Anyone Raise Ringnecks?

Tikka

Tikka

Long Time Member
Messages
4,828
The “raising chicken” post got me thinking…
I’m currently building a pheasant/quail coop 8’x 30…

My question for you folks that may raise these birds, what ideas do you have for nesting boxes that work well for the birds?
 
I was hoping that if I keep my numbers down, 2 roosters and 6 hens that I wouldn’t have to put blinders on… I’ll find out if it happens…
 
I guess it depends on what the goal is, but I always thought Chinese Pheasants would be cool to have. Keep us posted on how it goes. 8X30' seems like a great size pen. Good luck.
 
Here’s the start, footing excavation and a little collateral damage to the fence…?
IMG_0109.jpeg
 
IMG_0110.jpeg
Excavation done now onto forming footers… it’s just me so this will be a long project from start to finish…
 
Wow. Fancy job. I have raised several types of birds, and as long as you get them all at the same time and age, you can do a lot more birds than that. I never had to put blinders on. I would raise 30 birds in that space and go down to 15 by breeding time. I enjoy hatching them also.
 
I did it in high school definitely had to many at first and they basically start killing with the smallest ones first. Once they had some elbow room they were fine. For entertainment we would catch mice or gardener snakes and bet which one would make them a meal. Cool birds for sure.
 
I used dog kennel fence panels hooked end to end and topped with chicken wire for a 10’x30’ pen.
I would buy 50 day olds, would use all the roosters for dog training and all the hens somehow escaped to a friends 100 acre farm.
The hens, and only hens, would escape in August.
In just two years of those hens escaping (appx.20 hens) we had some fantastic Phez hunting.
I believe we could bring back Phez hunting in Utah by supplementing hens in early fall when veg is still standing, water is not froze, and plentiful bugs are available for nutrient and moisture needs.
Releasing roosters in November will never bring back our Pheasants.
P.S. I know that is not the intent of the November plants.
 
Jeremy2019 said:
I did it in high school definitely had to many at first and they basically start killing with the smallest ones first. Once they had some elbow room they were fine. For entertainment we would catch mice or gardener snakes and bet which one would make them a meal. Cool birds for sure.
Click to expand...
Would the pheasants usually win?
 
Gisi pheasants farms is who we get hen chicks for raise and turn loose. But working great we turn they loose around the area we see those wild hens gettting grit and such alongs and they seem to do well. Check out their website
 
treedagain said:
I did the dog panel route with wire when I was training my wire hair. Pheasants, chukar and quail. I would buy the brood stock from a local guy after he hatched out. A little more $ but guaranteed training.
Click to expand...
The panels work out very well.
I was paying $1/bird and would end up with about 40 adults out of the 50 by the time I was finished.
Don’t add Chukars to the mix, stick with Pheasants.
 
When we raised them, we put random stuff in the run for them to lay eggs under. I remember checking daily and collecting eggs for the incubators. We would keep around 15 birds that but hatched a bunch.

Our good friends were raising thousands of birds at that time and we decided it would be fun to raise a few. All of their pen had a soft net on the top to keep the birds from breaking their necks
Just decided to start raising chickens again and now I’m getting the itch to get a few pheasants
 
When I raised them we lived next to a corn field and it was always fun to throw in a few corn on the cob and see how fast they could devour it, husk and all
 
Male Chukar can kill a rooster or hen. I have had them in the same pens and the Rooster get's killed the most.
 
AS many times, if you have more then one . Dang I hope you didn't take off your shoes to count.
Come on to SD and we will show how many we can kill LOL
 
Most of my pheasant casualties came from them panicking and flying into the underside of the pen roof.

My best dog I ever had walked across some fresh cement at my house years ago. I was pissed at the time, but those tracks bring back good memories now.
 
Last edited:
Great looking run you got there Tikka. Built to last.

I gave it a try a few years ago. I built mine so the floor was suspended about 2.5 feet off the ground and used 2x6 joists. I stapled a quarter inch grid chicken wire across the 2x6 so their feet would not go through but the poop and dirty feed would, so I only had to clean the gunk out about twice a year and I think it helped keep them from getting sick.

I saved all the hens (about 17) as I recall, and four roosters . The next spring the hens started laying eggs on the chicken wire. I made sure I removed them morning and evening so they never started to eat them. Once that starts, you about done getting eggs, I think. I never saw any eggs get eaten and I never had any nesting areas.

Those hens dang near ate those roosters alive. There butts were a bloody mess for weeks.

But boy did they lay eggs, one a day or more on occasion. In a week I had a hundred eggs. It was nuts how fast they build up.

One of my sons has been raising a few hundred a year for the last 8 or 10 years, he’s taken kids from all over the country pheasant hunting over the years. if your going to hunt pheasants in Utah it’s about your only option for most folks.

Good luck, keep us posted.
 
We use some old small Grain bins they are everywhere.
they seem to work good for raising the chicks, then add flypen to the open door . cheap is the way to go.
 

Similar threads

gr8fuldoug
SHOT Show Day 1
Replies
0
Views
312
gr8fuldoug
gr8fuldoug

Click-a-Pic ... Details & Bigger Photos

Member Gallery Photos and Videos!

Super Stud Trophy Mule Deer
20210218_174657.jpg
IMG_8696.jpg
Elk mount pic.jpg
Arizona Archery Mega Bull Elk
IMG_9792 copy.jpg
96512CF4-19CE-490F-A369-DC4EF391D75A.jpeg
4811836B-012D-46BB-91A1-1D7FF1A8FB45.jpeg
Who likes a big buck?
Heavy Buck!!
trim.0C6F6A30-4439-467D-BC97-937D28BC31DD.MOV
IMG_7567 copy.jpg
Back
Top Bottom