Hatching Pheasant Chicks

[@weldonschmidt]

Cool video! I have 5 pheasants right now, (2 roosters and 3 hens) I hope to collect a few eggs in the spring and hatch them. I love what you've done with the structure in your pens. I'm going to steal that idea!

[@GarrettPrimm]

This is awesome! I just ordered 60 birds

[@captaincrunch5878]

I live in Soulsbyville California and I'm thinking of raising Pheasant to release into my area because they used to be here but not anymore... I here it's been multiple decades since they seen any, so I'm going to bring in a bunch of chick's and raise them up to let go.... I need to see what you do and how you do it because I'm a hands on learner. I have an aviary just built for chickens and I did one for Ducks, but the one I'm going to build for the Pheasant is going to be bigger than either of the other two... I'll be watching your videos , thank you so much !! R/Steve 😊

[@schmitzfarmandoutdoors]

Hey Steve! I appreciate your comment. Yes, it’s really hard for pheasants to survive in their own in the wild. I’ve experienced exactly what you are describing. I’d suggest you watch my “Raising Pheasants” video for a look at the full process from raising pheasant chicks to adult birds. All my pheasant videos could be of some help honestly. I plan to create a video about how I built my pheasant pen enclosure within a few weeks.

[@bucksgarage1]

So this made it seem like you stored the eggs at room temp and turned them 2 times a day until you were ready to incubate them... is that correct?

[@schmitzfarmandoutdoors]

Yes, I did this until I had a batch to incubate together. You can store eggs at room temperature while turning them twice daily for about 10 days before you have to incubate them.

[@millerchibomba]

Beautiful birds.. how is the mortality rate for Pheasant chicks

[@schmitzfarmandoutdoors]

After reviewing this a bit further I think the true hatch rate is close to 65-70% of the eggs collected. Of the chicks that hatch successfully, about 85% have made it to 10 days old and I haven’t lost any over that age. Some eggs may have been too cold for too long before I was able to collect them or other various reasons for the lower hatch rate.

[@Ceci-kj9ce]

What do you do with the rest of the quail? Do you butcher or let them loose?

[@schmitzfarmandoutdoors]

@@Ceci-kj9ce Most of the pheasants are released into the wild, used to help train hunting dogs, or kept for breeding next year’s flock.

[@dylanhansen5235]

Did any of the pheasants sit on the eggs after you stopped collecting them?

[@schmitzfarmandoutdoors]

Nope, the hens have continued laying eggs but haven’t started sitting on them.

[@garybaker1235]

What do you do with the pheasants you raise?

[@schmitzfarmandoutdoors]

Hey Gary! There’s a variety of things I do with my pheasants. Some are kept for breeding, others are released into natural environments. Sometimes we use them to train bird dogs for hunting and others we leave alone in an attempt to establish a wild population.

[@DerrickHopson]

do you have to have the beak guards on them

[@schmitzfarmandoutdoors]

It is common to put blinders on the pheasants to prevent them from becoming aggressive towards each other. I would recommend doing this once birds reach 7-8 weeks old. However, if your pen is large enough you might be able to get away without blinders.

[@rondowda5639]

I notice the eggs are setting in your incubrator with the point side up. Is that specific with pheasant eggs? I hatch quail eggs and these are set in the incubrator with the point side down. The big end is normally where the air sack is and you want that up. Does it matter with pheasant eggs how these are placed in the incubrator? thanks, Ron

[@schmitzfarmandoutdoors]

Hey Ron, I tried placing the pheasant eggs point side up and point side down throughout the several batches of eggs that I incubated. There wasn’t a significant difference in the hatch success rates, although I believe you correct. Most people recommend to put the point side down.

[@sarahcasper9698]

How did you access the middle section ?

[@schmitzfarmandoutdoors]

On one side, the bottom corner of the tarp was temporarily secured with wood as a weight. I just removed the wood, lifted the tarp, and walked into the middle pen section.

[@michaelajohnson7000]

I got two hens. One male. And he is gorgeous. But I got. 30 eggs ready. And bunch of chics. But they all are female. No Roos. At all how are you incubating temps. To get Roos.

[@schmitzfarmandoutdoors]

Hey Michaela! The incubating process doesn’t have an impact on the sex of the chick. When the chicks hatch, they all look the same. It takes a careful eye to tell a male from a female apart when they hatch. I’m guessing you probably have roosters in your batch of chicks. You might not be able to tell the difference until they start growing darker feathers 6 weeks old.

[@Elmo_outdoors]

I live in Michigan and have a bunch of different pheasant but more males than females do u happen to sell birds? I’m in northern mi

[@schmitzfarmandoutdoors]

Usually, I order or hatch more pheasants than I need and sell the excess birds.

[@Elmo_outdoors]

@@schmitzfarmandoutdoors how much for the extras? I could use a few

[@schmitzfarmandoutdoors]

Unfortunately, I already sold what extra birds I have for the season.

[@thesilentanimator9409]

would you be interested in selling some pheasant hatching eggs?

[@schmitzfarmandoutdoors]

I’d recommend doing a web search to find the closest pheasant breeder to your location. You typically can order eggs or day old chicks that arrive to your local post office.

[@johnmarkaquino7310]

Are you selling fertile eggs?

[@schmitzfarmandoutdoors]

Hi John! No, I’m not selling any eggs. I’d recommend MacFarlane Pheasants if you’re looking for Pheasant eggs or chicks.

[@hayleykitten1526]

What about humidity? Is it 50/55% then increase to 75% for hatching Thank you

[@schmitzfarmandoutdoors]

The recommended humidity is 65% for the first 21 days of incubation for pheasant eggs. Then increase to around 90% for the last 4-5 days. I wasn’t able to do this because I was putting a new batch of eggs into the incubator weekly so I held humidity at 70% and still was able to hatch about a 75% success rate.

[@lewisclayton271]

You only need 1 cock bird to 10 hens ideally

[@schmitzfarmandoutdoors]

That’s true. With this being an outdoor pen, I wanted to keep more roosters just in case I lose one or two of them to critters or other circumstances. Luckily, that never happened.

[@lewisclayton271]

@@schmitzfarmandoutdoors I suppose the plus side is your risks of laying infertile eggs reduces

[@schmitzfarmandoutdoors]

⁠@@lewisclayton271Yes, that’s another good point. I didn’t experience significant problems with infertility. Around 80% of the incubated eggs hatched. It probably would have turned out better if the birds were kept inside a barn.