Pheasant hanging with the girls

[henney]

Good morning, we woke up to see a ring neck pheasant hanging out by the chicken run. I went out to feed the girls their greens and the pheasant didn't fly away, instead he followed me and the chickens around the yard, now the pheasant chased the chickens back in their run. Do chickens and pheasant get along? I don't see a female pheasant around tho.

 

[Birch Run Farm]

Interesting! I do know people who run pheasants with their chickens with no issues. I'm sure others are going to pipe in and say the wild pheasant may bring parasites and or diseases but that's a caution and not set in stone.

I've had them come around in the winter but they seem to move off as the weather improves.

 

[henney]

He seems to want to fit in with the girls, we have no rooster, but Henerietta chased him off when he was coming towards me. He went to the back porch and looked in the kitchen and then walked around and took a dirt bath under the pine tree! Then walked in the garage and my husband picked him up and took him back out. He seems tame, maybe he's somebody's pet?

 

[jbowyer01]

Sounds like you've be adopted

If he's gonna be part of the family I'd quarantine him for a while. Just to make sure he's not carrying any funky diseases.

 

[henney]

How do you know if they have diseases during quarantine? Would he act sick?

 

[nnbreeder]

Is he banded? I know that here in Ok. you have to have permits from Fish and Game to have Pheasents. You might check your state's laws. Being friendly I would guess he is an escapee and not wild.

 

[FarmerDenise]

Many years ago we had a young male pheasant come around to our backyard to visit the girls. It lasted a couple of weeks and then maybe he figured out that it probably wouldn't work out and found himself a pheasant hen. I fed them for many years, on the other side of the fence.

 

[lilshadow]

Check out feathersite and click the hybrid link. Someone mated a ringneck pheasant to a chicken. Interesting hybrid.

 

[henney]

Mr Pheasant left late yesterday. He wasn't banded but very friendly. He followed my husband in the garage and hung out, then left.
I checked the feathersite and looked at the cross between Pheasant and Chicken, very interesting, thanks!

 

[LynneP]

A ringneck I call 'Bluster' was wooing our hens outside their roofed run throughout December. Now he has 7 hens of his own species and brings them behind the barn for layer pellets that get thrown out with bedding, and to our wild bird feeders. It's nice to be able to offer feed to the wild ones. We use food-grade DE around the edge of the run and pest strips indoors to reduce the chance of pests that might be clinging to them. But when a female was killed one evening when flying up to the barn I examined her carefully and found no signs of parasites at this time.

I had no idea hybrids were common- this is good reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamebird_hybrids