Here and Back Again, A Pheasant's Story

Pheasants are not native to North America. Pheasants were imported from England in the late 1800's. Because of abundant upland habitat, pheasants flourished here. Pheasants continue to be bred and raised in the United Kingdom. It is not considered proper etiquette in the U.K. to shoot low flying birds. At the end of the shooting season in the U.K., surviving birds are gathered up to be used for the next seasons breeding flock. Consequently, there has been an incidence of increasing numbers of low flying pheasants being produced in the U.K. Starting about 12 years ago, we have been shipping an ever increasing number of pheasant chicks to England, Scotland and Ireland. Our U.K. customers are interested in our birds primarily because of their flying ability. This season we have shipped over 90,000 day-old pheasant chicks to the U.K.