Back in May we experienced an unprecedented event in my tenure here, a break-in to our flight pens. Something was getting into our pens and randomly killing young pheasants.

For three years now, we at MacFarlanes have been importing pure Redleg eggs directly from L’envol de Retz, a large successful game bird propagator located in France.

The main ingredients in feed are corn and soybean meal, thus the price of feed is directly related to the commodity markets. Higher markets mean higher feed prices. Lower markets translate into lower feed prices. These markets can be volatile and unpredictable at best. For this reason, contracting feed (locking in a price for the entire year) is critical to the success of any game bird operation.

Back in April a formidable task was undertaken to reconstruct and refurbish a vast number of the flight pens on the farm. The flight pens had sustained heavy structural damage due to a winter storm in December of ’09. A timeline was set and a crew was assembled to complete the task by October 1, 2010. That crew consisted of Nicholas Dembicky, Felipe Casique, Josh Shepherd, and me. That goal has been met and surpassed.

My father was Donald James MacFarlane. He was born on July 3, 1903 in the same farmhouse his father (William Daniel MacFarlane) was born in 30 years earlier. The farmhouse (it’s still there) is located 10 miles east of Janesville, on the farm where my great grandfather emigrated to from Scotland in 1849.

In 2002 MacFarlane Pheasants purchased two John Deere Gators. The gators were used extensively to move feeders in and out of pens and spray weeds in pens. After eight years and 5000 hours on each machine, they have become unreliable. This past spring when we were setting up pens, both gators broke down, and the pen crews got behind because of it. We needed another utility vehicle and needed it fast or were risking not being able to get pens set up when needed.

At MacFarlane Pheasants, Inc. we strive to produce the best pheasant chicks in the industry. This task would be a lot easier if our customers were all looking for birds with similar characteristics; however, we are shipping our birds to many locations around the country where people are looking for specific characteristics.

Facebook is a website that you may have heard of but are not familiar with how it can help you. At MacFarlanes, we have learned how it can have a great effect on our business.

Now that chick season has come and gone, I have started to learn the ins and outs of the mature bird season. While I am gearing up for another chick season, I am also the assistant to our Mature Sales Coordinator, Char Debroux, who is sharing her secrets and valuable knowledge with me.

In 2010 MacFarlane Pheasants purchased a new delivery truck. The truck is a 2010 Ford Super Duty F550 super cab equipped with four-wheel drive. The addition of this truck to our fleet of vehicles gives MacFarlane Pheasants a welcome addition of a second four-wheel drive truck.

Large hatcheries have realized for a long time that carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the incubator have important effects on freshly set eggs. The standard belief is that bird embryos just beginning to develop need a higher CO2 level to get a better start. What the exact reason and mechanism behind this is not clearly understood. Theories include possible positive changes in pH or increased metabolic efficiency due to higher CO2.

Most people assume all pheasants are the same, but actually there are several different subspecies and bloodlines within a subspecies. So how does one maintain the traits and qualities of a flock with all this variety? That is what we will explore a little here.

As the leaves turn bright yellow, gold, red and brown, we turn to the cornucopia of fruits, vegetables and other seasonal produce harvested. If you’re of a mind to start baking and cooking, bringing delightful smells and warmth to your home, you may want to consider including pheasant in your ‘harvest’ this year.

Here at MacFarlane Pheasants we are always looking for exciting new stand out products we can use here and introduce to our customers. So, in 2010 we decided to enter the pheasant pie business.