pheasants insane?

[JJMR794]

Quote:
YOU MEAN RELEASING PHEASANTS--- ITS USUALLY A 1 WAY TRIP! AND IN MOST STATES ILLEGAL.

 

[JJMR794]

Quote:
I DID IT AUBREY..... AND LOST EVERYTHING, DISEASE X WAS CORYZA OR MYCOPLASMA AND IT COST ME 59 ORIMENTAL PHEASANT CHICKS ALL BECAUSE OF A YOUNG SERAMA HEN THAT WAS USING FOR A BROODER NANNY ENDED UP BEING A TYPHOID MARY AND INFECTED THEM. THE DISEASE SPREAD THROUGH THE LOT LIKE WILDFIRE! FROM THE 1ST SIGN OF ILLNESS IN THE 1 ST VICTIM TO THE LAST SHOWING ILLNESS WAS NO MORE THAN 24-30 HRS TOTAL!

I TELL EVERYONE THAT ASKS OR TALKS ABOUT MIXING BIRDS---- " THIS IS A REALLY BAD IDEA! AND HERE'S WHY..." OFTEN TIMES THRU WATCHING THE FORUM I WILL SEE CASES OF THIS VERY SAME THING AND ADVISE THE OWNER TO TREAT(TREATMENT OF GAMEBIRDS IS DIFFICULT, EXPENSIVE, TIME CONSUMING, AND EVEN IF YOU CURE THEM--- THEY'RE NOW A CARRIER OF THE DISEASE FOR LIFE AND CANNOT GO INTO GENERAL POPULATION WITH OTHER GAMEBIRDS EVER AGAIN...) AND TAKE STEPS--- PHEASANTS ARENT THE ONLY 1'S---- QUAIL GET IT TOO! LOOK AT IT THIS WAY.... GO TO ANY MAJOR ZOO, CINCINNATI, SAN DIEGO, CHICAGO, ETC... DO YOU SEE THEM KEEPING THE LIONS AND THE MONKEYS TOGATHER? ELEPHANTS AND POLAR BEARS? HIPPOS AND TIGERS? NO.... EACH DIFFERENT SPECES HAS VARIOUS ILLNESSES THAT THEY HAVE NATURAL IMMUNITY TO AND OTHERS THAT THEY DO NOT. AS WELL AS EACH NEEDS DIFFERING CARE---- DIFFERENT DIETARY INTAKE REQUIREMENTS, BEHAVIORS, EVEN HOUSING NEEDS.

THE FUNNIEST PART--- I ALWAYS END UP TAKING HEAT FROM SOMEONE ELSE ON HERE EVERYTIME I POST ON THIS SUBJECT. BUT HEY, THEY'RE YOUR ELEPHANTS AND POLAR BEARS, SO DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU. JUST TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THE CONSEQUENCES OF WHAT YOU DO.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

That's exaxtly how I feel. Seems to be the same every time you make these kinds of post dont it..."Well I did it, or my buddy does it and he's never had a problem, go for it..." Makes us sound like we are just trying to make things difficult and cost folks money in extra pens, When the fact of the matter is, we are only trying to help, both the owner, and the birds from problems that lots of us have had in past experiences. I find a lot of the time, the ones who say they have never had problems with mixed flocks, are on like their first year of even keeping birds.... Give it time if that's the case...
Thanks a lot of that post!
Aubrey

 

[deerman]

Well you two are right on, I also try and tell people the trouble with mixing birds!!!!!!!!

All of us that have been raising birds for many years have found this out the hard way.

Yep someone will tell you I do it with no trouble, to me its just a matter of time.

