We’ve set up a slide show, http://tinyurl.com/p7xfor7, to chronicle the history of our importation. As an aside, it’s a substantial investment to keep the flock of Manchurians and keep carefully crossing it with the ringnecks, but it pays off with some great birds and after 25 years – you can be sure we know what we’re talking about.

The first couple of slides lay out the three-year process it took to get the permits and paperwork to be able to import the eggs. The permit was for 1,260 eggs from Changchun City, China to come to the United States Changchun is also call Jilin City, and the Changchun Province is also called Jilin Province.  This is why our birds are sometimes called Jilin pheasants.   The eggs were collected in the brushy, hilly highlands of Changchun (near the border of North Korea) and they were to go to Beijing to Tokyo and then to Chicago.

The eggs started their journey in late May of 1989 and then a tragic, historic event – the Massacre at Tiananmen Square, which held them at the Beijing Airport for a week.

They arrived in Chicago with a health certificate from China, unfortunately, no one here was able to read the language.  Wisconsin had previously decided the eggs couldn’t cross into the state, so we set up a quarantine barn in Harvard, Ill. We didn’t have very high hopes we’d get any birds because the eggs had sat for so long. But we did get 400 chicks out of the eggs we imported. The chicks went through extensive testing by the USDA to confirm they were healthy and to establish they were 100% Manchurian.

In slide 8 you can the chicks, right away we noticed they had advanced wild traits. Even at that young age – they ran from people. Slide 9 shows full-grown Manchurian pheasants – note the ring that goes all the way around the neck, the larger size, and how much darker the hens are.

Next – A visit to China helps put into perspective the MacFarlane’s Manchurian project

25 Years of the Manchurian Project – Part 1

We have strict biosecurity policies and procedures in place to prevent transmission of diseases, including avian influenza. This virus can be transmitted by wild geese and ducks. Salmonella can also be spread by other birds to our production pheasants.

It can be very difficult to keep wild birds from flying onto our property, and we have to be sure that our pheasants do not have contact with wild birds or their feces. MacFarlane Pheasants takes great care to keep feed cleaned up and out of the sight of wild birds, so they are less attracted to our property.

Another reason we need to keep wild birds off of the farm is that pheasants are ground-dwelling birds and are viewed by many other birds as prey. Some predators of pheasants include red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures, and even bald eagles. Starlings are a big problem for us, so we take yearly measures to control their population on the farm. The netting we use outside can keep out local birds of prey while also preventing our pheasants from escaping. We use netting with two-inch holes for roofing on our pens, and we check it for damage regularly.

In addition to wild birds, there are also ground-dwelling predators of pheasants, including foxes, wolves, skunks, cats, and dogs. It is important to keep any dead birds picked up and away from the pens, as this helps to deter ground-dwelling predators as well as birds of prey. We have a catch-and-release operation. This means that if a hawk is found in the pen, it is removed and then released back into the wild. We also have to repair the netting if a hawk has made its way inside. Occasionally, we have to hire a falconer to catch and relocate hawks from the farm.

Taking precautionary measures to keep wild birds and other predators away from our farm means that we have healthier birds and happier customers!

Keeping Wild Birds off of Game Farms

I’ve been running MacFarlane Pheasants for 36 years now, and the uncertainty I’ve felt over the past 6 months tops any previous “anxiety episode”.   We all know that any perception of control we perceive is really quite an illusion.  Taking into account our lack of control, Avian Influenza (A.I.) has injected a level of just complete total lack of control.

We read the myriad biosecurity briefs sent our way, and institute the recommended biosecurity steps on our farm.  We hose off the tires of all incoming vehicles.  Footbaths, coveralls, booties, disinfectants, the list goes on and on.  We are trying to control what most likely is out of our control.

Does everyone get it that our birds are outside? We read the recommendations of “shower in, shower out”.   I just read an article on how to bird proof your building.  So many of the recommended steps just seem meaningless for our situation.

Realistically if through our protocols and safeguards we prevent an outbreak of A.I. on our farm, the reality is, if there is an outbreak elsewhere in Wisconsin, Canada will embargo Wisconsin poultry.  Canada will embargo Wisconsin poultry regardless if the Wisconsin outbreak is hundreds of miles from our farm.  And if there is an outbreak of AI in Minnesota, Canada will prevent us from traveling through Minnesota on our way to delivering birds to Alberta.

