Keeping pheasants for Dog Training

[Raiiiich]

My apologies if this is a question that has been addressed previously, but I did not see any other threads on this topic.

I am looking to keep a small number of pheasant/chukar to work my bird dogs, and while I have experience keeping chickens/ducks/turkeys, I am unfamiliar with keeping game birds and was wondering if folks had any suggestions as to the following:

- breed
- number to keep
- type of housing/run
- health issues
- hardiness (I live in the Hudson Valley, NY, and we usually have cold winters)
- any other helpful hints

We have a small farm with about 8.5 acres. The chickens free range, while the ducks and turkeys do not.

Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much.

 

[Tony K T]

My apologies if this is a question that has been addressed previously, but I did not see any other threads on this topic.

I am looking to keep a small number of pheasant/chukar to work my bird dogs, and while I have experience keeping chickens/ducks/turkeys, I am unfamiliar with keeping game birds and was wondering if folks had any suggestions as to the following:

- breed
- number to keep
- type of housing/run
- health issues
- hardiness (I live in the Hudson Valley, NY, and we usually have cold winters)
- any other helpful hints

We have a small farm with about 8.5 acres. The chickens free range, while the ducks and turkeys do not.

Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much.

Breed:ringneck pheasant, chukar partridge,or bobwhite quail
Number to keepepends on your pen size
health issues:
if raised on wire or washed masonry sand should keep issues to a minimum
Hardiness:all are very cold hardy birds
helpful tips:both ringnecks and chukars can be cannibalistic you will need to keep a close eye on them if raised together since chicks it may be a little easier but still keep an eye on them.Bobwhites are not to bad.
If you choose chukars or bobwhites you may be able to keep 1 male in a call back cage(like a lobster trap with the funnel to get in but not out)and he will call them back,works a lot better with bobwhites,chukars may do it but not as good as quail.
You should keep all gamebirds away from chickens as chicken carry diseases that they can handle but over time will kill gamebirds.
In N.H.,Tony.