Pheasant.com Blog

Our Milton farm has about 40 acres under nets. We have three brooding barns and raised about 72,000 pheasants this year. We predominately raise the Kansas strain. What we call Kansas birds were bred and developed by the late Bernie Janssen, a longtime gamebird farmer from Kansas. Bernie bred his birds to have blue backs. The Kansas birds are a small pheasant - the cocks weigh 2.25 - 2.4 lbs. and the hens weigh 1.4 - 1.7 lbs. at maturity. The birds have a very erect posture. Read More »

Major snowstorms or freezing rain events can be disastrous at MacFarlane Pheasants! Before and after these events we have a plan to protect our game birds. We watch the weather carefully and check our birds night and day during the winter to be sure all heaters are working, that our birds have feed and water, and that all fences and netting are in working order. After the event, employees triage the entire farm to determine if there is damage and if so, what our priorities are for addressing the issues. I’ve listed some typical priorities after a storm emergency. Read More »

MacFarlane Pheasants raises pheasants in Wisconsin, Missouri, and South Dakota. The South Dakota farm is leased and we call it the Miller Farm. It is located about 10 miles outside of Miller, South Dakota. The farm was a pheasant production facility when we started using it. The owner contacted MacFarlane Pheasants online and offered to lease us the farm when he was ready to get out of the pheasant business. After careful consideration, we decided it would be a great idea to have a physical presence in South Dakota, where we sell lots of birds. Read More »

Pheasant delivery times that are extremely accurate are a real advantage to our business and our customers. In 2017, MacFarlane Pheasants, Inc. began using GPS in our delivery trucks. The GPS system plugs directly into our trucks and allows our staff to track the trucks over the internet, in real time. This gives our office staff a means of knowing where our trucks are at all times. Read More »

Game Bird Farms fall in love with the French Red-legged Partridges because they are beautiful, exciting, and easily acclimate to their surroundings. French Red-legs have light brown backs, gray breasts, buff bellies, and of course, red legs. Read More »

MacFarlane Pheasants donated pheasants for an event in Alberta, Canada at the Spruce Creek Upland Club on September 15, 2018. It was sponsored by the Inaugural Uni-versity of Calgary Firearms Association (UFCA) and Pheasants Forever Calgary (PFC). This event was called the “First-Time Mentored Pheasant Hunt.” What a beautiful day of learning for the 17 members of the UCFA who participated! Read More »

MacFarlane Pheasants Inc. produces approximately 1.8 million chicks each year. Nearly 500,000 of those chicks are raised to maturity and bought by clubs, governmental agencies and individuals. They are enjoyed for sport and their tasty meat! The rest of the chicks are sold as chicks or started birds. What some of you may not know is that we raise and sell three different types of partridges, also. Let’s take a look at all of these beautiful birds. It’s a good idea to look at all of your choices before deciding on which birds meet your needs. Enjoy the journey! Read More »

Brian Check, one of our farm managers at MacFarlane Pheasants, Inc. thinks about rain as a “four-letter word” for too much or not enough. Both cases change our seasonal chore routines and affect our pheasants and other wild birds. We have over 100 acres of pens and thousands of birds to worry about, whether it rains or shines! Since we have had such a rainy season this year, we’ll focus on rain for this article. Read More »

It is the season at MacFarlane Pheasants for preparing to deliver our mature birds. In fact, some deliveries are already on their way! Our maintenance manager, Art Schumacher has provided some details about our delivery trucks and drivers that will assure our customers that we are well prepared for the season. Read More »

MacFarlane Pheasants ships out about 22,000 “started birds” each year. Started birds are our 6-week old pheasants that can be put directly into outdoor pens when they ar-rive. They are perfect for the person who wants to grow pheasants but does not have the barn setup or time to raise chicks. This year, Started Bird Season, is coming to a close so it is time to think about orders for 2019. Read More »