2nd year of releaseing

[Russ-Judy]

this is the second year we have bought pheaseants (full grown) and realeased them in April at our Duck Inn; we buy 3 roosters and 21 hens--when we first started we were lucky to hear 1 lonely rooster just cough once in awhile, now were seeing them run, fly and a continual cough from all areas around us;
   the old boy thats been around for the last 5 years showed up last Saturday in the rain--he must weigh 6 pounds and have a tail over 3 ft long;; almost all the hens were bread before we picked them up because there back feathers were almost all gone and the boys looked pretty tired

 were seeing turkeys every weekend within 100 yards of the deck crossing along with a few deer trying to snatch some of the food we put out;- the sand hill cranes wake us up and put us to rest in the evening
  we have water all over this year and may get a chance to get the garden plowed this weekend if it doesnt rain some more, were behind 2 weeks already from last years unreal temps so the food plots are getting behind too! but i wont yell to bad as my new hip replacement is still healing (3 weeks down and a few more before it will let me walk without any canes (sure makes you feel down in the dumps looking at Judge Judy ride the atv all over and i dare not try yet)

havent been able to get my wood duck houses built yet but it shouldnt be long now till i can;

[HUNTER2]

I was wondering if releasing pen raised birds would work or not. I released 60 hens and 1 rooster this year on my property. They had there feathers picked off also. They were $3.00 a piece. There was pheasents there before, but I thought more is better.

[deadeye]

60 hens and only one rooster!  Man you gotta like the roosters odds.

[rosiesdad]

Make friends with some trappers, get skunks, coons and possums out of there.. Coyotes too if you got em.

[Russ-Judy]

im getting a little worried that with all this rain and the water table way up some of the eggs were drowned out- were still seeing roosters and some of the hens being chased around by the roosters yet- it was really fun to watch him fluff up do his  dance around her and keep following her, we still have a hen turkey by the cabin every weekend, for some reson she goes through the garden just plucking up the plants looking for seeds,,, now Judge Judy can run almost as fast as her as she chases her out of it,, im sure the fence will go up this weekend but it wont do much good as she can fly over it!!!

[LandDr]

Some thoughts on releasing pheasants...here is my take on it.

Pheasants are extremely prolific and will multiply rapidly in areas that support them.

With that in mind...if you don't have pheasants, there is a reason for it.  There are limiting factors at some degree that are keeping pheasants from surviving in your areas.  If those limiting factors are fixed, you may be able to sustain a population at your site.

Regarding the comments above that you didn't see pheasants before but now you are seeing them since you started releasing birds...we have had several mild winters in a row which has allowed more hens to make it through the winter and therefore survive for the spring nesting season.  So we are seeing more birds and seeing more birds in the northern ranges.

However...it only takes one really bad winter to set that all back!

The time to prepare in now.  Start "winterizing" your property by designing in shrub/conifer plantings that act as snow fences and thermal barriers that protect food sources.  Minimum is to get food into your site.  Pheasant feeders can be great additions, cost effective and easy.  You can make barrel feeders or we have some feeders at www.HabitatNOW.com as well.  Make sure to put your feeders adjacent to thick cover and not under or near tall trees (tall trees are perches for avian predators such as hawks and owls that will pick your birds off).

My recommendation has always been to get your property design and developed...and then wait and see if birds naturally show up.  "Build it and they will come".  Then you are using that wild stock and better genetics rather than possibly introducing inferior birds or whatever those birds might be bringing in with them.  More often than not, birds will show up.  If not, then look for high quality stock.  For more northern sites, just south of I94 and north of I94, I would recommend contacting Ringnecks Forevermore group out of Bertha, MN for some of their birds.  They have been working with a more "northern tolerant" strain from China with great results.  These birds came from similar landscapes and they even nest a couple weeks later which increases nest success due to allowing it to warm up more before they nest.

Predators...skunks, racoons, and cats are really tough on your birds.  Try not to encourage any tall trees as well as hawks and owls are also tough on your birds.  Coyotes...I tolerate them as long as they don't start getting tough on my deer.  Coyotes will actually run out skunk, racoons and even cats...they don't tolerate them in their territory...so they can be good to have around to some extent...stress "to some extent".

It is like building a house first and then moving in.  If the house was already built and the refrigerator was stocked full, everyone will move in.  If there is no house and no fridge, no one will move in.  Build it and they will come.

Kyle, PLM
www.HabitatNOW.com