Each state in the U.S. has a State Veterinarian.  Each State Veterinarian’s interest is to protect the animals in their state.  With protection in mind, some State Veterinarians may attempt to block the free movement of poultry in the event of an A.I.  outbreak.  One can’t really blame a State Vet for wanting to protect the poultry industry within their state.  But again, as in the Canada situation, there could be an outbreak of A.I. hundreds of miles from our farm, yet still in Wisconsin, which could lead to other states prohibiting or restricting the movement of pheasants from our farm being shipped into their state.

So not just an outbreak of A.I. on our farm, but an outbreak of A.I. in the upper Midwest leads to uncertainty.  I’ll feel better once we get to November 1^st.

Uncertainty

Our chicks will be on the move as they grow. They start in A-rooms, and then move on to B-rooms at three weeks. At this point, the birds are not as needy, so we don’t need as much staff caring for them. Usually at seven weeks, the birds go outside. Mature birds will fill our pens, waiting to be shipped. There will also still be younger Ringnecks and partridges in the barns until pen space opens up outside.

We maintain a first shift staff of six people and a second shift staff of three people on the brooder crew during the peak brooder season, which is March through August. Once the hatches are finished for the season, our crew’s workload lessens, and we go to a first shift staff only. Some of our seasonal employees, including college students, are finished working for the season. Our crew is versatile, though, and they begin working on other areas of the farm as the needs increase on other crews. These tasks include  catching birds, taking care of birds, selecting breeders, and helping in the hen barn.

Because there are no more hatches, we no longer have to do barn turns (clean-outs and set-ups) daily. While there are still younger birds in the barns, we continue our normal chore process and barn housekeeping each day. We also maintain strict management protocol to keep the older birds in the best feather and health conditions possible. The brooder crew also helps out with artificially lighting flocks to produce early eggs. They assist in raising our white meat pheasants or house contracted partridges to keep them healthier in a controlled environment.

During the off-season, we will still be very busy! We plan to produce five flocks of white pheasants, which totals around 20,000 birds – quite impressive for an “off-season!” After completing these flocks, we will be ready to start making improvements and getting our barns ready for the next chick season, which begins the first week in March. It will be here before we know it! Watch chicksquote.pheasant.com and stay up to date on when the chicks are ready.

The Brooder Off-Season Transition

Brad and Ryan represented the farm with a booth at the China Animal Husbandry Expo. The three-day expo was in Chongquing, one of China’s five national cities. Located in Southwestern China, it is one of the biggest inland cities and poised for massive growth.

During their travels around the city and the outlying areas, Brad said there was construction everywhere – but a drive of only about an hour can take a person into rugged mountain terrain. As you can see from the slideshow, the area is a study in contrasts, a fast-growing urban area, but any inch of extra space is used to grow vegetables or raise animals. Brad said there were even gardens planted on apartment terraces.

Chinese purchase their dinner pheasants at live markets so they can examine the bird and make sure it’s healthy. But they learned at the expo there is a huge push for modern equipment such as hatchers and incubators because there is an interest in producing birds on a large-scale basis as a commercial meat product.  Brad said they noted a lot of modern equipment, but not a lot of people available to teach people how to use it.

Along with equipment at the expo, there were also animals and poultry for sale. It was a huge expo; there were eight exhibition halls and nearly 1,000 exhibitors. It didn’t cost anything to get into the expo so there were wall-to-wall spectators the first day, but by the third day, Brad said the spectator crowds had thinned way down and some of the exhibitors even started leaving early in the day.

They had time for sightseeing and didn’t encounter any problems being Americans in that area of the world. Brad said not a lot of people spoke English, but moms and dads would approach them with their children who had been learning English in school.

Traffic congestion meant lots of walking, and they learned a lot about the area. The visit was worth it because we believe eventually areas of China will begin to transition from the little roadside vegetable stands and open air markets to urban grocery stores. We are hoping there will be a place for pheasant meat in their stores.

Selling pheasant in China would take us full circle.  What an interesting prospect that is.  If we attend another expo, it would likely be in the Shanghai area which may experience that transition a little faster.

MacFarlane Pheasants Trip to China

Introducing MacFarlane’s Fall Festival!  On October 3, 2015, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, MacFarlane Farm is pulling out all the stops!  We are so excited to be able to tell you about some of the changes that we’ll be having this year, as well as assure you that some of the things you enjoyed in years gone by will continue.

