Brad Minguey has been a supervisor at MacFarlane Pheasants for about 4 years but his experience with pheasants began when he was 12 years old. He describes work on a pheasant farm succinctly. “It’s not easy work but when the season is over you feel like you have really accomplished something. Then you start all over again and try to do better than the year before.”
A typical day for Brad is getting the crew going for the day and then pitching in to get the work done. During this time of year, there are young birds in the barns, so all of them are checked frequently throughout the day. We have talked about the importance of that job in other posts. We have to make sure they are healthy, alert and problems are identified and remediated immediately. Others on the crew begin washing feeders, tilling pens, setting up pens for birds who will soon be moved out of the barns, and repairing pens, as necessary.
Brad said spring and fall are the busiest times of year on the farm. “In the spring we have to get our pens ready for the young birds and move them out into the pens. Then we have to clean the barns for the next batch of birds. In the fall, we are catching all the mature birds to ship and that work is non-stop until April.”
Brad is most excited about going to work every day because he gets to do work that is unlike anything else and it is exciting to be a part of a unique business. He also commented, “Most of the work is outside and that is a big plus.” I think Brad speaks for many of our employees! Love of the outdoors is a necessary attribute for pheasant farmers!
You may contact Brad at [email protected] if you would like to learn more about daily life on our farm.
