Chicken vs Pheasant Brooding - No Big Difference

I have hatched, brooded and grown chickens for many years and wondered if I can use the same knowledge I gathered in raising Pheasants (ph). As it turned out, yes I can! I took care of 8 batches of ph, ringnecks specifically, and my worst 7-wk mortality rate was 3% with the best coming at 1.5%. We measure brooding/growing up to 7 wks in ph because that is the time when we move them out to the flight pens from the buildings. These are flocks from 300 to 10,000 heads in sizes. So what are the things similar in raising both birds?

1. Always be conscious about receiving good quality chicks! As I have said in my previous advices, chick quality comprises 1/3 of the secrets in successful bird raising. Your chicks should be alert, abnormality-free (anatomical and symptoms-free), and experimenting immediately on feed and water after placement. Symptoms you would not want to see in your chicks are pasty vents, splay legs, marked uniformity problems, general weakness and DOA's! These are signs even the most skilled amongst us will find difficult to resurrect.

2. The basic behaviour of going nearer or farther from heat to compensate from what is given in their surroundings is the same. This heat behaviour, for me, is the most important in the first 10 days of life for any caretaker to look at. I suggest every 2 hour checking for this parameter in the 1st 3 days of life which can be extended to every 3 hours from the 4th day to the 7th. And mind you, I am talking about 24-hr monitoring. I have seen flocks go down the drain right from the 1st week, and its most common culprit is caretakers' lapses during the coldest part of the day. Mortality spike for a day or 2 only usually exposes this monitoring slippage.

3. Ensure adequate feeder and watering spaces per chick. This is self-explanatory and very important because we do not want the bigger chicks to get the majority of protein and energy sources leaving only the crumbs for the smaller ones. If left unchecked, in 2 wks you will have a uniformity problem which can worsen into bullying and cannibalism in a month's time.

4. Provide correct heat and air circulation. This is a usual mistake by novice farmers whereby they try to provide adequate heat to the expense of air circulation resulting into chick suffocation. This is especially true for those who use impermeable plastic or glass to surround their chicks inside their brooding areas. You will see the chicks gasping for air with their wings drooped to the sides pecking their toes resulting into numerous deaths in 2 days. Focusing on correct temperature is good but do not miss the fact that the chicks also need fresh air coming in. An inlet and an outlet near the top will suffice for this circulation parameter.

5. In both bird rearing, you need to prepare the place thoroughly with a checklist in tow especially for the materials you will need for the 1st month. A good house clean up and disinfection program should be formulated with the objective of killing insects and germs. For existing farms, I usually recommend the following: immediate insecticide application after the last flock leaves, thorough filth removal, and at least 2-stage disinfection - first using strong disinfectants that will penetrate remaining filth followed by a disinfectant which is good for both viruses and bacteria like aldehydes and iodines. Lastly, a checklist of all the possible things you will need during the 1st month will make you ready to handle any challenge in the future like diseases, temperature fluctuations, and even power outages.

6. Examine the feed texture and birds reaction to feed right in front of them. The objective is for them to eat and drink continually without selecting. This is important because some feedmillers inadvertently forget to change screens resulting into big sizes of grains which cannot be consumed by chicks. This will result into nutrient imbalance and later on bigger problems like low weights, cannibalism, and deaths.

However, there are also some differences in the way we should treat chickens and ph like in feed nutrition. Pheasants need more protein (26-28% CP) while broilers would need higher energy. Also, different chicken types and pheasants will have different brooding temperature standards which are also important to consider. Moreover, you also have to look at specific differences in lighting programs, especially for layer breeds. Nonetheless, the basic things I have enumerated above, will spell mostly the success or the failure in your brooding endeavour.

Good Luck and God Bless.