This year, along with sampling some of our wonderful wild game product, and taste-tested recipes, we’ll also offer a few activities.  Live music will be offered during our event, by Chris Kohn Music.  You can check him out at www.chriskohnmusic.com.  While listening to his music, you can enjoy some food and drinks offered by the Badger 4-H club.  All money that you spend at the Badger table will go right back to their club!  While Chris takes short breaks, you will be able to hear some technical talks from our own pheasant experts.  Some of the talks will focus on White Pheasants, raising Hungarian and Red Leg Partridges, and what we at MacFarlane’s are doing to keep Avian Influenza at bay.  We will be posting more details about the talks, and the times on our Facebook page.

Also new this year will be some activities for the kiddies!  We will have a corn box, yes, you did read that right.  Instead of bringing home extremely sandy and gritty kids, your kids can just shake off the corn from their clothes!  While you are listening to music, enjoying snacks, or just chilling at the farm, your kids can enjoy playing in corn!  We will also have some large tractors provided by John Deere.  Bring your cameras and get pictures of your future farmers sitting on a tractor!

Again this year, we will be offering hay wagon tours of the main farm!  The wagon, driven by Farmer Ryan (or Trudy, Brian, Art, or another one of our awesome “farmers”), will travel around our main farm.  While looking at our pheasants, feed bins, barns, and pens, you will be given a brief history of our farm, and learn some of the details about raising birds!  We also are hoping to be able to show you a couple of different kinds of pheasants.

Of course, as always, you will be able to purchase pheasant, other exotic meats, food items, clothing and gifts in our gift shop.  Come and browse through some of our new items that are available in our updated shop!  We have gifts that any pheasant loving person would appreciate!  Remember, Christmas is closer than you think, (as I type this blog on one of the hottest days of the year!)

Check out our Facebook page often, as we will be updating and adding to our list of events!  We also are having a “like and share our post” contest for a chance to win a $50 gift certificate to our store!  You can find us on Facebook at MacFarlane Pheasants.

We so look forward to seeing all of you who can attend our fall festival.  Between the tasting, playing, touring, and listening, it will truly be an event for all.  Plan on hanging out for a while and enjoying the farm on a fall day!  For those of you who are reading this, and are too far away to attend our event, send us an e-mail at info@pheasant.com and we’ll send you a coupon to receive a discount from our online store.  Just mention MacFarlane’s Fall Festival in your e-mail.  You can find us at www.pheasant.com, or www.pheasantfordinner.com.  And to end on a Shakespeare note, “Goodnight, goodnight, parting is such sweet sorrow . . . .”

MacFarlane’s Fall Festival

Before becoming USDA certified, our products were state inspected. It was very expensive to have USDA inspections then, because we had to use processing plants that were several hours away. This expense drove the prices of our birds up. For those reasons, very few of our products were getting the USDA certification.

The road to having USDA inspections has been a long one. It involved inspections of our facilities as well as our processing plant, Twin Cities Pack. The processing plant had to be on board with the changes and comply with the longer inspections and additional expenses. We needed new USDA-approved labels, and there was a lot of paperwork and waiting.

Moving forward, all of our pheasant meat products will be USDA certified.  USDA inspectors will inspect at our farm and at the processing plant every day. They will be checking for different grades of birds and for the birds’ conditions. Inspectors will confirm that we are doing everything correctly and following our safety plan. We follow an HACCP, or Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point, plan through the state of Wisconsin. The HACCP is designed to prevent harmful contamination during the production process. This ensures that our finished products are safe.

Other countries require USDA inspection before buying our food products, so we can now sell to places around the world. With the state inspections we had in the past, our whole pheasants and pheasant meat products could not leave the country. We have been working on some bids with cruise lines, who require USDA certification. More international distributors will now be interested in our products, and sales of our pheasant food products will increase.  MacFarlane Pheasants considers this USDA certification a historic event, and we look forward to having new clients around the world.

USDA Certification

If the birds are lethargic or not flying, they could be sick. They may be holding their wings down and looking like the weight of their wings is too heavy to hold up high on their backs. If they do not respond to a person in the room making noise, this also signals that something is wrong. Sick birds may have decreased appetites for food and water. Illness could cause runny or odd-colored feces, which results in dirtier bedding.  If birds have swollen hocks on their legs or several birds are lame, or having a hard time standing, this could be a sign of sickness. Sick birds’ eyes may be swollen or look duller than usual, which gives an impression of sadness.

