reeves pheasant !!!!!! forum

[coffeepheasant]

i bought a pair of reeves pheasants from a fair they are in a large aviary with a soft meshed roof they have half of it shiplaped to gve them protection and it is full of conifers for cover however they are the flighlest birds i have ever had, they silvers i also bought eat out my hand. I was wondering if anyone could give me any advise on them or past experiences on reeves i.e breeding , natural brooding, agressivness, nervousness, etc.
kind regards will

 

[adriano]

I have reeves that eat from my hand.
But come breeding time the male can be aggressive and attack so be careful if you have kids in the pens with you.
Had a male kill all the chicks in the same pen.
Sometimes you may have to seperate him from the hen if he picks on her to much or else get another hen in to take some of the pressure off the other hen.
Your reeves might settle down after a while in the new pen.
Try give them some peanuts as a treat, they will get used to you.

 

[coffeepheasant]

I have heard about their pugnacious nature but i am willing to take the chance as they are so stunning

However i am not worried about him being agressive at the moment i am more worried about my silver pheasant male !!!!!!

so what is ur bird collection like thanks for your replie. kind regards will

 

[Tony K T]

Reeves and silvers are about the same.While some males are agressive others are not.It all depends on the bird itself.I find that the more agressive males are excellent breeders.While most people would rather have tame birds,I prefer agressive birds for breeding purposes.In both reeves and silvers if you can run 1 male to 4 or 5 hens so 1 hen is not being beating on during breeding.
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[golden reeves]

My reeves rooster is the same way real spooky until breeding season and then look out he doesn't care who you are you're not getting close to his hens. I actually have to hang shade netting down the sides of his pen so he cant see out or he spends all day trying to protect and forgets about the important part.

 

[Resolution]

They shouldn't be able to see out of the enclosure from the ground floor up to ~ four feet or much sky through the ceiling of the aviary. Shade cloth does wonders -it takes a different perspective in aviaries- if you want an aquarium to look into you'll see the birds but this is in no way a synthesis of this forest adapted species habitat. If you can put up some shade cloth and train gourds and hops, kiwi fruit, sweet peas- on the aviary in coming years, you'll have them slow mellow out a bit. It's stressful for them too.
In nature, a reeves pheasant flies at first disturbance when in the open and they can't afford to have any creature loom over them. If they have something more akin to a doll house- they perch more and don't freak out when you approach- especially when you just leave a window for ready viewing and block out the rest of the walls and some of the ceiling. This is also how you can end pacing and enable the male to grow out his long tail. He has to perch more often and never pace for the tail to grow out to its natural length and if he can see through the walls forget about it.