We have grown our reputation primarily on the sale of live pheasants and partridges to hunt clubs around the nation for release. We have systems in place for every phase of a pheasant’s life, and work diligently to provide our customers with the highest quality birds. Once the birds are ready for shipping the must be caught and placed for shipment. Below you will find our strategy of how to catch a pheasant.
Given the size of our farm, we try our best to be efficient in everything we do, including catching mature pheasants. We have devised a method on how to catch a large amount of birds in a short period of time. It all begins with preparation. The night before their capture, the pheasants are driven into a staging lane with plenty of food and water.
The crew, which consists of 4-5 employees, drive the birds into the catch pens the following morning. The pens are secured with a type of fiberglass that is two feet high. There are also 30 square feet of crates placed within the pen to help aid the birds from piling in the corners.
As many as 400 birds are driven into the catch pens at a given time. Each crewmember takes a corner, to avoid potential piling, feather damage, and even death. We do not use nets to avoid stressing out the birds. We only catch by hand, and do it as quickly as possible.
In order to gain control over the birds, we pin them against our legs, grab a bird by both legs, and then transfer into one hand. 5-7 mature cocks are held in one hand at a time. While the birds are being held, wire cutters are used to remove the peepers. Then the birds are placed into the crates, and the process begins again. Watch the video below for more details on our process.