Something killed two of my pheasants

[David G Baker]

A neighbor belongs to the Pheasants Forever organization. He started out in the Spring with around 70 chicks that he planed on raising and releasing in the Fall or late Summer. Last week he asked me if I would take some of the young pheasants, keep them for around a week then release them on my place so they would stay in an area away from his place. I ended up with 9 birds, 2 roosters and 7 hens. I built a covered 12'x6' pen for them out of the 6'x6' kennel panels that have cyclone fencing fastened to the support tubes. I covered any gaps in the corners where the birds may be able to get out or some critters may be able to get in. I surrounded the base of the panels with 2"x6" lumber to prevent and digging critters form getting into the pen. I have had the birds for 7 days without any problems. This morning when I went out to feed and water them there was two dead birds in the pen with their heads missing and no sign of an invader. Does anyone have any idea of what critter could get into the pen and take only the birds head? I have a lot of predators in my area but none I can think of that could get into the cage with out leaving any sign of entry.
I released the birds because I thought they had a better chance of surviving in the wild than penned up in a cage.

[Robert McGowen]

It is probably a hawk or an owl. They will bite through the neck and take off the heads and then eat through the neck hole into the body cavity. A small hawk or owl could easily go through a chain link fence. I have actually seen it happen.

[David G Baker]

Thanks Robert. I did quite a bit of searching on the Internet and came up with the information about pen raised pheasants are not to smart when it comes to predators. If the pheasants stick their necks out of the pen an owl will get the head according the the research. Never thought about small owls and hawks actually getting inside of the pen but after doing some thinking most of the birds are fluffed up feathers and can make themselves pretty skinny. The size holes in trees on my place where some birds live are pretty small in comparison to the size of the birds that live in them.
I haven't actually seen any owls around my place but they are here but only come out at night. I do have plenty of hawks that prey on the doves and blue-jays.
I also read that pen raised pheasants do not stand much of a chance of surviving when released and all we are doing is feeding the predators. I do have some pretty dense ground cover and that may give them a little bit of an edge.

[Bryan Berguson]

David,

Could be a rat too. A friend of mine raised pheasants and was seeing the same thing happen. Turned out to be a rat.

Bryan

[David G Baker]

Bryan,
I am sure that I have rats on my place because we feed many birds but I have never seen one. After I am sure that the pheasants have settled in after I let them go I am going to set up the pen again so larger critters can't get access to the green pellets that I am going to put into the cage just in case I do have a pheasant killing rat. I keep the green pellets available in my basement and my out buildings year around where larger animals do not have access.
Rats did enter my mind but I thought that rats went after the eggs and small birds not birds that were almost adults.
I will probably never find out for sure what got the birds.

[Johnny Pearce]

David, I breed and raise exoctic birds [parrots & macaws]. Have had same experience as you with raccoons killing birds. You might try setting a Have-a-heart trap baited with sardines if you have raccoons in you area.

[Mark Rios]

I've been reading up on unusual predators in your area. It looks to me like the culprit is the dreaded 3-toed pheasant eater. The only known way to eradicate them is to feed them lots and lots of McDonalds double cheesburgers and wait for them to have a heart attack.

hth

[David G Baker]

Johnny,
The pen that the pheasants were in is quite strong and there was no sign of a forced entry. I do have a lot of different critters that could be the culprit but the larger ones I already live trap when more than a couple show up. I have four sizes of the Have-a-hart live traps and capture and transport as many as 70 critters a year, mostly ground squirrels, red squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons when they become a nuisance and an occasional skunk. Actually caught four wood chucks this year. I move them to the LOML's brother-in-law's farm where they have plenty of room to do their thing.

Mark,
I keep a special trap set year around trying to catch one of those dreaded 3-toed pheasant eaters but so far I haven't had any luck. I have been using Burger King Whoppers as bait, maybe that is my problem. I will give McDonalds a try. At one time I was one of those dreaded critters but quit when I was young, hated spitting lead bee bees. Ate raccoon as well but gave it up for the same reason.

[Lee Schierer]

David, I breed and raise exoctic birds [parrots & macaws]. Have had same experience as you with raccoons killing birds. You might try setting a Have-a-heart trap baited with sardines if you have raccoons in you area.

I've also read that racoons will either reach in and grab hte head of the bird or the panic striken bird pokes its head through the mesh and the raccoon grabs the head. If your birds are now released, they are more likely to get hit by hawks and owls as they don't know to seek cover when the flying predators are nearby.

