6.1.1 Breeding Pheasants

When raising pheasants, it is important to know how to manage breeders. Most commercial pheasant breeder operations colony breed pheasants outdoors on the ground. Colony breeding means having hundreds of hens and a much smaller number of males (one male for every 10 or 12 hens) in one single pen. Increasingly, commercial pheasant farms are breeding pheasants indoors in poultry facilities (either new installations or former chicken or turkey sheds). Battery breeding units in Europe consist of 10 hens with one cock bird in a 1 m × 1 m outdoor wire‐bottomed cage. Often the cock birds are switched to a new battery unit once a week. There are some large operations in China where hens are housed in cages and are artificially inseminated. Hens are usually artificially inseminated once or twice a week. Generally, the more feral pheasants lay the fewest eggs in cages and the most domesticated hens lay the most. Caged breeding, therefore, genetically selects for more docile or tame birds (Figure 6.1). This may be good in the food market, but not for birds being bred for hunting purposes.

Some metrics to consider for breeders include that pheasants require 0.7 inch linear feeder space and 0.1 inch. linear waterer space per bird. Breeders will eat approximately 1–1.5 pounds of feed per week. Ringneck breeder feed is typically 20% protein feed. Colony‐bred pheasants on commercial farms usually are peeped. Peepers are small plastic devices that clip onto the beaks of pheasants, making it difficult for the pheasant to see other birds (Figure 6.2). The purpose of these peepers is to reduce aggression among pen mates.

Outdoor pheasant density when breeding on the ground is usually in the 20–30 square feet (sq ft) per bird range. Indoor breeder density is in the 5–10 sq ft per bird range. European breeding units are denser, but only hold 10 hens and one cock per unit in a cage a few feet off the ground. Pheasants are also bred in movable pens that sit directly on the ground in Europe. About once every week or two, the pen is moved to fresh grass. Again, outdoor colony breeder ratios are commonly 10–12 hens per cock. Ironically, the higher square footage per hen, the fewer cock birds are needed to keep the hens fertilized. Indoor breeder ratios are commonly 12–18 hens per cock.

All aforementioned systems utilize artificial lighting to induce earlier than natural egg production, which is preferred because commercial farms want to have their first ringneck chicks as early as mid‐March. Chicks that hatch earlier than mid‐March reach a physiological sexual maturity while the days are still getting longer (before June 20). This can result in young hens laying eggs and cocks attempting to breed other birds. In light of this, hatching ringneck chicks for hunting‐type markets before mid‐March is not a successful strategy. Breeders induced with artificial light to lay earlier eggs will lay more eggs in total for the season per hen than those raised in natural daylight.

6.1.2 Pheasant Egg Production

Egg production varies by breed, but the most common commercial pheasant breed is the Chinese ringneck pheasant. Chinese ringneck hens weigh about 2.25 pounds at maturity, while Chinese ringneck cocks weigh about 3 pounds at maturity. In some parts of the world, the most common bird is a Mongolian ringneck pheasant but the Chinese ringneck is preferred in the US for its flying ability. The estimated egg production per season from Chinese ringneck breeders would be in the 60–80+ eggs per hen range, while the Mongolian ringneck would lay around 50 eggs per hen. Caged ringneck hens that are artificially inseminated can be expected to lay over 100 eggs through the breeding cycle.

Cull rate percentage indicates what percentage of eggs are not useable for incubation and hatching. Utilizing good management, the cull rate can be held to 4%. One of the biggest influences on curtailing cull rate is the number of daily collections, which can vary from once a day to 10 times a day, depending on the operation. The more often one collects, the lower the cull rate. Other factors affecting cull rate are straw in corners in outdoor pens, the density at which the breeders are kept, and the use of huts in both indoor and outdoor facilities. Huts are plastic or wooden structures that allow the hens to lay in the dark on straw, similar to a “nest” in the chicken industry. Hens will prefer to lay eggs in huts rather than in the open, some could say for privacy.

Placing straw in outdoor pens is necessary because of mud created during seasons of rain. Bacteria such as Escherichia coli, a bacterium present in feces, can be found in the soil. Contaminating the outer shell with wet soil will allow this bacterium to penetrate the egg via the shell pores if the egg remains outside for an extended period of time. When a hen lays an egg, the temperature of that egg is close to 100 °F. As the egg remains outside, especially in cooler temperatures, it cools. As the egg cools, any contaminates that are on the shell can be drawn into the egg via the eggshell pores. For this reason and to reduce potential contamination to the eggs, it is critical to collect eggs repeatedly throughout the day, especially during the rainy season.

