter. You want plenty of room and use blinders. The bigger the pen the better, or they will cannibalize. This is just a beginning. But no matter what anyone says, a propper release program works very well. I can show you dozens of places that had nothing much, and after a few years there self sustained and flurishing, and lots of em. It flat out works. Good cover, a few to start with. A good # released after season closes, food for the winter and preditor control. Along with the land owner not letting people go murder the first couple years. Always have 1 strong area they like you never go. That, if they fly over there spot, its there safe spot.
Last edited:
quail hound
Moderator
That is a great idea Fcs, I never thought of letting the dogs "educate" the birds a little. I may add a section on to my pens to let the dogs flush them a little. I'm going to give up on my incubators and brooders this year and let my game chickens do the hard work for me. That's how state game and fish departments raised the original pheasant stock for release and it seemed to work quite well. And yes releasing pen raised birds does work, about 50% of my releases have survived for over a year, but I've only released 10 hens and 1 rooster. The rooster didn't make it.
And yes releasing pen raised birds does work, about 50% of my releases have survived for over a year, but I've only released 10 hens and 1 rooster. The rooster didn't make it.
mnmthunting
Banned
I raise pheasants from the egg on to. Just for the fun of it. I like to keep about 8 hens and a rooster over Winter for seed. I release some when their full grown, usually early Fall.
Like FCS and QH say, pen raised birds will do well in the wild. You got to have good cover, food and tough predator control.
I think raising pheasants is worth the effort, go for it.
Like FCS and QH say, pen raised birds will do well in the wild. You got to have good cover, food and tough predator control.
I think raising pheasants is worth the effort, go for it.
Ron Faulkner
New member
Grrreat info, people! Thanks much. Despite the work and the tedium, this is sounding more and more like something I'm gonna give a shot. I'll keep you posted.