# Ornamental pheasant help...



## Tapir (Mar 20, 2010)

I'm looking into maybe getting a breeding pair of Golden or Lady Amethyst Pheasants.

I have a few questions...

1) Will they last in our cold winters? Obviously I can provide a heat lamp in their shed!

2) Can you tell me what care they need? What do they need in their shed? What do they eat? Any illnesses i need to be aware of?

3) Are they good parents? Are they likely to breed and raise?

4) Would a pair of GP and a pair of LAP get on okay in the same garden? Will they fight - am I better to have one pair or the other?

5) Are they likely to fly off...or are they like chickens in that they tend to stay put. Are their wings commonly clipped?

Thanks so much for the help


----------



## AlexArt (Apr 25, 2010)

I've had them in the past and they were beautiful to look at but stupid as hell!!! I had Lady Amherst, golden, Reeves and Silver in an acre orchard with my chooks, although they had a separate shed to go in at night. I kept them in for about a week then let them out, they were fine for a couple of days then they stopped roosting in their shed, so had to resort to catching them every evening with a net out of the trees - we did clip their wings or they definitely would have buggered off straight away - they are very different to chooks. 
Then they got the idea of this and would just climb higher up the trees instead so ended up roosting out - they lasted all of 2 days - as they would get up as soon as it was light and all they tend to do is pace the fences as they are just so highly strung and have very little between the ears if you know what I mean!, which meant 4 or 5am so just the time when Mr Fox was about, so he climbed the fence and ate the lot in one morning!!! So I would never keep them again unless I had a huge estate where I could let them loose in large numbers - I wish!! - and let them take their chances or have a very large rat proof aviary with a roof so they can't get out!!!!!

And yes they can tolerate our winters as long as they have food and shelter, and yes they will breed if you provide the right conditions for them, ie an aviary with lots of shrubs and cover, and they are happy and stress free - the pheasant family are one of the most stressy types of birds so are pretty ditsy really but can become tame after alot of effort!!
Food wise they eat the same as chooks, although in winter I would add fat and mealworms to their diet to keep them happy - and like all pheasants they go nuts for raisins!!!
As for keeping several species in one cage - they can interbreed, and they can also fight if they don't have enough space so probably best to keep separate.


----------



## Tapir (Mar 20, 2010)

Can't believe I've only just seen this reply - sorry AlexArt!

Thank you for your help, oooh I really do want a pair! May have to work on my folks to let me keep some in the orchard or in a big Avairy


----------



## poohdog (May 16, 2010)

As said...best in a large aviary where they will pace up and down the wire like a bear in a six foot cage.
Beautiful to look at, but personally I would prefer some of the fancy quail available.


----------



## Jesse11 (Dec 7, 2011)

poohdog said:


> As said...best in a large aviary where they will pace up and down the wire like a bear in a six foot cage.
> Beautiful to look at, but personally I would prefer some of the fancy quail available.


beautiful pic ,like them.thanks


----------



## Tapir (Mar 20, 2010)

poohdog said:


> As said...best in a large aviary where they will pace up and down the wire like a bear in a six foot cage.
> Beautiful to look at, but personally I would prefer some of the fancy quail available.


Hmmm, they do sound quite highly strung...

Do fancy quail lay eggs to eat? I suppose I could sell those too.
I will look into those too, many thanks x :thumbsup:


----------



## Tapir (Mar 20, 2010)

How about fancy partridges? are they as highly stung as pheasants? How do they compare to quail?


----------

