Lady A Pheasant First hatch

[Emmahannah]

We just hatched our first Lady A's. Last year she got off her nest early and while we do have one sitting right now we decided to throw some in the incubator. We've had 5 hatch and lost one for some reason...I have no clue why really.

Right now they are in the brooder with white silkie chickens who hatched a day or two before them. I have some questions.

Will we need to put blinders on them, and if so, at how many weeks?
When can we put them in with the adult pheasant? We currently have 1 male and 3 females in a 4x6 flight pen.

I want to socialize these little guys. I can hand feed our male and one of the females but I would like these to be tamer.

Also, two of them were born with lower beaks that curve down. Not sure they will eventually make it bet we decided not to cull them. If this is a big defect then I know breeding them is not a good idea. They seem to be getting along fine. They are all about 4 days old. I am hoping we can more them to a larger brooder with the Silkies but won't if they might harm them.

Thanks!!! Susan

 

[Tony K T]

If your pen is big enough there is no reason for blinders.Your adult pen is kinda small also,I havea quad in a 6x12 and that is really not big enough,but it works.They cannot be added to your adult pen at all.It is way to small for 2 pheasants never mind putting 8 in there.You can add them to your adults if you put them all in a new pen and it should be bigger then 4x6.For 8 adult birds I wouldn't put them in a pen no smaller then 16x16.Remember to remove extra males around Jan.This is the begining of their breeding season and the males are courting for mates.If there are more then1 male in with the ladies there will be blood shed and deaths.
In N.H.,Tony.

We just hatched our first Lady A's. Last year she got off her nest early and while we do have one sitting right now we decided to throw some in the incubator. We've had 5 hatch and lost one for some reason...I have no clue why really.

Right now they are in the brooder with white silkie chickens who hatched a day or two before them. I have some questions.

Will we need to put blinders on them, and if so, at how many weeks?
When can we put them in with the adult pheasant? We currently have 1 male and 3 females in a 4x6 flight pen.

I want to socialize these little guys. I can hand feed our male and one of the females but I would like these to be tamer.

Also, two of them were born with lower beaks that curve down. Not sure they will eventually make it bet we decided not to cull them. If this is a big defect then I know breeding them is not a good idea. They seem to be getting along fine. They are all about 4 days old. I am hoping we can more them to a larger brooder with the Silkies but won't if they might harm them.

Thanks!!! Susan

 

[Emmahannah]

Thanks so much for the information Tony. If the hen who is sitting in the house in the pen hatches any should we remove them? I am assuming yes. Their house is a double decker and is about 3 feet off the ground. We built a brooder this year and it's big enough to section off in case we need to separate them from the silkie chicks, which I assume we will need to do in a week or so. Only 3 survived so far and we are not expecting one of them to make it (curved beak and the other one with similar deformity died already). We may end up selling them. We did have regular pheasant in a large flight pen but the Great Horned Owls kept getting in so we tore it down

This flight pen was used to house our Gray Calls and when she hatched the ducklings ended up falling out. They were fine but I then moved them to a chicken tractor. I truly think ducklings bounce.

Susan

 

[Tony K T]

If your pen is nice and tight with absolutely no holes anywhere,then let her raise them.This will help keep the parent instinct in the young birds.If there is a slight crack,even a 1/2 inch wide,they will get out and never be seen again.Keep an eye on the male also,they can be aggressive towards new birds in"their"pen.I'm glad your pen is working for them to breed,but I would seriously build a bigger pen for them.
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[Emmahannah]

Well, 1 baby Lady A made it and has been happily living with the 4 white Silkie chicks. We are moving them outside soon and keeping the Pheasant with them until it gets big enough to defend itself. Our hens have not been able to hatch any although they have tried. We just threw away about 13 eggs that all 3 hens were sitting on.

We are hoping to hatch some more later in the incubator. I love your pen Tony.

Susan