There are several things that we can do to treat sick birds, and we want to relieve any stressors in their environment to the best of our abilities. Usually, the birds require some type of medication or antibiotic. We may turn the lights up to increase bird activity and encourage the birds to eat and drink. Running the fans a bit more can ensure that the air quality is good and not too humid. Another measure that can help air quality and the barn conditions is top dressing the bedding in a room, which means we cover any dirty areas with fresh bedding.

Signs of stress in our birds could include combative or picking behavior on other birds. The birds start by pecking the tops of each other’s wings. As the behavior worsens, they pick back feathers off, followed by tail feathers.  Another symptom of stress in our birds is panting.  Stressed birds may “roost,” or hide in places where others can not get to them. They may also be in tight groups or piles, and the birds at the bottom could suffocate. Thinner birds may also indicate stress, as it could mean that there is increased competition.

Alleviating stress in birds can be tricky, because sometimes it is difficult to identify what the problem is. If we can not pinpoint the problem, we may increase the feed space.  We confirm that the feeders and feed pans are feeding correctly and have no blockages. If there is picking behavior, we can try to lower the lights to see if that helps.  As with sick birds, we can help stressed birds by running fans while maintaining awareness of the outside temperatures, so we avoid chilling the birds with too much fresh air. We don’t want to have drafts or hot spots, so we need to check temperatures throughout the room. We can also check our feed space, floor space, and water space numbers to make sure the density is appropriate for the room.

We are continually watching for signs of sickness or stress in our birds. If we notice symptoms, we can immediately begin working to identify the problem and treat the birds and their conditions appropriately. If you would like advice on evaluating your birds please call 608-757-7881 or fill out our contact form.

For more information on running and managing your gamebird farm download our free rearing guide at http://info.pheasant.com/PheasantRearing_LF.html.

Signs of Sickness or Stress in Birds

Besides making sure the birds are taken care of ahead of time, I also make sure the truck is ready. In order for the truck to be ready, it must be fully fueled, equipped with straps and buckles, and lastly, the bungee cords and tarps should accompany the truck in case the drivers hit inclement weather. Being prepared to start the day makes it easier to avoid problems such as running behind schedule which in turn leads to more problems if the crew is rushed and disorganized. All in all, being ahead of the game at the start of the day helps the crew have a smoother day. Sometimes this takes a few extra minutes at the end of the day, but we have found that it’s time well spent.

By Rich Thomas

Assistant Production Manager

Being prepared to start the day…

Your brooder barn should be clean and disinfected one to two weeks before the chicks arrive. At MacFarlane, we clean and disinfect barns and leave them empty for a time before we move a new flock in.

As soon as your chicks arrive they should be removed from their boxes and put into a barn with plenty of heat, food and water. Having everything available reduces competition among the chicks which reduces stress. Keeping a proper density will also reduce stress.  4 chicks per square foot of floor space until 3 weeks of age, and 2 chicks per square foot from 3 weeks to 6 weeks are typical density measurements we use here at MacFarlane.

For small flocks, you should have at least one 250 watt infrared bulb for every 100 chicks. Hang the heat lamp from the ceiling with about 18 inches from the floor to the bottom of the lamp. Use bulbs with the red end because they keep the chicks calmer and reduce aggression.

For the first five to seven days, you may confine the chicks in a ring or draft shield. Brooder paper or cardboard that is between 14 and 18 inches high in a four-foot diameter circle can help prevent drafts and can confine 50 chicks. Place the heat lamp in the center and then pay close attention to what the chicks do.  If the chicks bunch up and start to pile, lower the heat lamp height and add bulbs because they are cold and looking for more heat. If they move away from the heat lamp, raise the lamp slightly.

Wean the chicks off of direct heat by raising the heat lamp a few inches each day.  Then supplement some forced air heat to keep the birds comfortable.  The temperature in the room should be decreased by one degree each day in order to transition the birds to the outdoors. By the time the chicks move outside, the temperature inside and outside should be similar.

