Introducing 1 1/2 yr old red pheasants to this yr females

[pheasantfrenzie]

Hi Everyone,
How do In safely introduce my 1 1/2 yr old male and female to 2 younger female birds without having a problem. I will be putting them all in a very large pen that I just fionished this yr. Also how does everyone keep the water from freezing. We just got our first snow yuk and when I went out there last night to make sure they are alright the water was already frozen? I did move the food and water into the little house they can go into but will that bring all the mice in with them and if so will the ugly critters hurt the birds?
Patty

 

[greymane]

You won't know until you introduce them. I would keep an eye on them. Usually, the one male / multiple female setup works, but since the one pair has been together a while, you just don't know. It really goes for any case where you introduce new members to an existing community. If it works out, in the long run it will be better for the first female as it will take some pressure off during breeding periods.

 

[deserthotwings]

If you have a smaller pen or cage to keep them near your present birds it will help them adjust to each other and avoid fights. As long as you only have one cock amongst them you shouldn't have any trouble once they get aquainted. As far as the ice thing goes, can't help you there, never had that problem here in lizard land. Good Luck !

 

[rittert3]

Try doing a search for the cookie tin water heater, on here. They're cheap and simple to make and should do the trick for you. As far as the mice, you can use some redpepper flakes or ground cayanne mix with some bedding in the house, it burns the mice's eyes and nose just being around it, you can also mix the cayanne with your feed to keep the mice out. The capacin dosn't have any effect on the birds, and they actually like to scratch through the bedding for it, but it burns mice and rats senses.