questions on incubating phesant eggs

[pinkado]

i am an avid hunter, using my hawk to hunt with, but i dont like the idea of just plan killing all i see, so this year i want to release 100 phesants back into the wild, as its only far since they will be my game, now i did it last yr, only 50 and they were got as 6 week olds,
now i want to try incubating some eggs, i will be using my silky chickens for some,
here is my question

is it true if you incubat and brooder raise phesants they wont learn to roost and night?

is it true, incubator raised female phestants wont sit on eggs once there released in the wild?

i need to know, coz i think its pointless releaseing them if they wont breed and roost right, i really need to know about this, as i have a guy with eggs ready for me

also, what age do most of you release your phesants?

 

[bluegoose]

last year I got 75 one week old pheasants when they were 5 months old I released 40 of them in one of my corn fields that has a pine thicket next to it and they would roost in them.and some of the hens have sat eggs and they hatched. I can still count about 20 of them that have stayed here and come around my pheasant pen one hen has 8 babys with her.I have 3 hens that are in one of my pens that are sitting on eggs now and will beat the crap out of you if you get to close.the main thing I found with birds I am going to release is to have as little contact as possible with them and they will be more wild and have a better chance of makeing it when released.this is just my exp.some have better luck then me and some didnt it just depends on the birds and how you raise them.

 

[Dogfish]

1. false
2. false

3. I had one escape at 3 months and she came back to visit the rooster 7 months later. I would make sure that they were healthy and fully feathered.

You might also want to release them immediately prior to the hunt, rather than feeding the neighbor's dog, the coyotes, and every other creature out there. Also, check the legality of your plan, stocking your property well in advance of a hunt.

 

[pinkado]

Quote:
well im in ireland, and restocking is no issue, as for dogs eating them, we have the pen protected by electic barrier,
all we really want to know is, if i put 100 eggs in an incubator, raise them in my cicular brooding shed (heat and red lights all set up), when they get older, will they roost and mate and raise babys on there own in the wild,
i plan at 4 weeks old to move them to the flight pen and not interact with them

 

[bluegoose]

Like I said in my reply yes they will roost and sit just like the wild ones,

 

[pinkado]

awesome, i shall order extra eggs so, i will post when i put them in and set them so i can get a hatching buddy

 

[Dogfish]

Cool. Hope all goes well.