wild phesant stalking my girls

[tktagalongtek]

I'm honestly not sure where to ask this question, so please move it if it doesn't belong in this topic..


I've had a wild male phesant visiting for the past 4 nights...he shows up around 6 pm or so and stays till just before dark. He's been out strutting his stuff and showing off for my pullets, they aren't showing any interest in him. Do I need to be concerned about him?

Thanks!

 

[heritagebirds]

Sounds like they aren't worried about him.... Maybe he'll get bored and leave...

 

[Buster]

I've heard of wild pheasants mating with chicken hens, but the offspring are sterile. DW's grandpa used to have a game bird roo that would hunt the ditch banks looking for rooster pheasants to fight with. Do you have a rooster? If so, I would watch out for fighting over your hens.

 

[tktagalongtek]

No, I don't have a rooster...just the 16 girls that are just over 6 weeks old. So I'm not concerned about fights, just more worried about him getting into the run or the coop. He comes closer when they are all in the run than when they are out "playin" in the big yard...He takes off when ever one of us comes out the door, but tonight he was up close to the hen house, they were all outside & he was peeking into the house...my girls all took off under the camper. They wouldn't come out until I went out, and the pheasant left. Too bad he moves so fast or I'd have the greatest pics!

 

[blurose]

I wouldn't worry all that much if you don't already have a roo or two. When I lived on the ranch I had male pheasant troubles too, but I had roos that drove him off. That pheasant is just like a kid walking back and forth at a candy counter that knows he don't have no money.

When my current flock (all hens) were about the same age as yourn are, a wild male chukar (not native to this area so someone released it) got into my pen and set up housekeeping with my pullets. No matter how many times he was chased off, he'd be right back the next day. He even started snuggling up with the pullets in the henhouse at night. I'd go out there thinking I'd catch him at night and find him IN the nestbox with 2-3 of the buff orpington pullets loving up on him. All of the pullets eventually started talking chukar. After all, they didn't have any older chickens to teach them correct chicken behaviors now did they? That chukar used to beat up on my pullets and bully them something fierce in his frustration at not being able to mate with them, battering and bloodying more than one of them on more than one occasion. He even taught my buff orpingtons (whom I was told would be so sweet, quiet and docile) to be his enforcement squad. I called them the three "buff" shirts. I finally got the neighbor to dispatch that chukar, thinking the "buff" shirts would quiet down. But NO, I ended up having to sell off those "buff" shirts so my other pullets would have peace. Still, to this day, over 2 years later, I occasionally hear chukarese out of my hens.