New Pheasant Owner---Anything I Should Know?

[TheMauveDuck]

Our Pheasants will arrive in two weeks as chicks. Very very excited! We will raise them for meat but have never raised meat birds before. We currently own 6 ducks and ten chickens so we're not too absent-minded about how to take care of birds but we only have them for eggs.

They will stay in the loft above our barn/carriage house when they're older. I don't know where to keep them as chicks, we could section them off a little space in the loft so they won't wander from their light or we could keep them in something like a tote or box. Another issue is that we only have one red light and it's on two silkie chicks who are just over one week old. Could the Pheasants and chicks live together?

The Phaesants will be one day old so we won't be able to tell their gender, we do want to keep a rooster for breeding purposes.


Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This website has never let me down!

 

[Midnightman14]

Keep the chicks on wire and not any kind of shavings, straw, or hay. These beddings are dusty and can become soiled very quickly which spreads disease. Always feed medicated feed and if you can get anti-cocci meds that dissolve in water I would have those on hand as well. If medicated feed is not used or they are kept on the floor you'll be looking at 70-90% mortality. I would keep any chickens away from them even if they are both young. Gamebird starter would be a good food type to start and supplementing their diet with roasted mealworms that are sold at most hardware stores that carry bird feeders are really good for them too.