[David G Baker]

Lee,
I have quite a bit of brush, lots of Jack Pine and several large brush piles so the birds at least have a small chance of survival.
I did a lot of research on the Internet after my birds got killed and found out that the survival odds of pen raised pheasants are zero to none. They do not have the survival skills that wild native pheasants do.
Raccoons are very intelligent critters so if there was any way that the raccoons could get the birds they would. I know for sure that I have at least three roaming around that I haven't trapped yet.
The doves and blue-jays are wise to the hawks and owls. If there is a hawk with in striking distance the warning sound goes out and the birds disappear amazingly quick. The doves are a little slow so they are one of the staples in the hawks diet. We have ten bird feeders hanging from pipe and several areas on the ground where we place plywood and put black sunflower and mixed bird seed for the deer and ground feeders.
I have a 8 inch by 8 foot long log that I stick in the ground and auger 1-1/2 holes in and fill with suet for the pileated woodpeckers and other birds that like suet.
You can gather from all of the critter feeding we do that every critter in the neighborhood is attracted to our place.

[Peter Stahl]

Thanks Robert. I did quite a bit of searching on the Internet and came up with the information about pen raised pheasants are not to smart when it comes to predators. If the pheasants stick their necks out of the pen an owl will get the head according the the research. Never thought about small owls and hawks actually getting inside of the pen but after doing some thinking most of the birds are fluffed up feathers and can make themselves pretty skinny. The size holes in trees on my place where some birds live are pretty small in comparison to the size of the birds that live in them.
I haven't actually seen any owls around my place but they are here but only come out at night. I do have plenty of hawks that prey on the doves and blue-jays.
I also read that pen raised pheasants do not stand much of a chance of surviving when released and all we are doing is feeding the predators. I do have some pretty dense ground cover and that may give them a little bit of an edge.

My BIL goes Pheasant Hunting where they release them and they almost jump in the truck for him. Wild ones, you better have good dog or you'll probably walk right by them.

[David G Baker]

Peter,
I read on the Net that the short life expectancy of the pen raised pheasant is so short that the folks that raise them release the birds on the day that hunting season opens.

[Lee Schierer]

Peter,
I read on the Net that the short life expectancy of the pen raised pheasant is so short that the folks that raise them release the birds on the day that hunting season opens.

Last year some friends bought and released 50 birds the night before the hunt on 120 acres, as the sun was going down. They finished in the dark. We started hunting at 10:00 the next morning and found one pile of feathers from a dead one right after we started hunting.

With regard to a dog. Even pen raised birds will let a hunter walk right by them. We saw very evident proof of that during that same hunt. Three of us walked through a 1/4 acre area and flushed no birds. My dog went in the same area a few minutes later and found three birds one at a time in less than 5 minutes. A hunter flushed each bird and all separated by 10-15 feet.

Gloat warning: My dog an Brittany, during that hunt found not less than 30 birds for the hunters and even retrieved two. It was his second time on pheasants and first year hunting.

[Ed Labadie]

A neighbor belongs to the Pheasants Forever organization. He started out in the Spring with around 70 chicks that he planed on raising and releasing in the Fall or late Summer. Last week he asked me if I would take some of the young pheasants, keep them for around a week then release them on my place so they would stay in an area away from his place. I ended up with 9 birds, 2 roosters and 7 hens. I built a covered 12'x6' pen for them out of the 6'x6' kennel panels that have cyclone fencing fastened to the support tubes. I covered any gaps in the corners where the birds may be able to get out or some critters may be able to get in. I surrounded the base of the panels with 2"x6" lumber to prevent and digging critters form getting into the pen. I have had the birds for 7 days without any problems. This morning when I went out to feed and water them there was two dead birds in the pen with their heads missing and no sign of an invader. Does anyone have any idea of what critter could get into the pen and take only the birds head? I have a lot of predators in my area but none I can think of that could get into the cage with out leaving any sign of entry.
I released the birds because I thought they had a better chance of surviving in the wild than penned up in a cage.

I'm guessing you either have a Mink or a Weasel in your neighborhood.

They will slip in and out thru the cyclone fence as they please.

Ed

[Craig Summers]

David

When something kills 2 of my peasants, i usually send out a few knights to investigate

Its terribly hard getting good peasants these days

King Summers in the Realm of Manassas