Golden Pheasants???

Golden Pheasants are indeed one of the most colorful of all birds and are joy to keep and raise, but should be done in a covered aviary.  The chances of the them remaining with the flock of chickens free-range is rather slim and I would advise against housing them with chickens.

More on Golden Pheasants - http://www.gbwf.org/pheasants/golden.html

Dan

They don't really have a roosting instinct like chickens so they probably would come back every night and they would eventually take off. A cool thing to try would be letting a broody hen hatch some eggs. They might stick around the flock since they will think they are chickens.

best to have them in a pen. They may stick around until fall, and then they will want to find a mate. I have two boys with some ringneck girls and they are neat birds. They aren't as flighty as the ringneck and make nice cooing noises.

I used to own a pair of golden pheasants last year. Amazingly beautiful birds to watch, when they werent hiding. They are very shy birds, atleast mine were. I had them in a 9'x18' covered aviary with lots of shrubbery and covering. A racoon finally found its way into the aviary one night and killed the male. The female was out of the aviary and when i tried to catch it, it ran off and was never seen again.

Goldens can be free ranged. I've done it,  they kind of walk over a larger area than the chickens do, and easily jump fences(fences really are not a barrier to them, more like a high skip and they are on the other side in an instant..) but they always showed up at feeding time, some roosted in trees in my yard, never found out where others roosted..

I quit trying that though as the hawks would always hit the hens and juvenile males(before they got the color) REAL bad when they were migrating through or staying for winter.  Those same hawks did not touch chickens or the adult golden roosters, just rapid fired on the golden hens and juvenile males only. My guess they resemble their natural or familiar prey from other areas they hunt in.

They also were very tame, which was a good thing as many (chicken)hens or roosters liked to give them a real hard time at feeding time so I was forced to feed them on top of things and stand guard so they could at least get some feed.

Was quite awesome to see the golden roosters show behavior I don't ever get to see them do in a pen(and my pens for the breeders were 10' x 60'..) such as the males bowing their head to the ground, beak mere millimeters from the ground then raising their body and tail almost straight up and running directly at a hen  20 feet or more from him. That looks so odd. Also all of them act much like monkeys when in trees- running around and scrambling easily even on the thin branches.   I miss them.

Anyways, my vote is "probably not" due to hawks, even if they never bother your chickens. And then you probably will need to make some kind of accommodation so the goldens would have access to feed if the hens like to chase them off at feeding time.

Kept in covered pens, they are extremely easy to care for.. especially if not made to live with other species in the same enclosure.

By the way, on second reading, you asked about friendliness..  yes they can become extremely friendly.  Both the parent raiseds and brooder raised birds easily became tame enough to take feed from hands,  if you are patient or calm,  it is easy to get them used to you enough to jump up on your lap or arm with a treat or food in your hands- several of the hens "taught" themselves to fly onto my shoulder or arms for food or treats. The adult males usually are too busy posturing at anything close by so the most they did usually was take a few bites and then go back to contorting their bodies at something..

Kev, thanks for the info...I have a pair in a breeding pen, but I don't know much about them.  Could you tell me what kind of treats they like?  Mine are friendly, but don't seem interested in bread...

Wish there was more info on small scale ornamental pheasant raising.  Thanks for sharing!

Mine really liked grapes, grape leaves(I used to grow grapes too), cat food,  trying to remember what else..  Other owners have said their birds loved peanuts but never tried that with mine..  Mealworms probably would be a big winner..  Try various fruits, especially the melon kinds..

Be sure to have hiding spots and extra perches for the hens so they can get away in case the males become very annoying.. especially if there's only one hen.  Some species are famous for killing hens(not goldens) so that tip is especially important. The golden males are so full of constant energy,  mine even courted and jumped around the chickens practically 24/7. Forget nuclear energy, try harnessing golden energy- prettier and more enviromentally friendly! lol

I'll try the grapes, I grow a few and will buy some, thanks!  I will have to give them a roost outside, my male dances for the female 24/7! She even jumped pens and is now next door with my d'uccles!  What kind of cover would you recommend?  Their ground is packed and I can't get anything to grow but a little grass.   Appreciate the help!

We have some Red Golden, Yellow Golden, Dark Throated Golden, Peach Golden and Splash Golden hatching eggs listed on ebay for sale.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=140211822568&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=004

Randy   www.spectrumranch.net