How Much Does It Cost to Raise Pheasants?

Nothing is sure but death and taxes . . . and that costs continue to go up when raising Gamebirds.

If you’re considering raising pheasants, one of the first questions is likely how much does it cost to raise pheasants? There isn’t one set cost per bird. Your total will depend on the price of chicks, feed, housing, equipment, bedding, heat, labor, and how long you plan to keep the birds.

For most growers, feed is one of the largest ongoing expenses, so understanding how much your pheasants will eat and your local game bird feed prices is a good place to start. At MacFarlane Pheasants, feed is our second-largest annual expense, which makes careful feed purchasing and management an important part of our operation.

Here’s what to consider when estimating your own costs.

What Does It Cost to Raise a Pheasant?

The major expenses involved in raising pheasants include:

• Chicks: The number and type of pheasant chicks you purchase will determine your initial bird cost.
• Feed: Feed costs accumulate throughout the growing period and can vary considerably with grain and commodity prices.
• Brooder equipment: Feeders, waterers, heat sources, and other brooder supplies may require a larger upfront investment for first-time growers.
• Housing and pens: You’ll need suitable brooder space when birds are young and secure outdoor pens as they grow.
• Bedding: Clean, dry bedding is an ongoing expense during the brooding period.
• Heat and electricity: Young chicks require supplemental heat, adding to utility costs.
• Water: Your setup and flock size will determine how significant this expense is.
• Health and sanitation: Cleaning supplies, biosecurity measures, and other flock-health expenses should be considered.
• Losses: Not every chick will necessarily reach maturity, so some mortality should be factored into the cost of raising a flock.
• Labor: Whether you’re raising a small flock or thousands of birds, feeding, watering, cleaning, monitoring, and moving pheasants takes time.

Some of these are recurring costs, while others, such as feeders and pen construction, are investments that can be used for multiple flocks.

How Much Does It Cost to Feed Pheasants?

Your pheasant feed cost depends on two main factors:

How much feed your birds consume × the price you pay for feed

Feed consumption changes with the bird’s age, the length of time you keep it, weather conditions, and other factors. Birds being kept for a longer period naturally require more total feed than birds sold or released earlier.

Rather than using a single feed-consumption number for every situation, start by estimating the needs of your particular flock. Our complete pheasant feed consumption guide provides more detailed information about how much pheasants eat as they grow.

Once you have an estimated number of pounds per bird, calculating feed cost is relatively simple.

For example:

Estimated pounds of feed per bird × cost per pound = estimated feed cost per bird

Multiply that figure by the number of pheasants you plan to raise to estimate your flock’s feed expense.

Why Do Pheasant Feed Prices Change?

Game bird feed prices are influenced by many of the same factors that affect other livestock and poultry feeds.

Ingredients such as corn, soybeans, wheat, and other commodities are traded in markets where prices continually change. Crop yields, weather, domestic and international demand, fuel prices, transportation, and other market conditions can all affect the eventual price of finished feed.

Feed formulation matters too. Two feeds with the same protein percentage aren’t necessarily identical in quality or cost.

At MacFarlane Pheasants, we prioritize consistent, high-quality formulations rather than choosing feed based only on the lowest available price. Cutting the cost to feed pheasants doesn’t provide much savings if the feed doesn’t support the health and development we’re looking for in our birds.

How MacFarlane Pheasants Manages Feed Costs

Because we raise birds on a large scale, even relatively small changes in pheasant feed prices can have a significant impact on our annual expenses.

One way we manage this is by monitoring commodity markets and contracting feed ingredients when we believe pricing is favorable. Some of the information we consider includes:

• Crop reports and expected yields
• U.S. supply and demand
• Global production and demand
• Long-range weather forecasts
• Information from farmers and feed suppliers

There is no way to know exactly where commodity prices will go, but careful planning can provide greater predictability in a major operating expense.

We have also historically transported feed to our farm using our own feed truck rather than relying entirely on outside delivery. For an operation of our size, transportation efficiency is another opportunity for feed cost management.

For someone raising pheasants on a smaller scale, contracting commodities obviously isn’t practical. The same principle still applies, though: know how much feed you need, compare suppliers, reduce waste, and don’t sacrifice appropriate nutrition simply to purchase the cheapest feed.

Don’t Forget the Cost of Brooding Pheasant Chicks

Feed isn’t the only significant expense during the first several weeks.

Young pheasants require a controlled brooding environment with reliable heat, clean bedding, feeders, waterers, and enough space to grow.

If you’re starting from scratch, your first flock may therefore cost more because you’re purchasing equipment in addition to chicks and feed.

Reusable equipment can make subsequent flocks less expensive. When comparing the cost of raising your own pheasants with purchasing mature birds, separate your one-time setup expenses from your recurring cost per flock.

Housing and Flight Pen Costs

As pheasants grow, they need considerably more room.

Outdoor flight pens require space, netting, fencing, posts, predator protection, shelters, feeders, waterers, and suitable ground cover. Depending on your existing property and the number of birds you’re raising, constructing the appropriate housing can represent a significant upfront investment.

Maintenance should also be part of your budget. Netting, fencing, feeders, water systems, and other equipment eventually require repair or replacement.

If you’re only planning to raise pheasants once, these initial costs can have a large effect on your cost per bird. If you raise birds year after year, the cost can be spread across multiple flocks.

Ways to Control the Cost of Raising Pheasants

Reducing costs doesn’t necessarily mean buying the cheapest supplies. Good management can often save more over time.

Focus on:

• Buying the appropriate feed for each stage of growth
• Preventing unnecessary feed waste
• Keeping feed dry and protected from pests
• Maintaining feeders and waterers
• Providing appropriate housing and brooder conditions
• Practicing good sanitation and biosecurity
• Monitoring birds closely so problems are identified early
• Purchasing reusable equipment with future flocks in mind

Healthy birds that use feed efficiently are ultimately more economical to raise than birds experiencing preventable health, nutrition, or management problems.

Raising Chicks vs. Buying Mature Pheasants

If your primary goal is to stock property or release pheasants, raising chicks isn’t your only option.

Starting with chicks gives you control over the rearing process and may make sense if you have the facilities, equipment, time, and experience to raise them successfully. However, you also assume the costs of feed, brooding, housing, labor, and losses throughout the growing period.

Purchasing mature pheasants ready for release eliminates much of that rearing investment. MacFarlane Pheasants raises mature birds and offers delivery throughout the United States, providing another option for customers who don’t want to maintain a complete rearing operation.

The best choice depends on the number of birds you need, your facilities, your experience, and what you plan to do with the birds.

Estimating Your Pheasant-Raising Budget

There isn’t a universal answer to how much it costs to raise pheasants, but you can build a useful estimate by calculating:

Chick cost + feed + bedding + heat/utilities + housing and equipment + health/sanitation + expected losses + labor = estimated total raising cost

Divide the total by the number of mature birds you expect to raise to get a more meaningful estimated cost per pheasant.

Start with our pheasant feed consumption guide to estimate how much feed your birds may require. From there, price chicks, feed, equipment, and other supplies in your area.