Baby Pheasants: All You Need To Know (With Pictures)

The adult male common (or ring-necked) pheasant is one of the most recognizable game birds, with its dark green head and red wattles around the eyes. Not surprisingly, they didn’t hatch with this rather striking set of feathers. But what do they look like when they first hatch, and how long does it take for this feather to develop?

Read on to learn more about the early life and weeks of the common pheasant.

What does a little pheasant look like?

Young pheasants are one of the fastest growing chicks, leaving the nest within the first few hours after hatching. The chicks are covered in a layer of light down, and their eyes are opened shortly after emerging from the egg. Their legs are well developed from birth and they are able to walk from their dens to foraging in just a few hours.

Newly hatched hatchlings are tawny in color with darker markings on the back and sides. Their eyes are dark brown and begin to lighten gradually around 6 weeks. At first, the legs and feet of pheasant chicks are brown, but as they mature, they also turn light gray. The flight feathers emerge in about 12 to 14 days, and the hatched down is replaced by brown feathers similar to those of an adult female.

From about 5 weeks you can tell whether a chick is male or female. The pink spots on the cheeks of juvenile males become more pronounced, and this is where the scarlet thorns later form. This is absent in females and is a useful way to differentiate gender from an early age.

A young pheasant (chicken) with an insect in its mouth

How big is the little pheasant?

At about a week old, chicks are about 7.6 cm tall. They grow rapidly and reach full adult size by 15 to 16 weeks.

How much does a pheasant weigh?

When chicks just hatched, they weighed an average of 18.5 grams.

There are no data on the body weight of free-ranging pheasant chicks, although studies of captive-raised pheasant chicks showed an average body weight of 541 g at 8 weeks and 900 g at 12 weeks.

A hen and her chicks

What do juvenile pheasants look like?

As juvenile pheasants mature, their plumage becomes more and more like that of adult females, although young pheasants are smaller and have shorter tails. Juvenile males begin to develop their characteristic bright green plumage around 10 weeks.

Male (left) and female (right) young pheasants taking a sand bath

What is the name of the little pheasant?

Like the young of many other birds, young pheasants are called chicks.

What do little pheasants eat?

For the first four weeks, the chick’s diet consists mainly of large insects such as mayflies, planthoppers and grasshoppers, as well as caterpillars and larvae. From the fourth week onwards, the chick’s diet becomes more plant-based, with grains, grasses, flower buds, berries, and crops becoming the main food sources.

Male pheasant taking care of chicks

Do both parents feed baby pheasants?

Only the mother pheasant takes care of her young. This includes incubating the eggs before they hatch, and then overseeing the hatch while the male guards the territory. Female pheasants bring their young to feeding sites, but they do not actively feed them, and the resourceful chicks become independent feeders from an early age.

What do wild eggs look like?

Pheasant eggs are light olive green and about half the size of a hen’s egg. They are smooth and matte instead of shiny.

wild eggs in the nest

How long does it take for pheasant eggs to hatch?

The incubation period for pheasant eggs is about 22 to 28 days.

How many children does a pheasant have?

Pheasants usually lay 6 to 18 eggs. Not all of these hatch successfully by the end of the hatching period, usually a litter contains 10-12 hatchlings.

Young pheasant chick foraging

When do pheasants lay eggs?

Female pheasants lay eggs in spring and early summer, usually during the two-week period from April to June, when they tend to lay eggs daily. The incubation period lasts an average of 22 to 28 days, with 23 days being the most common.

How do pheasants feed their chicks?

Pheasants do not actively feed their chicks. Instead, leaving the nest hours after hatching, the young pheasants follow the hens to nearby feeding grounds, where they quickly learn to find their own food.

Pheasant chick in the grass

How long does the baby pheasant stay with its parents?

Cubs leave the nest within hours of birth to be accompanied by their mothers to forage for food. Chicks generally do not return to the nest after leaving; this is mainly because pheasant nests are not particularly strong or durable structures.

Instead, the female gathers her chicks at night, in cold or wet weather and takes them to any form of vegetation cover, and continues to incubate them to keep them safe, warm and dry until they are several weeks old .

Young pheasants remain with their mothers until they are 10-12 weeks old. At this point, they become independent, although they may accompany females to wintering grounds and be part of loose flocks associated with specific territories.

Can the little pheasant fly?

A young pheasant’s flight feathers develop during its second week of life, which means that young pheasants can fly short distances from a very young age.

As with adults, flying is not the preferred mode of locomotion for juvenile pheasants, who can cover greater distances on foot.

Close-up of a juvenile male ring-necked pheasant

How to take care of baby pheasants?

In order to successfully care for young pheasants, it is critical to thoroughly research their nutrition, temperature, and fencing requirements. Pheasant chicks need to have enough space to move freely without being overcrowded by other chicks.

• Access to suitable food, water and secure enclosures with covers is also essential.
• Water should be served in a shallow dish to prevent accidental drowning and should not be served cold.
• Newly hatched chicks need a warm, stable temperature, so a brooder should be used.

A juvenile female pheasant

What should I feed my baby pheasants?

Young pheasants need a high-protein diet. In the wild, their initial diet for the first four weeks will be animal-based, with grubs, insects, caterpillars and worms making up the lion’s share of their food source. From this point on, young pheasants consume more grains, cereal crops, flower buds and wild berries.

Pheasants bred or raised in captivity can eat a special protein-rich starter for the first six weeks, and then, like free-range pheasants, gradually transition to a plant-based diet that includes berries, grains, and seeds.