Pheasants I raised

Preston1 said:
Your birds have been on the loose since Oct. 2011 and many of them are still alive, they look healthy and wild to me. By now all of the weak and dumb pen-raised pheasants have been eaten up by predators.

Pheasants are genetically programmed to try to reproduce, if still alive even pen-raised roosters will automatically have a natural urge to crow, mate and fight in the spring time. And the healthy pen raised hens if still alive in the wild and fertilized will naturally look for safe undisturbed place to make a nest and lay eggs and brood them.

The only reason your pen-raised pheasants don't reproduce in the wild is if a predator eats the hens before the nesting season or while on the the nest the hen and the eggs are eaten by predators.

I have raised pheasants from chicks to release time (released birds in fall and some in spring) and yes after high mortality have been some of the hens show up with chicks.

When the Manchurian-cross (Ringneck) pheasant chicks first became available I ordered 100 chicks in June and released most of them in October. But I keep a rooster and 3 hens all winter as brood stock. I made the small 25 ft. by 15 ft. pen look natural with tree branches and leaf and grass clippings. That following summer one hen in that pen made a nest in the corner and hatched 12 chicks.

If you set up some type of predator control system, I am sure that you will see chicks.
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Preston, Thanks, this is a good accurate post.:thumbsup:
 
Just a little update. There are still birds around and some of them still have the blinders on. At one time there was about 5 hens hanging out with a rooster but the rooster has not been seen for a few weeks. Maybe he spent enough time with those hens and went looking for more. It will be interesting to see how things go this summer and if any broods are spotted.
 
Well if they made it through all the rain, your escapees should contribute to the local wild population quite a bit. That's how we got pheasants to start with since they are a non-native bird. It may have been a bad day when they all bailed out, but the long term affects may be something great. Even if it wasn't intentional.
 
smittyslabs said:
Well if they made it through all the rain, your escapees should contribute to the local wild population quite a bit. That's how we got pheasants to start with since they are a non-native bird. It may have been a bad day when they all bailed out, but the long term affects may be something great. Even if it wasn't intentional.
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Unfortunately, we don't have a wild population in the area. I don't know if any of them nested successfully but it would be nice. It's still nice to see them every once and a while.
 
It sure is nice to see them. We have a rooster that hangs out in the yard. Only bad thing is, he like to crow next to the bed room window and then makes his way to the barn where our dogs are and harass them too! I don't think he knows what we have in store for him this fall!
 
smittyslabs said:
It sure is nice to see them. We have a rooster that hangs out in the yard. Only bad thing is, he like to crow next to the bed room window and then makes his way to the barn where our dogs are and harass them too! I don't think he knows what we have in store for him this fall!
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B A N G! I'll bet you're going to invite him to dinner...
 
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