Brooders

Last year, Brian Klein and Fairah Ramsey took over the MacFarlane Pheasants French Redleg partridge brooding program. Notoriously finicky, something—or a lot of somethings—had to change about how we had [...]

Years ago, we found ourselves in a situation of needing more brooder barn space, and lucky for us we were able to rent one within a mile of the main [...]

At MacFarlane Pheasants, our approach to pheasant rearing is based on science and refined by experience. Nowhere is that more apparent than the care we take in the brooder barns, [...]

As chicks grow into adult birds, their light requirements should change. It’s not just for convenience; higher light means the birds are more active, and active older birds fly into [...]

Fresh air is a must in the brooder barns for MacFarlane Pheasants’ chicks and juveniles. Consistent airflow dumps carbon dioxide and brings in oxygen for the birds to breathe. Fresh [...]

It has been a wet Wisconsin spring, to say the least. We’re only two-thirds of the way through June and already we’ve received our monthly average of rain in full. [...]

A pheasant farm looks before it leaps. At MacFarlane Pheasants, our season’s full-grown birds hopefully are sold before they’re even a twinkle in their mother hens’ eyes. And like Match.com, [...]

Our “main” farm (where our office is located and our maintenance shop, etc) was acquired by my dad from John Lasse in 1953. Right across the highway is another farm, [...]

Partridges can pile plenty, and that’s a fact, Jack. MacFarlane Pheasants raises a number of partridge varieties every year, including French Redleg, Hungarian, Chukar, and Chukar/Redleg Cross partridges. And we [...]

There’s a lot to that old saying “Bigger isn’t always better,” and at MacFarlane Pheasants, we know that good things come in small packages. Besides pheasants, we also raise smaller [...]

Hatching pheasant eggs is a very delicate process, especially when you consider the quantity that our farm handles on a regular basis. Our Hatchery Building is sectioned off according to [...]

After three weeks in the “A” room and four weeks in the “B” room, the former MacFarlane Pheasant chicks are now juveniles and ready to be transferred to outdoor pens. [...]

Aspergillosis can be a very devastating disease to a young flock. Aspergillosis is caused by the mold Aspergillosis fumigates that can be found in both bedding and feed. If there [...]

Proper egg collection and sanitation procedures are key components of early chick health. Cleaning eggs in an effective manner reduces the prevalence of diseases such as E-coli and yolk sac [...]

Transitioning pheasants from the brooder barn to the flight pen can be a difficult and frustrating experience. We have come up with a recipe, if you will, on how to [...]

In the first half of the 20th century, commercial pheasant farms traditionally hatched the first chicks of the season in mid to late April. Starting around 1960, my father began [...]

At six to seven weeks of age, pheasants are moved from the brooder barn into flight pens. They live in these flight pens until they are shipped, around twenty-two weeks of [...]

It is that time of year again. You are getting ready to start another pheasant chick season; or maybe it is your first season and you do not know where [...]

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 [...]