First pheasant egg today, NOW WHAT

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I went down to water the chickens and pheasants today and I found a pheasant egg in the pheasant pen. I have two 8x8 coops in the pen of 20 hens and 2 roosters. And found one lone egg in the coop with staw in it. The coop also has some chicken style laying boxes with wood shavings in them, and so far this winter they seem to sit in them. The second coop is where the feed and water is and just has wood shaving in it. They also have one small brush pile from the apple tree pruning and the Christmas tree. Anyway, should they be laying this soon? Should I do anything? Is there any way to help them brood the eggs or should I put them under a broody chicken(if I get a broody one yet)? And do they need better laying habitat? I was going to thin the flock down to six very soon and see if the remainders would lay and brood there own chicks. Thank you in advance for any input. Craig

-- craig swasnon (craig@rswcorp.com), March 26, 2001

Answers

I don't raise pheasants, but since they are a more or less wild bird, I would think that they would sit their own eggs. Are they separate from the chickens? My guineas sat eggs only to have the little things trampled by the hens since they are so much smaller. A sitting bird should have a separate place if possible where other creatures can't bother it. My wilder hens (as well as the duck and guineas) insist on choosing their own place. So if you want her to gather a clutch, you would want to mark the egg but leave it there so she will come back to the same place to lay again. Obviously, if it is still freezing over night where you are, you will need to collect some eggs and keep them in a more temperate place, but leave a marked one or two so she will go back to the same spot. I don't know what makes some of the birds decide to sit while others do not, so I will just wish you luck. If you do have a hen to go broody first, I don't see any reason why you couldn't give her some pheasant eggs, but you would probably have to raise the chicks yourself.(If you do get one or more to brood, you might want to band them so you know which ones will. If she broods this year, odds are good that she will brood next.) Good luck.

-- mary, texas (marylgarcia@aol.com), March 27, 2001.

Hi Craig, I had a broody barred rock hen hatch 7 pheasants last year and she pretty much raised them until one of our barn cats ate 5 of them. I still have one cock and one hen, so I'm waiting for more eggs so far this year. I still have some broody barred rock hens (one just had a chick hatch today) but I've learned to keep all new and small chicks (and pheasants) secluded in a larger pen with half by half inch wire until they are big enough to dis-interest the cats. In the past I've also hatched pheasants in our incubator with great success. The key to keeping them from flying off is to trim the wing feathers off on only one wing. They may try to fly but will only manage to go in small circles. Good Luck!

-- Dan Vachon (dbvachon@yahoo.com), March 31, 2001.

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