If you live in a cold climate

[Omani]

OK. we get snow. Lots of snow. We also have temps fall below zero a few nights in the winter. If you have to deal with these conditions too, what do you do with your (golden) pheasants? Do you bring them into a barn or garage for the winter? Or do you set up a light of some sort in their house? Do I have to change their diet to compensate? We haven't had them very long and I'd hate to think that they didn't survive the winter because I lacked the information to prevent it.

Thanks,
Sandy

 

[95yj]

my goldens do the best out of all my birds in the winter, admitedly i mostly keep "wimpy" birds like doves and bantam show chickens, but the pheasants seem to excel at tolerating the cold. Where i am its probably a little warmer but it still drops below zero every ounce in a while, and its not unusual to get 10-15* on a cold night. My pheasants sleep outside on their perch cause they refuse to inside the nice warm shed i built them, if it snows all i can see is two bumps under the snow on the perch. Starting about now i start giving them lots of fat and protien, scrambled eggs, leftover bread, cracked corn, just about anything, to fatten them up for the winter, but i'm not sure if thats even necessary. On really cold nights (-15* or under) i might lock them into my dove shed which has a small heat light. remember, they come from northern chinese mountains, which get pretty cold, and they haven't been domesticated that long. In short, i don't really do very much for them in the winter, and they've always pulled through beautifully.

 

[turkaholic]

I've heard some folks put them in sheds or such for the winter, but Goldens are cold hardy and should do fine even at below freezing. The main thing would be to keep them sheltered from wind and excessive precip. Snow won't bother them but prolonged wet, cold conditions aren't good for any captive birds (except maybe ducks and penguins!)

Mine are out year round, but my winters here ususally don't get much snow (last winter was the exception) Keep them well fed and watered and they should do fine. If you do get lots of snow, try to keep up with it's removal. Heavy snow accumulations will bring down a pen in short order.

Maybe someone living further North with Goldens can comment????

 

[spectrumranch]

We winter our pheasants (except the Firebacks & Peacock pheasants) outside. At both farms in South Dakota & Wisconsin we get cold, nights down to 20+ BELOW ZERO. Our pheasant pens have fiber screen on the back to stop wind and a roof over the back part of the pen.

We keep feed in front of them 24/7 so they can eat as much as they want to maintian body heat. And each pen has a heated water dish, which I beleive water is extremely important as opposed to eating snow.

 

[Omani]

Thanks, that's just what I wanted to know. We already shovel out the chicken runs, so that's no big deal. Just add it to my list.

I didn't even think of heated water dishes. Great idea! Right now they get Manna Pro gamebird conditioner, songbird mix, and some leftover chick starter/grower. Do I need to add anything for the colder weather? My chickens get rice, pasta, veggies(raw and cooked) fruit and oatmeal as their evening treat. Could I give any of that to the pheasants in the winter? (I read somewhere on this site that extra carbs will help keep them warm)
Spectrumranch, first I have to say that those pens are AWSOME!

That is similar to the set up I would like to have. Where can I get fiber screen? Is it like a tarp or more like sheets of plywood.
And by the way, in the second picture, are those "wabbit twacks"?

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

fully agree with Spectrum, outside of peacock pheasnts and firebacks, the rest do fine in most any winter condidtions.

 

[jrsqlc]

Most of mine wont even go in there housing in the winter. They love to play in the snow!!

We have Red & Yellow Goldens and Lady A's

 

[95yj]

i try to keep mine out of the wind and sleet and rain, but they refuse to sleep inside. I've literaly woken up and seen them iced over from freezing rain, they sleep outside no matter what and have always been fine. not saying its a good idea, just that their kind of stupid...but during the day i can't get them to come outside of their shed...
just look at the physical range that a pheasant breed comes from, any tropical pheasant from vietnam or india probably won't do well, but all the eared pheasants originate in Tibet, known for its huge mountains and brutal winters, so they're obviously going to excell at winter, same goes for goldens, from northern mountains of the schezuan province.

 

[ranit]

I also use heated water bowls - beats the heck out of thawing out frozen ones. Our pens have tin on the north side and they have a house with straw they can get in, but like everyone else has commented they rarely go in it.

 

[chrisandchantal]

How do you have water kept warm at all time for your pheasants?