Bad pics of my 'baby' pheasants and a few questions

[shelleyd2008]

I'm not the best photographer and they aren't the best subjects, but at least I don't have any blurry pics

First up is my 'blue', hatched from eggs I got on the egg chain from gamebirdsonly. Ignore the chickens

Next up is my golden baby, the one and only.

Then I have the others. Counting the blue and another, smaller, melanistic, I have 14 ringnecks total: 1 blue, 5 melanistic, and 8 regular ringnecks. I can't believe how big they are already!

What's up with the curly feathers? Are they picking or is it a protein problem? I feed them gamebird starter (supposed to be 28%) when I have it but do give them chick starter (20%) if I run out.

I also noticed that some seem to have tails and some don't? Or at least some have really long tails and others don't. Could that be an indicator of sex?

How long can I keep them all together without the males trying to kill each other? If I use peepers/blinders can I keep the males together all the time?

 

[JJMR794]

Blue Rn- Cant Tell From This Pic...

Golden Baby--- Cant Tell From Either Pic, But Its Old Enough You Should Be Able To Tell From Eye Color And Tail Patern

 

[JJMR794]

Ringnecks In Order Of Appearance (**** As Best I Can Guess From What I See****)

1. ?
2. Probable Hen
3.?
4.?
5. ?
6. ?
7. ?
8. Most Likely Hen
9. Probable Roo
10. Roo 11. Hen

 

[JJMR794]

How long can I keep them all together without the males trying to kill each other? If I use peepers/blinders can I keep the males together all the time?

ABOUT ANYTIME NOW IT SHOULD START...

IN MOST CASES EVEN WITH PEEPERS MORE THAN 1 MALE IS MUCH BAD JUJU AND WILL COST 1 OR BOTH MALES DUE TO FIGHTING!! PEPPERS WILL NOT STOP DOMINANCE FIGHTING... ONLY MINOR PECKING​

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
There is a clear shot of the tail...it doesn't seem to have ANY pattern right now

But I can see spur bumps on the golden chick in the 'on the roost' pic.

What about the curly feathers? What causes that?

 

[JJMR794]

Curling Can Be Common At This Age... They Usually Molt Out Of It

 

[JJMR794]

GOLDEN... MANY TIMES AT THIS AGE THE MALE'S TAILS WILL NOT HAVE A CLEAR BARRING PATERN (SUCH AS YOUR LAD IN THE PICS) USUALLY HENS WILL HAVE A CLEARER DISTINCT WIDE BARRING PATERN ON TAIL PRIMARIES .... MALES END UP WITH A BARRING THAT IS MUCH SMALLER... ALMOST LOOKS LEOPARD LIKE IN PATERN. LOOK CLOSELY AT HIS LIL EYEBALLS IN THE SUNLIGHT... BY THIS AGE YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SEE COLOR CHANGES IN THE IRIS... MAY NOT BE BE PROFOUND, BUT CERTAINLY NOTICEABLE IN DIRECT SUNLIGHT... HENS START AND STAY UPS BROWN, ROOS GET A BLUEISH/ GREENISH TINT TO THEM EARLY AND CONTINUE TO MORPH INTO AN ALMOST GLOW IN THE DARK YELLOW IRIS BY ABOUT 1 YR OF AGE... SHORTLY THEREAFTER THE COLOR CHANGE STARTS TO HAPPEN THRUOGHOUT THE NEXT YEAR OR SO UNTIL HE FINISHES AT ABOUT 2 YRS OF AGE

SORRY THESE PICS KINDA SUCK, BUT HERE'S SOME CINNAMON HENS.... NOTICE THE DARK BROWN EYES AND WIDE BARRING ON THE TAILS

A YOUNG MALE... BRIGHT YELLOW IRIS AND YOU CAN SEE THE SPOTTY, LEOPARD-LIKE PATTERN ON HIS TAIL (SORRY THESE WERE TAKEN IN THE BARN AT NIGHT... I NEVER CLAIMED TO BE A WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER

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