Heck I even try it a few years ago, bought some turkey and peafowl that had been raised together, kelp them together and the tom kill the Peacock when spring came.......can you say RELEARN. Check pic see what i lost that nice silver pied peacock.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

I know ya pain there Deerman. I had a gorgeous Merriam Tom, bought some Silver pheasants on an impulse but didnt have a pens ready (another thing I knew better than to do!) Anyway, tossed them in with the merriam trio. All was fine for a few weeks, then, one day........ Yep the blame silver cock had all but cut the head clean off the merriam tom, who, as we know, is like 4 or 5 times larger.. Would have never thought that would have been the way it would have gone, all the tom would have had to of done was stomp him one good time. But a $15 pheasant cost me a irreplaceable turkey!

 

[95yj]

oh my god, what have i created, i'm sorry i'v offended seemingly everyone on the forum, but quite honestly i think you can mix birds, just BE CAREFUL. don't bring a bird home and throw it into the pen with all the others, even if its the same breed, quarentine, and if you have any doubt quarentine longer and keep them seperate from the other birds. if you have a flock that has alot of birds coming in and out [shows, buying and selling etc.] then keep species seperate but if you just keep the same birds with minimal movement and your careful, why not? i'v been keeping my bantams, doves, pigeons and pheasants all mixed up for years without incident. i'm considering keeping them all in their seperate pens now after all i'v read, but one of my plans for wintering was to put the pheasants in the chicken coop and i'm still gonna do that. i'v been keeping my birds like this for years and i might be wrong in my ways but quite honestly don't think so.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Well, since we're being honest.
I have done it too, with disastrous results, so the idea of telling people it's o kay, is wrong, say it's risky, at the very minimum.
No amount of quarantining will fix a birds that is a "carrier" of a disease, you'll never know it had it. Chickens are bad about this, especially with blackhead disease and such as that... The chicken will never show any signs, you'll think you are in the clear, put it with gamebirds, and for ya know it, you have a pen full of dead gamebirds. So the "be careful" idea doesnt work there, as it would be a case of where you had no idea. Also, like my silver pheasant story above. They got along just fine, til that one day where the pheasant killed the merriam while I was at work....Cant bring him back, that was my fault for mixing. I ws careful, watched them very closely for several hours the first day, all was good, but it only take a minute for one to go nuts on ya.....

Again, OUR experiences are why we warn folks against doing it. Doesnt mean it's going to happen to everyone every time. But to say, they'll all be fine is misguided, as you or me neither one can tell what these animals are going to do for sure . But, it must be said and understood that these possibilities exist and are not that uncommon. Please understand, I am not getting on to anyone here, just want to be sure everyone understands WHY we tell folks this. A lot of the "new" people, dont know what you can and cant do, so we give our opinions in an effort to point them in the right directions for the most enjoyment and better health and happiness our of this new birds. But In the end, people are going to do what they want anyway, right?

 

[deerman]

First not jumping on anyone for their views.

Know from my mistake, and try to share those to help other learn.

Sure there are thousands of turkey and peafowl have died from blackhead, which is carried by chicken with NO harm to the chicken.

I read it all the time , I also tell people not all chicken are carriers but it only take one.

Have read many post where people raise them together without trouble, then those same people wonder why they lose chicks and poults.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Quote:
You haven't offended everyone, we raise ours together from chicks to adults and haven't had any problems. According to the "experts" we do everything wrong but have healthy , stong flocks so it can be done. Chickens, turkeys, peafowl, ducks, geese, guineas all together. We do brood ducklings & goslings seperate but that is only because they are so wet. There are ALOT of people that raise them together, yes they can pass disease but so can the wild birds roosting above your pens. So to be totaly safe I guess you could raise your birds in a sterile bubble. With the exception of our pheasants and quail all the rest are in large outdoor pens and mingle freely, the peafowl come and go, one thing I have noticed is the people that have the most problems are the ones that keep them in totaly closed pens and my thoughts on the reason why are the birds are in the same area year after year. Of course the parasites will increase so they must worm more often, then the wormer isn't effective so they have to switch to something else and on and on.

We held off for over a year on getting pheasants due to all the horror stories we heard about them, and we found many of those stories to be not true. We are very glad we didn't listen to all the "experts" and gave them a try.

Steve in NC