Hand-rearing Pet Birds – Waterfowl and Pheasants

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When they are born, waterfowl and pheasant chicks are downy, which keeps them warm, and they are able to move about and feed themselves. (Chicks born in this condition are described as ‘precocial’.) Hand-rearing these ground birds is an established and fairly easy procedure. Before starting out, it is a good idea to visit an aviculturalist who is currently rearing pheasants or waterfowl, as this will give you a good idea of what is involved. Whichever species you intend to rear, find out as much as possible about it, as this can make all the difference between success and failure.

When a precocial chick hatches, the remaining egg yolk continues to nourish it. On the first day, the chick relies solely on the yolk for energy, on the second day it will eat some of the food you put out and by the third day, much of the yolk has disappeared and the chick is feeding independently. However, do not be alarmed if at first the chick eats vry little. These types of bird are easier to rear successfully if you keep them in small groups, because as one chick pecks, it encourages the others to feed. You could try offering them live food such as mini mealworms, but do not give them too much because the worms are addictive and the diet will soon become harmfully imbalanced. Prepared diets, such as chick crumbs, starter crumbs and pheasant pellets, are all available from pet shops.

When precocial birds are Very young, you can rear them in a simple box with a heat source, such as a heat lamp, secured above them. As the birds grow, transfer them to a larger box or brooder and reduce the temperature until it reaches room temperature. After two or three months, you can keep the birds outside if conditions allow.
A vital point to remember is that people often have great success in hand-rearing a few birds, but find that things start to go wrong once they increase the number. If you rear half a dozen chicks in a room in your house, you will most probably encounter very few, if any, bacterial problems. However, once you increase the number of birds in the house, the bacteria level will also increase and this is the root of many problems.

An effective way of keeping the bacteria level down is to make sure that the room is well-ventilated but not draughty. The more chicks you keep, the more hygienic you must be.