Thread: Where to buy pheasants

Where can I buy some pheasants to release around our house. Not to shoot, just like seeing them. Having driven past a shooting estate place for years it appears they don't move far from release site which suits me just fine.

The more trees we have planted, the more pheasants we see. Yes, they appear to get quite teritorial and stay within a defined boundary. No idea where you buy them. These ones have just 'self invaded', which is all good.

you have answered your own question bud...stop into game estate,they will have raised birds themselves and probably by them as week old chicks from a hatchery...
they 100% will know where you can get some from if they dont have any you can buy....

Are you near any open road? There were a heap of them released here in Taranaki a few years back. Near Oakura. They are not traffic smart birds. There was steady carnage for quite a time after until they had been thinned right out. Sad to see at the time.

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Have a chat with your local fish and game. There are a few game preserves in your area. They will be getting their birds from somewhere.

If you don't have any luck let me know and I'll put you on to someone down my way.

Jeff Niblett in Hawkes Bay raises and sells pheasants.
New Zealand Gamebirds | Pheasants, partridge, upland game, shooting, hunting, NZ, game preserves, breeding birds

Hi @Gamehunter – not sure what sort of property you have but I guess if you are around Tokoroa – you may be somewhat rural
We have had large numbers of Pheasants on a previous rural property near Katikati – surrounded by bush, orchards and farmland – I operated an intensive pest control program for about 17 years so Pheasant and Quail numbers just kept on increasing. To keep Pheasant and Quail around your property, they need dense cover to live in, a safe environment and food that they like. They eat a variety of seeds, grains, berries, shoots and even insects. I often saw them scratching around in the grass around the house site – but the place where I watched them for hours was out in the paddock below the bush line. They would live in the bush all day where they never stopped crowing to each other – then move down onto the paddock in the late afternoon – always hens first – then the cunning old roosters. I could often see six or more come out. Their favourite food was willow weed – from the time it first grew in November until it was dead and ripped to shreds in May. They are obsessed with willow weed and fly in from some distance to feed in it – almost always hounded out again by an old rooster. If you can grow willow weed in some damp patches – you will always have Pheasants.
I currently look after pest control in a local 100 acre Quarry Park. We have always had Pheasants around the farmland perimeter, and they seem to live happily in dense pine and gum trees but I always flush them off the farmland as I walk around. I sometimes see nests and often flush birds – a week of so back a hen – when I tried to see her nest a few flappers clambered out into some rubbish. A local resident had four Golden Pheasants that he wanted to release in the Park – he let them go but only one has been seen since – we presume they have moved down into an orchard.
I live in a small rural street – 29 houses surrounded by orchards and the estuary – we often hear pheasants crowing, sometimes see them on the lawn and a couple of weeks back I flushed a hen with about six chicks on a boundary walking track – so they are breeding successfully – we have killed more than 500 bird predators in the last two years – everything on four legs – including ten ferrets and about five stoats. Bloody cats are our biggest problem but there are plenty of rabbits around for them.
They are fabulous birds to have living around your environment – at times they become quite happy to be near humans.
I would suggest that before you buy Pheasants – you should kill all the predators and ensure you have good cover and food - they will likely come by themselves. Good luck.

what about getting an incubator or finding someone with one and hatching your own? eggs are on the yellow site quite often during laying season.

could be an idea to make sure you have a good amount of suitable cover for them before sourcing them only to find they move on to land they fancy more.

Family in the UK on a farm have embraced the rules around fallow strips/cover crops from the agri bosses only to find the farms that put birds down nearby are doing a better job of stocking their place than their own. good fun when i was able to travel to see kin.

Originally Posted by time out

Hi @Gamehunter – not sure what sort of property you have but I guess if you are around Tokoroa – you may be somewhat rural
We have had large numbers of Pheasants on a previous rural property near Katikati – surrounded by bush, orchards and farmland – I operated an intensive pest control program for about 17 years so Pheasant and Quail numbers just kept on increasing. To keep Pheasant and Quail around your property, they need dense cover to live in, a safe environment and food that they like. They eat a variety of seeds, grains, berries, shoots and even insects. I often saw them scratching around in the grass around the house site – but the place where I watched them for hours was out in the paddock below the bush line. They would live in the bush all day where they never stopped crowing to each other – then move down onto the paddock in the late afternoon – always hens first – then the cunning old roosters. I could often see six or more come out. Their favourite food was willow weed – from the time it first grew in November until it was dead and ripped to shreds in May. They are obsessed with willow weed and fly in from some distance to feed in it – almost always hounded out again by an old rooster. If you can grow willow weed in some damp patches – you will always have Pheasants.
I currently look after pest control in a local 100 acre Quarry Park. We have always had Pheasants around the farmland perimeter, and they seem to live happily in dense pine and gum trees but I always flush them off the farmland as I walk around. I sometimes see nests and often flush birds – a week of so back a hen – when I tried to see her nest a few flappers clambered out into some rubbish. A local resident had four Golden Pheasants that he wanted to release in the Park – he let them go but only one has been seen since – we presume they have moved down into an orchard.
I live in a small rural street – 29 houses surrounded by orchards and the estuary – we often hear pheasants crowing, sometimes see them on the lawn and a couple of weeks back I flushed a hen with about six chicks on a boundary walking track – so they are breeding successfully – we have killed more than 500 bird predators in the last two years – everything on four legs – including ten ferrets and about five stoats. Bloody cats are our biggest problem but there are plenty of rabbits around for them.
They are fabulous birds to have living around your environment – at times they become quite happy to be near humans.
I would suggest that before you buy Pheasants – you should kill all the predators and ensure you have good cover and food - they will likely come by themselves. Good luck.
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Thanks @time out you saved me having to type all of the ☝️ good man. To the op do this and you should be fine!

Also make up a few shelters and through your ash from your fire place under there they love this as a dust bath.
Keep an eye on the cock pheasants you may have to cull one or two if they start to lead off the hens.
I’d place feeders every 100yards with shelters and water next to them. With the water if you won’t drink it don’t expect them to is my rule of thumb.
I’d place your traps for pest predator control by these shelters and feed areas. That way you can check them as you feed.

I never realised how much pheasants love fruit trees. I have apples and peaches at the moment ready. As they fall on the ground the pheasants are eating them hard out. Lots of birds including hens and chicks too. good to see