Lost a hen

[shelleyd2008]

(Ringneck Pheasants) One (or more) of the other birds killed her. I think the males are starting to try breeding because the back of her head was all torn up. I'm planning to take the extra males to auction this weekend if my neighbor doesn't want them, leaving me with 2 males and 7 or 8 females. Will I still have problems with them tearing up the hens? They are currently together but will be split into 2 groups as soon as I get their pens finished. I'd thought about putting the 2 males into cages inside the building until I move them, the females won't fight with each other will they?

 

[redhen]

OOH man, sorry! Poor girl..

Boys are nasty buggers...

 

[CapricornFarm]

Are you sure it was the roosters and not a coon? Sorry about your bird:-( The hens shouldn't fight , and two roosters with that many hens should be fine. Is it possible she was getting sick or something? Usually they are not that violent. Deb

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
I'm positive it wasn't a coon. She had a hole pecked in the back of her skull. Ringneck pheasants are almost always that violent.

 

[greymane]

Quote:
If I read correctly, I think he has more than two roos with the hens right now (and planning to get rid of all but two).

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
If I read correctly, I think he has more than two roos with the hens right now (and planning to get rid of all but two).

First of all, these are pheasants, normally called 'cocks'.

Currently I have 5 males and 6 females (previously 7 females) in the same building but they are all hatched this year. I didn't expect any breeding problems/activity from them until next spring and am wondering if removing the extra males or confining the males to a cage temporarily would be a good idea.

 

[islpet]

I just about had the same thing happen today. I have some melanistic mutant pheasants in a 16x16 pen (2 females and 1 male) and the male started crowing yesterday. Today I went to check their water and both hens were bald and one was bloody and pretty much scalped. I caught the male and put him in a giant dog crate. I plan to leave him in there for a while until the hen heals up and then I'll try again. I don't have another pen so I hope he decides to be nice.

 

[ranit]

Personally I hate the blinders and have been fortunate not to have to use them, but that is another option.

 

[islpet]

Could the male's top beak be trimmed back a little to help stop him damaging the females? If he won't cooperate I'll be forced to put the peeper on him I guess.

 

[craz e laid e]

I'm sorry about your loss. I hatched and raised 14 pheasants in early spring of 2010, and they did not start breeding until this year about February. The males didn't ever peck holes in the females heads. They did pull out feathers on their heads and really did a number on their backs. Now I know why you can buy little "jackets" for them. This spring I hatched eggs (with Banties and incubator - - couldn't get pheasant hens to set). One of the young females became very aggressive (at approx. 6-8 months), and started attacking the others. Put her in a separate pen by herself, and after a few days, she seemed to be OK. So it could be one of the hens doing the damage. You will have to watch to see if you can tell who the "problem child" is. Good luck!