Heading to Green River tomorrow to pick up 1000 day-old ringneck pheasant chicks. Had a blast last year raising 500 chukar chicks. I will be working more closely this year with my friend and mentor Russ Peterson at Rooster Valley Pheasants. I will be selling most of the birds directly to him for use on his hunting preserve. I will keep a few pheasant for myself for dog training purposes and perhaps as breeders for next year. Russ usually raises two batches of pheasant chicks each year. We are hoping with the addition of my brooder rooms and grow-out pens we will be able to avoid raising a second batch in July when the weather is hotter. Mortality rates seem to be much better here in May and June before the Summer heat really turns on. It seems to be easier to warm the chicks up than to cool them down if too hot.

I spent all day yesterday getting the brooder rooms prepared for the chicks. I scrubbed down everything with a water/clorox mixture to disinfect and clean. Tonight I will turn on the heat lamps and get the brooder rooms warmed up 12-24 hours before the birds arrive. We use 1/4″ welded wire for our circles and the nipple waterers from Nature’s Way. The ground inside the circles is covered with pine shavings and great care is taken to keep temperatures warm enough. I will have to supplement my heat lamps with a propane radiant heater as freezing temps are common here in late May and early June. The first few days are always a little stressful, but hopefully things will go smoothly. I’ll post some pics when the birds arrive tomorrow.