4-H Pheasants HELP!!

[akrogers2015]

We seem to have a problem. Our baby Pheasant Chicks are dying left and right. We have only had them since Wednesday afternoon. we had the shipped to us in Alasaka and 4 chicks have died out of 20. At this rate we wont have any for fair. :-( they are on wild game starter and electrolytes wood chips and a heat lamp. I have them inside a 50 gal tote. they look fine when I go to bed and then I wake up and one is died. I don't let the boys handle them yet. fear they might have to much stress. what can we do to help them survive.

 

[fried green eggs]

Hi &

! How warm or cold is your brooder! Are they crowding together under the heat lamp or spread out and panting? What kind of Wood Chips - some are toxic.

 

[BobDBirdDog]

FOG covered most of it but I bet it is trampling because they are cold, as FOG stated above. To cold they group tightly together, to hot they over heat and move away from the heat source like FOG said. Still, one may be pecking or attacking the others but if you have a red heat lamp that may not be the issue.

if your water is in a tray they could be drowning, just fill the tray with marbles, so they cant submerge their beaks up to their nostrils when they drink. They will still be able to drink between the marbles by dipping and tipping which is what they should do in the first place. If the shavings are damp, they could be getting cold or sick from that as well. They need to be dry and warm not hot and humid. They also need freash air with no drafts, their downy fluf will not keep them warm, thus the heat lamp.

Most times you can expect a certain % of them to die as chicks, thats way you always order more than you want and end up with more than you need. LOL

Sorry about the deaths though.

 

[Tony K T]

When you say they are on electrolytes,how often?They only need it once a week.I would also do away with the wood chips and use pine shavings.It could be the drastic change in temps that are killing them.In my opinion no chicks should be shipped until after April.They can add heat packs to the shipment but the airlines cargo space is ice cold.
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[deserthotwings]

We can't help you much until we get more info. Do away with the wood chips and us paper shop towels (the blue ones are best). Keep your temp at a stedy 95-99F. I don't know what type of water your using but if you use tap water with chemicals in it "don't". Better to use well water or bottled water. If you have healthy chicks and give them the right care, you shouldn't lose any.

 

[Tony K T]

Guess they really didn't want the help!
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[Pheasantguy2010]

That is good advice. Another thing for people that are doing 4-H, if you need 25 chicks for fair get at least 40. You need to account for deaths. There will always be deaths especially if its your first time raising pheasants.

 

[WaterfowlWierdo]

Also If your fair for 4-h is anything like ours, pheasants wont do so hot. They will be freaking out the whole time and slamming their head on top of the cage. They do not enjoy being around people, especially ringnecks. My fair wont even allow quail or pheasants because of this. Our barn leader raises game birds and knows better than to stress a bird that much. Also, Being around that many chickens can be dangerous for a pheasant too.