Ringneck Pheasant Question

[peepsnbunnies]

Jody and Pine Grove and anyone else with pheasants, can you answer a question for me?

Back in Aug I was given some Ringneck Pheasants from a friend. There were 4 of them. Well, I lost one of them when they were 8 weeks old. I have three left. I believe that all of them are BOYS!

My question for all of you pheasant folks is...... is there a possibility that since I do not have any girls to tempt these boys, that I may be able to keep them together (kind of a bachelor club) as they get older? I really hope I can keep them together, they are so tame. 2 of them jump up and sit on my knee to eat mealworms out of my fingers. The 3rd one is a little bit more wary and won't sit on me, but will come eat out of my hand. All three of them come to meet me when I walk in their coop.

Their color colors are changing every day it seems and they get even more beautiful all the time. I took a few pics today, just head shots to show the red they are getting on their faces, I will try to take more soon and post them.

I can't wait till they get all their adult feathers, they will be stunning!!

Lisa

 

[4-H chicken mom]

Well, I'm not sure about pheasants, but tom turkeys cannot be raised together. Boy when they get older they get mean to one another. I would think that pheasants wouldn't be any different than other male birds. I can't even put my chicken roosters together and there are plenty of females. Hopefully someone that raises these will have an answer for you. You just might have to wait an see if they will get along.

 

[hinkjc]

Yes, you can definitely try to raise a group of males together. For the most part, I would say it would work because they have no females to fight over. The only arguing would be over dominance and that should be set from growing up together. As long as you have the right space for them, they should do just fine. I say should, because there are always exceptions, so keep an eye out for problems just in case someone don't play by the rules. If you find an aggressive boy in your group, you can always put one of those pop-on peepers on him. It just sits in the nose holes and doesn't require any pins. They are humane and work well. We keep multiple cockbirds in our breeding pens with success.

btw..toms and roosters can also be raised as bachelors - as long as no females are around. If they can see females, fighting will start (even if they don't have access to them). But without the girls, they can do fine as well. Tom turkeys are known for their bachelor group during fall/winter in the wild here. They then go on the search for hens in spring and the dominant tom gets to breed most. Occasionally a less dominant jake will breed a hen off in the distance while the tom is busy.

Jody

 

[peepsnbunnies]

Thanks Jody,
I am so pleased they can be kept together. I really like these guys. The coop my DH and I built is 9ft X 16ft X 8ft tall. It is pretty cool. We purchased a portable carport to use as the super structure and closed in one end with tin and put a loft in there. We netted it with pvc netting, and built a door at the opposite end. We put some heavy duty removeable wheels on it so we can move it around the yard. We have been moving it approx every 2 weeks so they have fresh grass and our yard stays green. It has worked out really good so far. This is a pic of it when we first finished it. Since then I have added a few thing like a BIG oak tree branch and some plants in pots for hiding. I have also purchased some peepers, but have not put them on. I haven't seen anyone picking on each other since they are in the new coop. I have seen sparring a few times but it looked friendly not aggressive. But I will be watching closely.