OK,... Now what do I do ????

[tri-5-ron]

I was sitting in my backyard today.... And a young (4-5-month old ?) relatively healthy looking Ringneck comes walking by.
Ok,... so I know many here will say "Yeah,.. so whats the big deal about that?",
Well, the reason it's a big deal is because I live in the city.
I'm 15 minutes from Disneyland, and 5 minutes from Angel Stadium.
Phesants don't just roam around here.
Obviously it is a "kept" bird from somewhere around here that escaped.
I do not know of anyone around here who has any gamebirds at all, heck,... I'm probably the only one for at least a mile who has Backyard Chickens.
So Anyway, I was somehow able to catch him, and now have hime in my large brooder box.
I know he can not stay in there, and I know I can not put him in my large coop with the chickens. or Can I ???, (but I am aware that the chickens can infect the pheasant and he could die). or something like that. I just remember reading that it's not a great idea to mix chickens with pheasants and quail in the same run/pen.
My coop/pen is fairly large at 12'wide x 24' long,.. I only have 14 chickens in there, but they do have full access to the entire pen.

I guess I need to throw a cage/pen together (seperate from the chickens), so he can be safe and have plenty of his own room to run.
Yes,... I will post a found ad, and if the owner is found I will return the bird, just as I would hope someone would return a lost bird of my own.
But,...
If the owner is not found,... and / or until then,... I need to toss together a suitable cage/enclosure.
so how much room does a single male ringneck need to run around in?
does he also need a coop/enclosed area to nest in?
any tips or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Ron

 

[deserthotwings]

Hey Ron, he is no doubt an escapee from someone. If you have a large enough covered pen he should be ok, at least for awhile with your chickens. I know a lot of these "experts" say not to mix them in with other fowl, and they are probably right. I raise over 200 pheasants a year and while they are not in pens with chickens they do, come in direct contact with them through the wire, sinse the chickens free range. But right now what can you do ? He deffently don't need to be in some kind of box. If you have roosters with your chickens you will more than likely have a problem with him in there. Please keep in mind this is just my opion. I've found that if you have a sanitary operation there is little chance for disease to spred, but what the heck, I'm no scientist. Good luck amego.

 

[deserthotwings]

One more thing that might help, sinse we both live far enough south, little shelter is required. He will need some shade and some where to roost. When you construct his own quarters, an area about 6x10 should be plenty large enough, and he will eventually want a mate. As far as feeding goes you might want to cnsider a little higher protein feed than what your feeding your chickens. Game bird feed or turkey feed works great.

 

[tri-5-ron]

thanks for the replies, greatly appreciated.
For now I took him over to a friend of mine who had a 5' x 10' x 4' tall covered chain link pen. best option I had for the night.
Ironically, just the other day my friend and I were talking about building some Pheasant and Quail pens/cages.
next thing I know,.... I look out the window and here's a Pheasant looking right at me ! LOL!
and then to be able to catch him to top it off ! Woo-Hoo !!