Ornamental Pheasants

[BobwhiteQuailLover]

Could anyone post pics of their Tragopans and Impeyan Pheasants??

And give me info on them?
I need help on naming, breeding, showing, raising, and caring!

Thanks!!

 

[speckledhen]

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[BobwhiteQuailLover]

I also need help with goldens, as we are buying some splash eggs!!

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

Temminick's and satyr are the 2 most commonly kept tragopans, there is also cabot's, blyth's, and western, but chance are none of use will ever have them, except maybe the cabots if you're rich.
All and the impeyans are cold climate species and do bare watching in hot summer months.

Tragopans are for the most part aerial Nester's, so an elevated nesting box is usually a good idea for them, and most are kept as pairs (same with the impeyans)
They can usually be tamed down fairly well and with time, most will eat out of your hand. A excellent feed ration goes a long way along with a varied diet of fruits and such is greatly appreciated by them. They have a drop dead courtship display as well. a heavily planted and well covered pen is a must for them, they dont fair well in a 4 wall bare dirt style pen.

Impeyans are another beautiful bird, they dig like wild hogs though so bare that in mind, cover should for the most part be nonplant related because for the most part, they'll just dig up anything you put in there with them.

Neither are overly aggressive species and with some special care can do very well for you, but I do advise talking to lots of breeders before you drop 100's of dollars on pairs of these to find out you did something wrong.
If you are new to exotic pheasant species altogether, I would highly advise starting with the ruffed, silvers, swinhoe, reeves, and such to get your feet wet first, as these generally are the beginner species, whereas, trags, impeyans, peacock, eared, and such are for the more seasoned keeper.

As for the golden, nothing real special about them, anyone with basic knowledge of bird care can keep them.
I have kept them with up to 6 hens to the male, and have kept multiple males in pens before, all though it is a large pen, and all were raised together, new introductions to established pens are a no no. They breed readily, handle both extremes of temperature very well, but do take 2 years to color out.
Let me know if you have any specific questions on any of these.

 

[BobwhiteQuailLover]

Thanks!!
How can I tame an adult pair of temminicks or impeyans?

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

they are harder than ones you raise yourself. Just give them plenty of cover as mentioned.
Take your time with them, move slowly when in the pen with them.
Offer treats as often as possible.
They will eventually associate you with getting snacks.
With some birds this works well, some, just will never be touchable though. Tragopans usually are easier to work with than impeyans though, never see a lot of them eating from your hands, but loads of tragopans will do it with time.
Good luck

 

[BobwhiteQuailLover]

Thanks!!
What treats do they like? How can I get them prepared for showing?

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

any kind of fruit, apple slices, bananas, etc, pretty much any of them, they also love grapes and peanuts

As for shows, Lord knows there's probably some out there, but I have never heard of an honest to God pheasant show .
Maybe state fairs of something. In which case, you'd be the only one with a tragopan in it, and you would most likely have to explain to everyone what the heck it was, most wouldnt even know if was a pheasant species, LOL

Personally , these birds dont handle stress very well at all, so I would never let the thought of dragging them around the country to shows cross my mind. You'll end up with dead birds. Also, speaking of that, the disease risk involved, is way too high.
These shouldnt be any where near any type of domestic poultry. Their immune system is not like that of chickens, ducks and turkeys. What they carry, they often show no signs of, but will kill these guys at the drop of a hat. And most sanctioned shows only require P/T/ testing to enter, where as there are tons of other diseases domestic poultry carry, and can easily be spread at shows to the sensitive species.

Keep them at home, and away from domestic fowls, and you'll be a lot happier, and your pocket will too seeing how temminicks cost about $250 pr, impeyans are about $300, and satyrs are about $400, little too pricey for me too risk over a ribbon.

 

[BobwhiteQuailLover]

Well, I would take them to the county fair only.
How should I raise the chicks?
What breeds of pheasant do you raise?
Sorry, I have a LOT of questions!!

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

I highly advise against it, and will leave it at that, LOL

Currently I dont have any, but have had all of them at one point or another, only species I havent had hands on with are cabots' and blyth trags, and argus.
as for raising these.
A good game bird starter is a must, also with the rarer breeds, mealworms have always worked good for me to get them to start eating, and provide them with a varied diet and extra nutrients not in the feed ration. A good, hot, clean brooder is a must, as I mentioned, these guys can be disease magnets, especially when in chick stages, so keep it clean at all time, dont take a weekend off, they MUST be kept as clean as possible. Good vitamin supplements in the water go along way to a successful start as well.
Now for the more common stuff, ruffed, silvers, longtails, they are a little tuffer, and the meal worms and such usually arent needed, but a good clean brooder still is.
Hope that helped