A bunch of my Chukar escaped today. Don't have enough to keep some for breeders. I can't seem to loc

[QueenMisha]

My mom decided to go into my Chukar pen today, and wasn't minding the door. 6 of my 20 chukar escaped, and at this point if I keep the 6 breeders I was planning to, there won't even be enough left for a single night's meal once everything is said and done. I was also having quite a bit of trouble sexing them. So I've decided to just eat all of these ones, and purchase some sexed adults instead. But I can't seem to find them anywhere! None for sale. A few gamebird hatcheries have what they call "flight birds", but they seem to be straight run. Any tips? This is my first year with any kind of gamebird. I'm located in northern CA.

 

[Aspen Forest]

Sorry to hear about the birds.
I have the worst fear of my pheasants getting out of their pen that I have 2 locks on the out side, a eye latch lock on the inside (for when I'm in there), and a spring to shut the door. Have you tried to re-catch them? I don't know much about where to get chucker but maybe you can look around on here for breading pairs?

 

[QueenMisha]

Sorry to hear about the birds.
I have the worst fear of my pheasants getting out of their pen that I have 2 locks on the out side, a eye latch lock on the inside (for when I'm in there), and a spring to shut the door. Have you tried to re-catch them? I don't know much about where to get chucker but maybe you can look around on here for breading pairs?

I've tried. 7 actually escaped, 1 was recaptured, but they don't stick around. The 20 I had up until today are what was left from an original 35 bird order, many of which escaped due to a hole in the pen I missed when creating it. They're not a particularly easy bird to keep, but I like their meat qualities and they're fun to look at, so I hope to continue breeding them. I just have to find a few sexed birds - yet I can't seem to locate any on Craigslist or BYC.

 

[Aspen Forest]

Maybe you could get a quote from MacFarlans?https://www.pheasant.com/ they have it looks like 2 types. I've never ordered rom them.

 

[QueenMisha]

Maybe you could get a quote from MacFarlans?https://www.pheasant.com/ they have it looks like 2 types. I've never ordered rom them.

Thanks so much! They have male and female options for adults in addition to their straight run, first place I've seen so far to do so.

 

[Tony K T]

Try leaving a single bird in a cage and see if he/she will call the others back in.The male has a bigger spur then the female,but they need to be at least 3 months old before you can tell for sure.
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[kyzerc]

I bought 30 chicks from murry macmurry hatchly last year,they grew quick.

The males have spurs and are larger than the females,..