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Day ten...
Lilac turkeys...hee hee...so sweet, so pretty!
I even dressed up ol' Dale yesterday...poor old boy with the dirty nose (needs a nice swipe with a wet wipe...hee hee). He' s happy, he ain't even remotely affiliated with Christmas dinner--in any shape or form...I suppose a bit of torment with a string of mini lights and afew festive earring danglers on won't be minded.
Poultry...hmm, not in a real technical sense because they are not for the most part domesticated though I ponder some pheasants like the Jumbo Whites?? They are wild birds that are kept in captivity.
DOMESTICATED: (of an animal) tame and kept as a pet or on a farm
Yeh, I guess it is complicated...hee hee...
Our Mandarin ducks are deemed "wild" by zoologists, our Aus Black Swans are wild, the Ruddy Shels are wild...them pheasants are wild... But then again, Fixins acts like she is wild too on a good day! LOL
In the Red Goldens, the males look like females (but have yellow irises, not brown) fer two years...these are all boys...yeh!
I will go with what the Pheasant Standards (1988 2nd edition) says:
Day ten...
Lilac turkeys...hee hee...so sweet, so pretty!
I even dressed up ol' Dale yesterday...poor old boy with the dirty nose (needs a nice swipe with a wet wipe...hee hee). He' s happy, he ain't even remotely affiliated with Christmas dinner--in any shape or form...I suppose a bit of torment with a string of mini lights and afew festive earring danglers on won't be minded.
Poultry...hmm, not in a real technical sense because they are not for the most part domesticated though I ponder some pheasants like the Jumbo Whites?? They are wild birds that are kept in captivity.
DOMESTICATED: (of an animal) tame and kept as a pet or on a farm
Yeh, I guess it is complicated...hee hee...
Our Mandarin ducks are deemed "wild" by zoologists, our Aus Black Swans are wild, the Ruddy Shels are wild...them pheasants are wild... But then again, Fixins acts like she is wild too on a good day! LOL
In the Red Goldens, the males look like females (but have yellow irises, not brown) fer two years...these are all boys...yeh!
I will go with what the Pheasant Standards (1988 2nd edition) says:
Red Golden Pheasant hen - Ruffed PheasantsMany feather colours and lots of mutations, but in some cases as in the Red Goldens, them crossed on to Lady Amherst has resulted in different colours but the purists say then the Goldens ain't really Goldens...we have one with black pigments where brown pigments are in the Red Goldens, probably a cross.
See the black face...dark colour along the quill...likely a cross but sure purdy!
Some info I have harvested off the Net...in regards to definitions of pheasants as poultry and the colour mutations....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poultry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phasianidae:
http://www.gbwf.org/pheasants/golden.html:
Mah and her babes...
She will viciously attack you...very protective with the babies.
Cute but man alive, SHRILL calls...yikes!
http://www.gbwf.org/pheasants/golden_yellow.html:
Red Golden Pheasant Hen – Enjoying her Dust Bath; May 2008.Pheasants may become quite tame and use to their caregivers. Always move around slowly and carefully when working amongst your pheasants. If you are bringing feed, make it a one time trip into their pen/house; do the maintenance and get out. If you are cleaning, sometimes it is better to catch them up and place them in a secure, safe, dark container during these upheavals. Pheasants stress easily and in the wild, would fly away from these kinds of situations. Do not disturb/panic them unreasonably and place their facilities in a quieter, pristine area of your premises…they appreciate low levels of activity and noise as they startle readily.
Breed Temperaments towards Captivity
If you have to trim beaks or toenails (sometimes spurs in the cocks if they get too long and pointy), it is wise to bring a clean, non-toxic towel, to cushion and cover their heads gently with…do not handle them unnecessarily. Keep a firm but gentle grasp upon them so they do not injure themselves, thrashing around. If you cause bleeding, use general all purpose flour to stop the blood flow; we keep a few jelly jars containing flour around just in case of emergencies.
Keep a close eye on open doors and other escape opportunities. Most pheasants are easy to keep and you may landscape their facilities in non-toxic vegetation…really quite an exciting display opportunity, with lovely plant life and truly gorgeous game birds flying about.
Pheasants do not prefer to get wet, so please provide them with a draft proof, dry place to roost. If your outdoor pens are covered, remember to carefully water the plants, but refrain from drowning
the pheasants in the midst of your gardening…most do not like to be soaked and may expire if left in excessively wet and muddy conditions.
