Pheasant Egg Hatching FAQ's | MacFarlane Pheasants

Buy pheasant chicks online Buy chicks online button

Hatching Support and FAQ

MacFarlane Pheasants Inc. prides itself on its impeccable customer service. Any questions that you may have are important and we will do our best to answer them. Below are a few commonly asked questions about hatching pheasant eggs. Each area of the rearing process has its own individual page to better organize and facilitate your search and our response.

Contact information:

Ben Lawton
Chick Propagation Supervisor
Phone: 608-757-7880
Fax: 608-757-7884
E-mail: [email protected]

 

Frequently Asked Questions about Pheasant Hatching

 

How Long Do Pheasant Eggs Take To Hatch?

The normal incubation time of pheasant eggs is 23-25 days. Time will be affected by incubation temperature, genetics, and management.

How Long Do Pheasant Eggs Take To Hatch In The Wild?

The normal incubation time of pheasant eggs in the wild is 23 days.

How are chicks shipped?

Chicks are shipped in bundles with Styrofoam on the bottom box to insure chicks don’t experience temperature extremes through either express or priority mail. Chicks arrive within 48 hours of shipping to the post office. The chicks are then picked up at the post office by the customer and should be inspected at that time to make sure that all of the birds are o.k. We also deliver large orders of chicks in our own environmentally controlled trucks for those who wish to pay for custom care and delivery by our trained drivers.

What are the recommended temperature and humidity profiles for incubating pheasant eggs?

Day 1 - 20 (Incubator) the temperature should be 99.4 F and the humidity should be 83-84 F wet bulb (53% relative humidity).

Day 21 - 25 (Hatcher) the temperature should be 98 F and the humidity should be 83-84 F wet bulb (53% relative humidity). NOTES:

  1. When chicks actively begin to hatch (approximately 23½ -24 days) increase humidity to 91 F wet bulb (75-76% relative humidity).
  2. “Actively hatching” is when the majority of the eggs are pipped and a few chicks may have already hatched but are still wet.
  3. Increasing humidity prevents chicks from sticking to the egg shell membrane.
  4. Temperature and the turning of the eggs are the two most important factors in the hatching of pheasant chicks.
  5. Extremes in temperature (high or low) and not turning the eggs for periods of over twenty-four hours will severely reduce hatchability.
  6. Humidity has much less disastrous effects, but can become a factor when extremes occur over long periods of time (e.g. 7 plus days at humidity plus or minus 10%)

Read more about humidity in the pheasant incubators.

What do you use to fumigate your incubators?

We use a phenol fogging program: Tri-phenolR256 at 2 oz per gallon; put into automatic fogger after making a set; run for 15 minutes or enough to saturate the air in the room.