They're Back

[fishing4sanity]

I was going to skip raising pheasants this year, but then I had several neighbors and friends mention they've been seeing more birds since we have been raising and releasing pheasants, so we bought some more that showed up last Saturday. I'm still amazed that they just ship them with good old USPS. The chicks have been doing pretty good so far and changing fast.

 

[Chad Gus]

I got my pheasants last week, so I can release them around our farm.

 

[1_pointer]

Very nice! I know of more than one population of birds that started that way. If I thought they'd reproduce at my place I'd give it a go. However, pheasants for some reason don't seem to reproduce in So. IN. According to my high school biology teacher, it's due to a lack of calcium in the soil....

 

[RUT JUNKEY]

Thats excellent, good on you for helping restock. We raised some quail and pheasants years ago and released them we never hunted them, but I bet the local coyotes took their toll on them.
1pt, I think you are correct in the lack of mineral in the soil, it seems as if the county north of me holds more birds and seems to increase the farther north you go. There is a huge difference in the soil from here to the soil 30 miles north ( the soil is almost black north of here) that and its more like prairie there too.

 

[fishing4sanity]

I just thought I'd include a few pics of the growth-stage the birds are at now. I had a weasel killing birds off-and-on for a couple of weeks, not sure if something else got him or if the birds have gotten big enough to fight him off, luckily no dead ones for quite awhile now. I've also been releasing birds in small groups for the last few weeks. They still look a little rough, but when mature I think they're one of the best looking game birds out there.