They will stay out on their perches even at temperatures below -25C. At these temperatures and lower, it is sometimes nice to provide them with a safe heat lamp, hung up inside their house so they can sit under it to get the chill off. Older pheasants appreciate the heat, younger ones tend to push their capabilities—depends on the individual’s temperament. Give them straw bales to perch and hide behind. Add safe perches at lots of different levels; sometimes a few swinging perches add interest for them and you will find them bopping about like fabulously coloured trapeze artists. Make sure the diameter of the perch suits the pheasant; Silvers and Goldens are pretty much happy with broom handle sized perches…if the perch is too big or small, they will not be comfortable using them to sleep on. Birds are very adaptable, but a comfortable sleeping place is kinda a nice thing to offer them. Safe, evergreen branches like spruce and pine are good ornamental contributions and some pheasant varieties even pick at the needles. If we are doing any yard maintenance, I will throw a few boughs in their pens for amusement purposes. Many first time pheasant keepers are amazed that their birds prefer sitting out in their pens, it must make them feel safe and secure, more naturally wild braving the elements.
Please do not make the same mistakes we have…our first pheasants were Ringnecks and we thought, “Heavens, if pheasants are this difficult to keep from harming each other…how does everyone do this? Are pheasants out of our league??” Some varieties are much more lenient on space requirements and temperaments towards each other and their humans. Start off with the easier ones and progress as you so see fit into the more difficult ones. There are some amazing pheasants out there, just get use to the easier ones first and the sky is literally the limit on where you may go next. Enjoy!
Listing of Best Breeds for Beginners
(in order of ease of keeping and tame-ability)
1) Golden Pheasant – Ruffed Pheasants; genus Chrysolophus. (Golden - Chrysolophus pictus): Many colour varieties from red, yellow, cinnamon, splash, salmon; new mutations are being developed all the time. Do watch as some have been cross breeding the Golden Pheasants with the Lady Amhersts and this messes up both for exhibition purposes. Some suspect the misplaced red plumage markings and larger body sized are faults linked to this cross breeding.
We find Golden pheasants to be friendly (our old cock sits on Rick’s hat and eats out of the feed scoop if you take too much time filling his bowl) and compatible with each other (we have two males and a female all sharing a 12 foot by 12 foot pen…happy as larks with NO fighting whatsoever). Keeping one male with two hens (a trio) is a good start.
The male displays by leaning towards the female with his yellow crest spread out like an Egyptian pharaoh…he makes a hissy noise and the girls just ignore him while he dances about performing. We have had the best luck with our Red Golden hens incubating their own clutches of eggs and have not yet bothered to collect eggs for incubation. The chicks have a very shrill call and you may hear them at quite a distance.
Varieties like Red and Yellow Goldens are very common and this pheasant makes for an excellent beginner’s choice. Red Goldens capture the imagination as the males have most every colour imaginable: bright golden yellow, red, golden orange, dark metallic green, scarlet, deep metallic blue, black, cinnamon-buff, chestnut, and brown. In the males, tail length is 30.5 to 31 1/8 inches and legs, bill and irises are yellow. Hens are much more drab in colouration (cinnamon, buffs, browns, rufous, and black) but do have a very nice barring pattern. Females have an adult tail length of 13 ¾ to 14 ¾ inches and legs are horny yellow with irises that are brown. Hens with distinct barring in the tail usually produce very nicely marked male offspring—clarity of markings equate good male colourations and patterns. Some exhibition faults seen in the Goldens are large size and reddish tinges in their plumage.
Exquisite beginner’s choice in a most beautiful, easy keeping pheasant!
2) Lady Amherst Pheasant – Pheasants; genus Chrysolophus. (Lady Amherst - Chrysolophus amherstiae) sometimes just called “Amherst” pheasants: Another incredibly coloured and patterned pheasant. Easily tamed and usually amiable with each other.
Male colourations include: metallic green, black, crimson, vermillion, metallic bluish-green, scintillant (sparkling) green, yellow, metallic blue, brown, orange-vermillion, silver-grey, and white. Male’s tail length is 33 7/8 to 45 inches long, beak and legs are bluish-grey, irises are pale yellow. Females are more drab compared to males, but still very pretty in colours of reddish chestnut, black barring, cinnamon buff, black with a green sheen, silver, and white. Female tail feathers are rounded at the tip and length is 12 1/8 to 14 ¾ inches. Beak and legs are bluish grey, irises are brown with older hens having pale yellow or grayish as they age.
When I first saw a male Lady Amherst (he was in juvenile plumage), I thought, “So what’s the big deal?” Then I saw a male in adult plumage…WOW! Gorgeous, spectacular and all that. We are told they have nice personalities, are compatible with each other and make very good beginner’s pheasants. Not an uncommon pheasant and we hope to acquire some in the future, just have not gotten around to it yet.
Silver pair
3) Silver Pheasant – Part of the Gallopheasants; genus Lophura. (True Silver Pheasants – Lophura nycthemera nycthemera): Gorgeous pheasants! A more plump body form than the two proceeding pheasants, but still not very large and easy to keep and feed. Many say the hens set freely and raise chicks well, though we have never bothered to allow them to raise young.
