Raising Pheasants need help!

[JBar]

Question for those that are or have raised Pheasants. My son has been raising pheasants since last summer ( kinda a summer project that ran over ) and he is now getting eggs as would be expected. How soon does he need to get the eggs off the ground and into an incubator? The hens don't seem to lay on them and they just randomly drop them where they happen to be standing at the time and he only seems to get a couple per day, I thought they would lay several at the same time. Why do they not lay on them themselves I would think it would come naturally? Any advice would help right now we are just having pheasant eggs for breakfast and I think he would rather try to hatch some. 

[JBar]

 :yike:Holy crap! I just found Grizz's post on raising birds, not sure it would be worth the trouble may just keep having Pheasant egg omelette's

[Birdguy]

If the hens have a safe place that is dry and cool they will generally lay them in the same place. In fact all the hens in the pen will lay in the same spot if they are comfortable there. An old milk crate  with branches over it, a three sided box, an old dog house or even a bucket to get into will work. The sooner you collect the eggs the better. Store them in a egg carton or egg rack in the coolest part of you house (perhaps the garage right now but not once the weather warms up) rotate (tip up one end then the other) the rack a couple times a day store eggs little end down and they will keep for a week no problem. PM me and I will give you my phone number and will be glad to help you and your son out. I do not know everthing but I can certainly get you going in the right direction. Mine started laying about two weeks ago but production will be spotty until the weather improves.

[JBar]

So the fridge is not a good place! I will send you a PM but would it be better to wait until they start laying more eggs? Thanks Birdguy!

[bowhunter/taxidermest]

i also have pheasants laying eggs. he has fourteen days before he has to put them into a incubator he can put them in there sooner but wait till you have enough to fill the incuabator. then about 21 days will pass and then your chicks should start hatching

[Old Dog]

i also have pheasants laying eggs. he has fourteen days before he has to put them into a incubator he can put them in there sooner but wait till you have enough to fill the incuabator. then about 21 days will pass and then your chicks should start hatching

That's great advice for chickens, but not for pheasant.  Pheasant eggs should not be stored for more than 7 days.  In fact after 11 days fertility will fall to almost zero.  Store them at 55 degrees with 75% humidity, small end down, and turn them at least twice a day.  Incubation time is 23-24 days.  Stop turning them 3 days before hatch, and raise the humidity.  Pheasants need more humidity than chickens.  Once they hatch you can brood them just like you would chickens.  Do not over crowd your birds or they will start to cannibalize each other.  Once that starts it is difficult to stop.  Start with 1 sq ft per bird, and increase by 1 sq ft every other week.  By the time they are adults they should have a minimum of 15 sq ft per bird with good cover. 

[JBar]

Got 13 eggs going into the incubator tomorrow and hope to have a few more in the morning, I should have some chicks in the next month  ! Maybe I should have more to put in at once??

[Sportfury]

JBar,

I would wait and put all your eggs in at once. If you put eggs in at different times you will have a high chance of your eggs hatching at different times. Getting in the incubator and taking chicks out may effect chicks that are still in the eggs.

Chris

[big ed]

we store are eggs on the counter in the garage for 5 or 6 days before we put them in the incubator.my kids raise them if you put them in at different times put the date on so you can track them.good luck

[boneaddict]

You can have a "hatch going" for several days.  As stated put your date on the eggs.  Pheasants a re a bit harder to hatch than chickens by the way.  You can hatch for several days putting the chicks in the brooder.  After about 5 days, start another brooder if you intend to hatch more.  The bigger chicks will start hammering on the smaller ones.  Pheasants a re a nasty lot, some worse than others when it comes to picking on each other.  MANY species won't take care of their own out in the pens.  I have a few that do.  I sell eggs and hatch them all spring then towards the end will let some hens hatch their own.   There is alot higher mortality this way.  Birdman knows what he is doing.  If there any other questions that he can't answer (doubt it) then buzz me, I might be able to help.   My birds are starting to get into a bit of a rhythm now.  FRESH EGGS always hatch better.  If you want to store them 5 days at 55 degrees is perfect.  Maximium standard in the industry is probably about 7 days.  I always sell one day old eggs on ebay so that I can ship and get them out and to the buyer within this time frame for maximium hatching rate.  Check out my site at kikescove.com if you wnat to see some cool birds.  I lost my web program so haven't updated the site for a bit, but if you haven't seen some of them, Pheasants are awesome.

[JBar]

Thanks for the info guys! I actually have a Friend with an incubator so I will be bringing her eggs weekly. She has access to another incubator if we need it. How many eggs per week can I expect from three hens once they really get going?

[boneaddict]

one a day(per bird).  Need to not let them sit out there though as the dominant hen will destroy the other eggs if she gets to them sometimes.  Some do some don't.

[JBar]

Update! 1st batch of eggs was a no go, second batch are hatching now but looks like we'll only get 4 or 5 chicks out of 20 eggs incubated so not a total loss, how long should I give the other eggs before throwing them out? I will be putting another 19 eggs in the incubator today but would like to buy some chicks if Birdman or Old Dog are selling any.

[gasman]

How about some Pic.

[JBar]

I'll see what I can do, I'm only supplying the eggs and a friend is incubating them so it might be a few days.

[boneaddict]

Something is wrong with your set-up....... humidity, temp, rotatating, age of eggs going in.  Have any stats or whats your process. 

[JBar]

Bone- I don't have any info other than the age of the eggs going into the incubator are 5-7 days. She relizes that pheasants are alot harder than chickens to hatch and I have passed all the info from you guys along to her. I'm gussing humidity has alot to do with it as she had fully developed chicks that never broke through. Some were partially developed and were put into the incubator the same time as the fully developed and the ones that did hatch.

[big ed]

HERE SOMETHING YOU MIGHT TRY THAT WORKS FOR US.TRY SPRAYING THEM WITH A LITTLE WARM WATER WHEN YOU SEE THEM STARTING TO MOVE INSIDE THE SHELL.ABOUT ONCE A HOUR OR SO .WE LEARNED THIS FROM A OLD BREEDER IN MY KIDS 4-H AND IT SEEMS TO WORK.NOT SURE WHY ,BUT WHEN THE COUNT IS DOWN WE GO BACK TO THIS AND IT UP THE BIRD COUNT.

[Birdguy]

Big Ed, the additional water on the eggs directly increases the humidity and basically lubricates the chicks shell and the chick making it easier for the chick to turn and finish pipping the shell to get out. It is almost always recommended to up the humidity for the last couple days of incubation. To much or to little humidity during incubation will often result in chicks with disabilities. Often crooked toes or crooked necks, or chicks that never make it out of the egg. 

[big ed]

YOUR RIGHT WE STARTED DOING THIS ABOUT 6 YEARS AGO .WITH ARE HATCHINGS  JUST THOUGHT I WOULD THROW IT OUT THERE FOR THOSE THAT DID'NT KNOW. EVERYONE HATCHING EGGS HAVE FUN AND GOOD LUCK.