Pheasant.com Blog

A few weeks ago, we updated you about the 76 new flight pens we built on a new property we purchased. We are happy to say that our pens are currently full of our birds for the upcoming mature pheasant season. Hatchery Plans Ronnie Viljoen, our Hatchery Manager, reported that we have been planning for months to expand and modernize our hatchery with new technology because the demand for day-old chicks is very high. We have identified our new incubators. They are the Jamesway Platinum 3 Incubators. These incubators use intelligent software, conserve energy, increase efficiency in hatch rates, and are less labor intensive! We will be the first in the pheasant industry to use these incubators, and with the extra hatching space we are planning, we expect to raise 100’s of thousands more chicks. Our Chick and Egg Sales Manager, Tassia Gonzalez, shared more powerful news for our customers. We will open the chick ordering system sometime in October this year, a month earlier than usual! We expect to have all breeds available and do not expect to need a waiting list because of our new and improved hatchery! Read More »

We are in the process of making plans to expand our hatchery because the demand for day-old pheasant chicks is very high. Months before we place the eggs in the brooders, we find that MacFarlane Pheasants’ orders have surpassed the eggs we are hatching! So, we are discussing what our hatchery would need to look like so we can increase production and modernize our facility at the same time. Our staff in Mo can raise more breeding hens, allowing us to fill the expanded hatchery with more eggs. We also intend to continue growing our dressed business, so we need space to hatch more white chicks. We hope to complete the expansion during the winter and spring of 2024. Read More »

MacFarlane Pheasants Inc. raises nearly two million chicks each year. We produce a wide range of chicks, including Hungarian Partridges, Red Leg Partridges, Kansas Ringneck, Manchurian Redneck Cross, Melanistic Mutants, Chinese Rednecks, the Extra Large Ringneck, and our White Meat Pheasants. Many of our chicks stay on the farm and are raised to maturity by the brooder department, but many other day-old chicks are shipped to our customers. Our hatchery employees pride themselves on providing high quality chicks through meticulous care of our eggs and facility. There are consistent guidelines in place for cleanliness and efficacy at the hatchery. The policies guarantee that healthy chicks are shipped to customers on time and in good health. We sanitize the entire hatchery weekly. Culture plates from each hatcher are incubated to check for bacteria. Since we do not vaccinate our chicks, it is of utmost importance that the chicks are not exposed to bacteria or diseases before they start their lives! Read More »