First time caring for ringneck pheasants

[Crele]

Hello, Pheasant breeders

So, this Wednesday will mark history for my ringneck pheasant pair. My male and female ringneck pheasants will be parents finally! Their both 2 years of age.

So, I've been researching multiple websites that contradict each other. So before Wednesday hits, I need to know how to sufficiently care for the chicks. At this very moment the chicks are still developing in their eggs under a broody hen.

For the brooding santurary which is set perfectly; equipped with a small waterer that has rocks to prevent the chicks from drowning and a red infrared light bulb 18in from the floor, which produces plentiful of warmth.The floor is covered in a blue bathroom towel (cotton terry cloth) after a week they'll be walking on pine shavings 1in deep.
I am going to start feeding them 28% turkey starter there will be little streaks of crumbs put on the towel so they can scratch and get distracted from going cannibalistic accompany with a lettuce leaf and whatnot. For the first week.
The Brooding sanctuary was an reptile terriaium but is now only used for avian. With a protective roof top to prevent flyways and to keep warmth in. The terriaium has a broad front window and a small tall window on the right, the entire frame of the brooding house is made from wood, its size is 4×4 and once they out grow of it (after a few weeks) they will go into yet a bigger brooding house and has been very useful it has brooded goslings to quail. My attentions for the pheasants is to use them as breeding stock and raise chicks.
At 6 weeks of age they will be going in a day time flight cage and somewhat later stay outside at 8wks of age.

I am very much opened to correction and suggestions please type away! First time for caring for pheasants and hope I am on the right track.

P.S ~ all the ringneck pheasant eggs I put under the broody hen is 1 doz and half so a small portion, plus the amount of pheasants that I'll get back will decrease a bit, so everything should be okay.

 

[pheasantfrenzie]

Hello,
Nice research. There are a couple of things I would change,
1- I wouldn't use the towel in there because that will keep all there droppings and they will start to pick at that and also they will eat the towel sections that they will pull up from it and may cause a blockage in there systems.
2- I wouldn't put any lettuce in there until after the first week, you want them to eat the food and not only the lettuce. After the week you can put it in and make sure you wash it ALOT because all fruit is sprayed when it is brought in from the farms.
Also when they get older watch for them pecking at each other because once it starts they won't stop.

Are you keeping the chicks under hen? If you are make sure you have small enough wire because they will escape and not be smart enough to come back. Also once they hatch if you are placing them in the brooder dip their beaks into the water a little to teach them how to drink.
Have Fun

 

[Crele]

Thank you so much!!! that helps out a lot!

So, instead of using a towel what else to use that will strengthen their hip legitimates and what not? I was thinking straw, but then I researched the pros and cons and said it might be a little slippery and make they turn splay leg, what other material would be edible and sturdy enough?

Yes, they are under a broody hen, I was thinking once they hatch either put them straight away into the brooder or let them naturally dry and catch them and artificially raise them, sound good?

Okay, I will exactly what you said, thank you so much!

 

[deserthotwings]

A lot depends on what type of broody hen you are using. I have found that silkies and seabrights make the best mothers. Still, by letting the chicks stay with the hen you run into a lot of risks that can be overcome by brooding them yourselves. Sometimes the hen will turn on them and kill them, sometimes she just refuses to care for them, and by being naturally wild birds they stay pretty nervous. What works for one person don't always work for the next. I raise a couple hundred pheasant chicks a year and what works best for me is to take them out of the incubator after about 6-8 hours and place them in a large cardboard box about 2 feet high with the blue paper shop towels on the bottom and a piece of hardware cloth over the top to support a heat light with about a15-24 watt bulb. You have to change the paper towels every other day but it gives them good footing. The new chicks drink fine on their own from a standard baby chick fountain and for the first couple of days prefer their food to be sprinkled on the towels and not in a container. They like to eat the natural way. I've used this method for years and I'm sure someone will disagree with me as always, but I seldom ever lose a chick brooding this way. Whatever means you use I wish you the best of luck with your babies.

 

[Crele]

The broody hen is a bantam forget which breed but she is super broody, I wouldnt let her keep the chicks because mainly the pheasants can fly in a few days and get lost, option two collect all them in one shot and put them in the brooder. Okay perfect so blue paper towel and hardware colth perfect that ll do just fine.
Ya, I was going to just do that feed them the natural way on the floor and after a week feed them in a self feeder, but the first day I dont think I ll feed them as they have their yolk sac still good for the first day and after introduce them to water and the feed. offering food after they hatch or a bit on the same day might give their digestive system some complications, plus since their "full" I dont think their interested in food.
Thank you, with experienced pheasant raisers advice I am pretty sure the chicks will do just fine, thank you guys so much!

 

[pheasantfrenzie]

If you wish to keep the chicks for the bantam to raise you can do that you just have to have small enough wire in the area you have them. She will raise them as her own since she hatched them. I would let her raise 6-8 of the chicks if you can you will find in the future any females will normally learn from her and sit on their own eggs in the future and they will also be alot calmer around humans and they seem to be healthier.

Deserthotwings- is right everyone has their own way of raising their birds and that is why you will find so much information available but as long as you keep the area they are going to be in very clean you shouldn't have problems that normally happens when people get baby chicks and then start to do the research after the babies start to pass.

You will do fine just sit back and watch them change so fast.

 

[Crele]

Well, I dont wish for the broody banty to raise the chicks, though...

My ringneck hen who laid all the eggs that are going to hatch; never ever went broody herself, she will be turning 3 years old in August and never went broody it is very perplexing. She is in a pen with her mate who is also 3 years old and they've known each other since 8wks of life. I only have those two and thats it, no other pheasants, yet.
Her nesting box is covered in pine branches and surrounded by tall grass I havent been collecting the eggs for awhile, but I ve noticed that she isnt laying anymore and at this time she should be broody.

okay, I ll do just that I have to reorganize their brooding shelter and keep it clean with the chicks in it, should be fairly easy. I hope!

I like to do all the research first so I know everything I am in for .