The Silver male has some spectacular contrasting colours; brilliant blue zig zags pop out of his black base plumages and his colour set includes white, black, glossy bluish-black, and his tail feathers are pure white with broken black streaks. Very much a pleasing contrasting colour arrangement of white, black and scarlet/crimson. The Silver male’s head gear is very attractive being scarlet and contrasting well with his black and pure white feathered head and neck. Male tail feathers are 23 ½ to 29 ½ inches long, beak is greenish white and iris is orange. Legs are a beautiful bright crimson. Female is olive brown peppered with black and brown. Her tail is attractively pencilled with inconspicuous black and her feet and legs are crimson. Iris is brown. Silver pheasants are the largest of the two silver pheasants.
We find that our Silvers “talk” to us when we go to put their food away at night. The male is really something to behold when he does his male drumming display; wings outstretched, flashing curved inwards…what a show off! A trio works well but we have found some hens to be a bit snicky towards each other. Not harming themselves but not as completely compatible as the Red Golden hens. An excellent beginner’s pheasant adding variety to your coop.
4) Reeves Pheasant – Part of the Long-Tailed Pheasants; genus Syrmaticus. (Reeves Pheasant – Syrmaticus reevesi): Both genders are beautiful birds!
Males are coloured in buffy and cinnamon yellows, chestnut, white, black with iris colour brown. The hen is a mottled rufous buff with greyish and dark browns, black, and chestnut colourations and has brown iris colour like the male. Male tail length is a spectacular 39 to 62.5 inches. Hen would appear smaller only for the fact that her overall length is 29.5 inches whereas the male with his long tail measures 82 inches in length. Pen size would have to accommodate his longer tail, otherwise it may sustain breakage and never attain his true genetic potential.
Temperament in the Reeves is a bit more reserved than the above three pheasants and is the reason why I list them last for beginners. They will not warm up to you as much, but indeed, are still an easier pheasant to keep than many. Reeves are a large pheasant and make a very spectacular addition to one’s aviary.
Not the most ideal beginner’s pheasant but still a very good choice.
Other Pheasants Other pheasants that might be OK to try next maybe, would be more of the Long-Tailed Pheasants [Reeves are in this genus, as are Elliot’s (Syrmaticus ellioti) and Mikado (Syrmaticus mikado)] or the Eared Pheasants [(genus Crossoptilon): Blue (crossoptilon auritum), Brown (crossoptilon mantchuricum), and White Tibetan (crossoptilon drouyni) eared pheasants]. Recall that the Eared Pheasants are some of the ones that look somewhat identical, whether male or female. I am sure THEY all know what they are, so you could probably allow them to pair up if you have a large enough enclosure to ensure they do not begin fighting amongst themselves.
Pheasants like Chinese Ringnecks (Phasianus colchicus) are very difficult to keep in compatible groups in captivity unless you have ample space allowances. Girls harm/kill girls, boys harm/kill girls, girls and boys harm/kill each other. Males in groups should have pheasant beak guards on so they cannot see so well and females need to be removed from each other or very large facilities may incite them to all get along. Not saying all situations are doomed to fail, just know some pheasants are more difficult/temperamental than others. We have a single Ringneck hen that lives very amiably with a Jumbo White pheasant for years now.
WARNING: Absolutely BEAUTIFUL pheasants like the Impeyan (Monal – Genus Lophophorus; Himalayan Impeyan pheasant – Lophophorus impeyanus) and other such exotics are wonderful advanced projects (Impeyans like to dig; they live on mountain sides in the wild), but please be aware that paired Impeyans have been known to kill/harm each other; even after years of compatible co-existence. Acquire a single specimen or allow pairs supervised visitations (for breeding). Some hobbyists have no trouble whatsoever with these varieties; others recount terrible experiences. Use your own discretion and tolerance levels.
Keep in mind also, the more exotic and rare, the more valuable the pheasant. Sometimes the loss of just one specimen to the captive population can be a real detriment to their continued preservation efforts. Some wild populations are almost extinct. Keeping these pheasants alive is a real positive contribution, but should be left until you feel you are better equipped to handle their special needs. Some varieties run in the thousands of dollars and require heated, huge facilities with very specific food requirements (especially for breeding and raising their young). There are some challenges, but worth the efforts.
ConclusionI would VERY much encourage you to continue to explore keeping pheasants…these birds are incredibly beautiful; worth conserving and enjoying. Compared to most other poultry, very easy on facilities (once secure ones are constructed) as far as maintenance requirements, most are extremely hardy and do not eat much food or produce much waste material. They are secretive in nature yet they do allow you the opportunity to share their view of the world once you have earned their respect and trust. Keeping pheasants is a very rewarding poultry hobby.
Each year them males grow feathers to suit their ages.
Our old Silver Pheasant male...lookit how long the tail feathers are...
So there Scott! That should keep you busy...reading and having fun investigating them pheasants...
Are you gonna annouce you might get some pheasants or?? Heh heh heh....men do like keeping these fine birds...and not alot of work to maintain AFTER you build them very secure facilities...
Doggone & Chicken UP!
Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada
