New Year for Hatching

[Cobblestone]

I'm about ready to get the incubator cranked up and order some eggs. I have an old Barrel shaped Humidaire Incubator. Last year I hatched out 600 northern bobwhites and 200 chukars. Not sure which way to go this year. hopefully over spring break I can get a third pen started and maybe do some phez as well. I'm hoping to get the Ag. teacher here to build a flight pen at school.

Anyone have suggestions on which birds and how many I should go with?

 

[oldandnew]

Just that don't under-estimate the fighting nature of pheasants. They start early and often and require a lot of space, or debeaking, rose-colored glasses etc. Turkeys are even worse! Quail and chuckars are oh so much more social!

 

[mnmthunting]

Pheasants need plenty of room and places to hide within the pen. Overcrowding is the worst thing. My pen is about 24 X 48 and 2 small ones about 8 X 12. I will have about 50 chicks started in a small pen to about 6 weeks the will let them go to the big pen. Hens get separated as roosters show color. Later 1 rooster to 8 hens in the small pens and and about 2 roosters to 16 hens in the big pen. I will select the best of the roosters for breeding. I feed a variety of food like corn, oats, wheat, sunflowers, millet a high protein supplement and in the laying season a commercial laying mash. I feed meat scraps like deer carcasses waste meat etc, seems to satisfy pheasants meat eating desire.