flight pens

[beckyschicks]

Well we really don't have a lot of hawks that are perminent residents. Only really here during the fall and spring migration. Hopefully the pheasants can learn how to survive by then. I also am hoping that I'm not encouraging the hawks to stick around either. Hhhmmm. Something to think about.

 

[magoochie]

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My husband and I got licensed to do this, this past year. We have a 20x40 pen. We ordered 100 pheasants. We got them as day old chicks and kept them in a 4x10 coop under lights until they were a few weeks old and started outgrowing the space. Then let them out into the run. After some cannibalism, we released roughly 85 birds. We released about 25 the first time(to thin out the flock because of cannibalism), and then left the door open on the pen for the last ones to go out.

They do like to hang around, because they know where the food is. That is the hardest part, making sure they understand how to find their own food. We fed them outside for 2 days, after that they were on their own.

We have 40 acres of woodland, with farms around us, and we back up to a grassy wetland.

Within the first week, we found feathers on the trails from a handful of pheasants. We have alot of gray and red fox around and a large fisher that lives on our property.

Our neighbors are saying they are seeing some of our birds from their deer stands, so that was nice to hear. But depending on how hard the winters are and how well they can adapt to the wild, they say 15-20% usually survive.


Hopefully that is not the case, but it seems fairly likely. We still have 3 that live in the brush pile on the edge of our yard, we see them over eating chicken feed almost daily.

The DNR wants you to release birds at 12 weeks of age. Most websites and other places like Pheasants Forever, say to release at 8 weeks, because they have less human contact.

They are skiddish and dont like humans. But we are the ones bringing the food. Therefore, upon release the ones we had stuck around waiting for me to go out. That is why we stopped feeding after 2 days. We wanted them to make try to find food on their own.

We also see one or two on the trail cameras here and there, so some of them have made it so far. We released the last of them on Sept 25th, (duck opener). Still seeing a few around.

I dont know how much this will help you, but this is our first years experience.

We were hoping to raise grouse, but the DNR does not allow that. We were licensed for everything on the list except Mallards. This year we might try chuckars if we dont do pheasants again.

Also, we ordered from Strombergs hatchery in MN. They were able to get us the Vet cert required by the state of WI. We ordered straight run hens (they were cheaper) we ended up getting about 9 roosters out of the 100 birds. I guess that is pretty common because they cannot be accurately sexed at a day old. WIth 1 rooster able to accomodate 15 hens, that was a perfect ratio to us!

Sorry I was all over the place, but hope this helps!

 

[magoochie]

here is a few pics starting out. Sorry I dont have any of the whole run.

Within a month and a half they had every bit of greenery eaten out of the coop. We had to keep bringing in branches and small trees.
This year we will add a little more cover for shade, etc.

The last pic is 3 days before they were released.

 

[magoochie]

here is a website we referred to alot.

Also, this is where our pheasants originally came from, because strombergs didnt have enough on hand, so Strombergs played middleman to these guys.

http://www.oakwoodgamefarm.com/pages/OakwoodGameFarm-Tips-for-raising.html

 

[PrinceSandwich]

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how do you sex them as day olds?

 

[JJMR794]

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how do you sex them as day olds?

THE EYE PATCH

 

[Robo]

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how do you sex them as day olds?

Vent sexing. This is hard to do on your own. Hatcheries hire people to do this.

 

[SamG347]

JJ caught me once again...I look at the patch of down around the eye.

 

[PrinceSandwich]

Quote:
and what are you looking for? Can you describe it?

 

[JJMR794]

From A Few Hours After Hatch To About 2 Or 3 Days Of Age The Boys Will Have A Very Noticeable Eye Patch That Will Become The Waddles On A Mature Roo... Its Kind Of Hard To Describe Without Having Babies To Show, But It Is A Very Clearly Defined Pumpkin Seed Like Eye Patch... Alas I Dont Have Pix Of Mine That Are Clear Enough To Show It... Its 1 Of Those Things You Kind Of Develope... I'm Sure Sam Would Agree As I Can Look At Babies And Be Very Accurate As Male Or Female Up Til About 3 Days Old... Then It Gets Fuzzy Again And Doesnt Become Clear Until The Are About 2 Mos Old...

Maybe Sam Can Describe It Better? {sorry Its Been A Long Day And My Creative Writing Skills Are Lacking

)

Best I Can Tell You Is Show Clear Pics Of The Side Of Their Face And Either Pm Me Or Sam Or Start A String Here And 1 Of Us Or Many Other Folks Here Can Show You Better Than I Can Describe