Help me keep this baby pheasant alive!

[Veganbee]

Before I start- I'm in the UK, semi rural.

Earlier today whilst walking the dogs they happened upon a small baby pheasant - thankfully we were able to grab it before they did but after searching around for the nest or any other sign of where it had come from, I brought it home.

We have wild pheasants here, and also lots of pheasants raised in captivity to then be released in time for shooting season in autumn. If you haven't guessed from my username it's not within my own nature to hunt animals for sport, nor to eat them.

So back to this little girl - what I can I do to give her the best chance? She's currently indoors in a small plastic box with a makeshift mesh lid, on a hot water bottle with a shallow dish of water and some chick crumb and a cuddly toy. I've set up a larger cage which she spent the afternoon in, just outside on the patio.

I'd love some advice for how best to keep her healthy and well, both short term and long term. From reading other forums some in the UK do keep pheasants as pets and either clip their wings or keep them in a sheltered run.

 

[Peaches Lee]

OMG she's so cute...

I think you're doing fantastic so far! Not sure how cold it is where you live, but baby may need to come inside if it's too cold.

Keep us updated!

 

[muddy75]

I’m assuming from your other thread that you were able to find a gamebird feed like Turkey starter or or other??? She needs higher protein than chickens do. The chick looks to be approximately 2-3 weeks old by the feathering, so should be fine with hot water bottle or heating pad keeping a warmer area of brooder around 80*F you won’t be able to tell gender until 8-12 weeks. You may still want to check on legalities as even though pheasants were originally exotics, many states in the US require a permit to keep/raise them. No idea how they are classified in the UK.

 

[Snuffles]

Hi Veganbee

I am also in the UK, and rural.

We have a pair of pheasants (among other game) that come daily to glean what the finches drop at the bird feeders.

We found our rescue in mid-May, which is a month too early for pheasants. As you know, May had endless rainfall and this little one got drenched and cold, which is the number 1 killer of game chicks.

The mother had made her nest in a raised flowerbed, so the chicks couldn’t get back to her. She’d only laid 6 eggs (typically 12, so well short) and left the nest before the last egg had hatched. Considering the facts, I’m assuming that she was inexperienced.

BTW, we looked at taking her to wildlife rescue & vets, but they were not taking any animals because of COVID.

At the time, Amazon only had 2 products to choose from for game bird crumb. I also made her smoothies of lettuce, tomato & carrot, adding meal worms for the protein. I used a dropper to drip water along the side of her beak to make sure that she stayed hydrated.

Later I swapped lettuce for cucumber, which she loved. She now eats corn whole.

We’d take her for walks around the garden to get her accustomed to the great outdoors, and she started foraging and catching damselflies straight away.

She’s now 9 weeks old. On game farms they release the chicks at 8 weeks old, but she won’t go.

She gets selective separation anxiety – calling to us if she loses sight of us. But there are other times when she is happy to do her own thing and ignore us completely.

The main concern is that they must be able to fly up onto a high perch to roost at night. Then they can certainly be independent.

I’d love to hear how you have been getting on.

 

[RebbyB]

We also found and ended up raising an abandoned pheasant chick (called "Peep") that was roaming around our garden with no parents in sight this summer. It's good to hear other people have also done it and I'd love to know how you both get on with yours? Ours will be 14 weeks old on Monday, I think (it's a while since I counted) and doing pretty well. He was tiny when we found him, so probably only a day or two old at the most. He comes into the conservatory to sleep at night, but is now outside foraging independently all day during the daytime. We think "he" may be male, but we're still a bit unsure. He flies and forages (especially spiders!) very well, but we supplement his diet ourselves too. I bought a huge bag of pheasant feed when we first were trying out foods for him, and he totally rejected it - so that's sat in the garage untouched! Instead I've been buying live mealworms, which he loves (and cost a lot!) along with seeds/grain, and now he enjoys peanuts.
The first two photos are of when we found him 14 weeks ago (12th July), and the third photo is what (s)he looks like now. Is Peep a boy?

 

[007Sean]

We also found and ended up raising an abandoned pheasant chick (called "Peep") that was roaming around our garden with no parents in sight this summer. It's good to hear other people have also done it and I'd love to know how you both get on with yours? Ours will be 14 weeks old on Monday, I think (it's a while since I counted) and doing pretty well. He was tiny when we found him, so probably only a day or two old at the most. He comes into the conservatory to sleep at night, but is now outside foraging independently all day during the daytime. We think "he" may be male, but we're still a bit unsure. He flies and forages (especially spiders!) very well, but we supplement his diet ourselves too. I bought a huge bag of pheasant feed when we first were trying out foods for him, and he totally rejected it - so that's sat in the garage untouched! Instead I've been buying live mealworms, which he loves (and cost a lot!) along with seeds/grain, and now he enjoys peanuts.
The first two photos are of when we found him 14 weeks ago (12th July), and the third photo is what (s)he looks like now. Is Peep a boy?
View attachment 2868011View attachment 2868012View attachment 2868013

Peep is a hen.

 

[RebbyB]

Peep is a hen.

Hen seems to be the consensus! I just thought Peep had so much red around the eye that (s)he must be male, but listening to more experienced folk she would have more coloured chest and other feathers by now if she were a male! She is a character. Thanks for your reply!