6.1.3 Incubation and Hatching

Whether it is a small operation or large commercial farm, pheasant eggs are incubated and hatched with machines holding just a few eggs all the way up to incubators holding tens of thousands of eggs. Pheasant eggs can be held in a cool humid environment for up to 10 days before incubation without adversely affecting the percentage of chicks that will eventually hatch (hatchability rate). Pheasant eggs held longer than 10 days tend to not hatch nearly as well. If eggs are held more than 20 days, the hatch rate declines severely. Eggs are usually held with the point of the egg down so the air cell can develop at the wider end of the egg. Some hatcheries turn the eggs during the holding period on a daily basis. Once eggs are placed in the incubator, the eggs need to be turned once every hour throughout incubation (Figure 6.3).

The incubation period for pheasant eggs is halfway between chicken eggs (21 days) and the incubation period for turkeys (27 days). Pheasant eggs are usually incubated 21 days in incubators and held in hatchers for 3 days for a total of 24 days from the setting of the egg until the chicks hatch. The process of hatching from the time a pheasant chick starts to break its way out of the egg until it is dry and fluffy is approximately 24 hours. Once chicks are hatched and dry, they are boxed and taken to the brooder house or shed, whether processing a few eggs or thousands of eggs. At this stage, they can also be transported through the United States Postal Service (USPS) without significant chick mortality since the chicks can survive on the yolk for 3 days.

6.1.4 Brooding Pheasant Chicks

In backyard operations, a small number of pheasant chicks can be raised in a facility as small as 10 × 10 ft. One hundred day‐old pheasants heated with one or two infrared heat bulbs in an insulated building would be a good place to start, with a goal starting temperature of 98 °F. The birds could stay inside the facility day and night until they are 3 weeks old as long as the temperature is dropped on a regular basis after about 5 days of age. A small run off the brooder could allow the chicks to get fresh air and exercise. The run could open up into the pen where the birds could be placed once they have reached 6 weeks old. The number 1 mistake people who start raising pheasant chicks make is to crowd the birds, so it is important to give the birds adequate space to reduce cannibalism.

Commercial pheasant operations are brooding pheasant chicks in increasingly larger facilities, emulating the commercial chicken poultry industry. Housing often consists of post frame brooder buildings with concrete floors equipped with automatic brooding, feeding, ventilation, and watering (Figure 6.4). Though automation of rearing might seem to result in tamer pheasants, the truth is quite opposite: more feral pheasants occur with less human interaction. Automation reduces the amount of imprinting of humans onto pheasant chicks. Common chick densities are four chicks per square foot from placement at a day old up until 3 weeks of age. Density at 3 weeks is usually increased to two chicks per square foot and kept at that density until the birds are moved into the outdoor pens at 6 or 7 weeks old. Adequate ventilation is critical and air exchange can be as often as one change every few minutes. Since most commercial pheasant farms brood primarily in the summer, it is still economical for those farms to move a lot of air to ensure adequate ventilation.

There are many lighting systems. All involve some sort of dimming capability where the room is bright when the chicks are first placed, and the lights are dimmed down as the birds get older. Most operations use some sort of brooder in the 0–3‐week “A” room, but many operations switch to whole‐room heating in the 3‐week plus “B” room. There are many types of bedding, the most common being woodchips or chopped straw, but other bedding types are utilized depending upon what is available in the region.

Most operations use some sort of valve waterer such as a nipple line or bell drinker. The most common anticannibalism device used in the industry is a peeper, therefore nipple waterers are not used to any great extent because birds with peepers are not effectively able to hit a nipple to get water. Peepers are most commonly attached to pheasants between 31 and 37 days. Other methods used in the industry to control cannibalism and aggression include placing mouth bits (bitting), beak trimming, and hoods, which are a larger form of peeper (Figure 6.5). Day‐old chicks are fed a 28% or 30% protein feed similar to turkey feed, and perform best on crumbles, as with mash the chicks can pick out pieces of corn, etc. resulting in an unbalanced diet.

Coccidiosis is probably the biggest threat to the health of young pheasant chicks. Keeping the chick room dry is the most effective management tool to ward off coccidiosis outbreaks. Most feeds include a coccidiostat to help prevent coccidiosis in the pheasant flock.

6.1.5 Outdoor Pens

Because the majority of pheasants raised on commercial farms are used for hunting, it is imperative that the birds be raised outside and acclimated to the weather. There are many variations of outdoor pens. An overview of common traits of pens will now be discussed.

Polyethylene or nylon netting is most often used on the tops of the pens. Nets need to be treated during the manufacturing process with ultraviolet protection to prevent them from becoming brittle and able to be ripped open. Netting with a hole size of approximately 2 in. is most commonly used, as the hole size is small enough to keep the pheasants in and big enough to allow wet snow to fall through the net. One of the biggest issues in pheasant pen construction is the ability of the pen to withstand snow. Most farms use wire on the sides of the pens attached to some sort of post every 10 or 12 ft on center. The majority of farms bend the outer fencing wire at ground level for 2 ft out from the pen and under the soil around the pen in order to restrict predators from digging under and into the pen. Overall pen dimensions vary among farms, but the most common dimensions are 60–100 ft width and 150 or more feet length (Figure 6.6). Pens that exceed 100 ft in width often collapse during wet snowfalls.

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