What do pheasants eat?

[poultryhaven]

I'm getting 4 pheasants (3 ringnecks and 1 Melanistic)

I was wondering if i could feed them Layer Crumble or Staarter Grower? Or even cracked corn?

 

[chseeads]

Higher protein feeds are better for gamebirds..... Specifically gamebird feed, or sometimes meat bird feed, or whatever any particular brand may call it, that is supposed to be good for gamebirds etc.

Nothing wrong with giving them some cracked corn along with other feed I don't think.

 

[Bosque]

You want to make sure that they have a higher protein diet than a chicken. I feed mine 26 percent protein. They also love greens.

 

[poultryhaven]

Ok thank you so if i do feed them crumble for a week or two will it effect them?

 

[chseeads]

How old are they?

In my unprofessional opinion, I don't think it would hurt them any. I would think that the younger they were the more it might be of a concern if they were in an age/stage of rapid growth at the time.

 

[poultryhaven]

Quote:
I'm not sure but they are old enough to sex. I'm completely new to pheasants

 

[Eggs4Sale]

I've heard that pheasants eat cake.

 

[Rebel Rooster]

I mix my gamebird feed... I buy a 28% turkey starter and mix it with an 18% chick starter, it works great and the birds do well on it. If the birds are a couple months old, I will mix in some scratch and greens or a 20% proteen rabbit feed... this works well also!

 

[frenchblackcopper]

My two new pairs (Red Goldens & Ghigi Yellow Goldens) did not eat for 2-3 days after I got them home and in their new housing.I had given them Nutrena gamebird feed crumbles,which they did not touch at all. I did notice they were leaving a lot of "Fertilizer" tho and still were very alert and active. They were drinking plenty of water as well.But my next trip to the farm store, I looked at several diffrent bags of wild game bird feed.I already had a 50lb bag of cracked corn,so opted to buy wild bird feed that did not contain any corn.
What I wound up buying was a mix of Milo,Millet and a few other small grain seeds,but I did not buy any that had sunflower seeds included in the mix.I then came home,and mixed 1/3 cracked corn and 2/3 wild bird feed together,and dumped out the gamebird crumbles and replaced it with my mix.To my suprise,the next morning,both pairs had ate almost all of what I had put in their feed pans.Since then, I have continued to give my homemade ration,and also put in a small pan of the gamebird Nutrena Crumbles,they avoid the crumbles like the plague,and seem to really like the cracked corn,and game bird mix.

 

[Lophura]

In addition to what's been recommended, a variety of greens and fruits should be offered. Live food such as mealworms, waxworms, and crickets are favorite treats!!

Food can be use as an enrichment item as well. Try a couple seed "bells". Hang different types of fruits around the aviary. Toss shelled peanuts around the aviary for them to "forage".

Dan