Since you invest money in your chicks, and want the best for them, it is important to be prepared.  Making sure that their arrival is as stress-free as possible by having the brooder barn ready will ensure an easier adjustment.  Seeing to their comfort by having a draft-free environment with plenty of heat, food and water will give the chicks the healthy start that they need.

Brooder Barn

We have had our Case 5240 and Case 5230 tractors for decades, and they have served us well. Over time, they started to show their age. Both tractors have no functioning heat or air conditioning anymore.  Other parts of the tractors have also worn out, and some of the safety equipment no longer operates correctly. Safety is very important to us, and this was part of our motivation to look for new tractors.

We have two John Deere 6105D 100hp Cab Tractors being built for us, and we expect that we will have them in late August or early September. These are the first John Deere tractors we have gotten. It took over a year for us to decide which tractors to choose, and a lot of research went into the decision. At first, we looked at slightly used tractors, but in the end it wasn’t as cost effective as buying new ones. John Deere had the best model that was similar to what we have had and what we wanted. They could get them made and delivered quickly. We were also pleased that we could trade in our old Case tractors with John Deere.

Our bigger cab tractors are mainly used for feeding the outside birds, so this will be the primary job of our new tractors. They are also used for spreading manure. Because of the large cabs, they don’t fit inside the pens. We use smaller tractors for feeding and rototilling inside the pens.

When the new tractors arrive, we expect that they will operate similarly to the old ones. However, they will function better and be safer. It will be nice to have air conditioning and heat, as well as more comfortable seats and arm rests. Most importantly, the safety equipment will be working properly. There will be large light beacons on the tops of the new tractors, too.

These tractors are operating in high-traffic areas within our property and on busy roadways.

Tractors hold their value well over time, unlike a car. They can even appreciate in value.  We are looking forward to getting our new tractors and using them for many years to come.

New Tractors on the Way!

We recommend you have 15 to 20 square feet per bird if you are raising pheasants. Smaller birds, like partridges would require a little less space and a mixed pen of half hens and half roosters would require less space than if you were keeping all roosters in the pen.

Posts should be10’ high,  6” round placed every 10 feet with ¼” cable run across the top to support the wire sides. Pound the posts at least three feet into the ground. When you are burying the wire fencing, flare it out underground to help deter predators from digging their way in. Use netting with 2” holes for roofing. Snow can cause a lot of damage to a flight pen. Smaller netting holes means snow will collect sooner so go with 2” hole netting if you can get it. If you are in a climate that gets lots of snow, you might need to brace the perimeter poles.

The exact design depends on the terrain, the location and the crew you are going to have working in the pen. But with a few modifications, our pen design will work for you. Our standard pen size is 80’ by 150’.

Remember to leave room for feeders, water troughs and shelters.

We suggest using the best materials available and that pens are designed with expansion in mind.  Our pens usually last between 15 and 20 years. We do routine maintenance on our pens every year and we schedule net replacements at regular intervals. Regular checks on fencing, posts and roof netting will keep your birds in and predators out. A good flight pen is well worth the cost because it protects your pheasant investment.

flight pens

In the wild, pheasants eat grain, insects, worms, and pretty much anything they can peck at – even if it’s not good for them. Our pheasants are fed a balanced diet with a set protein content tailored for their age. Because we buy in bulk, we have the feed mixed to contain the correct protein content. Check the ingredients on commercially purchased game bird feed and try to duplicate the following recommendations for best results.

Up to three weeks of age use pre-starter feed with 28% protein; from three to seven weeks use starter feed with 26% protein; from seven to 24 weeks use grower feed with 20% protein content and past 24 weeks use maintenance food with a 14% protein content. If you can’t find game bird feed in your area, turkey feed – not chicken – is the next best thing for keeping pheasants on a healthy diet.

Our hens don’t get a different diet unless they are breeding and then they get a feed that is fortified with calcium.

We recommend eliminating Dried Distilled Grains from the diet of gamebirds. We find it throws off metabolism and they just don’t thrive as well. Remember, they are going to eat less as it gets hotter, and when the temperature starts to drop, their eating habits will change again and they will be eating more. If the temperature stays low for a prolonged period of time, we do supplement the pheasant diet with a little cracked corn. But moderation is the key – the sugar metabolizes quickly and a little is all they need.

For partridges, we have found the best results with 28% protein game bird prestarter from up to age nine weeks and then 24% protein game bird grower.

If you are starting out, we recommend buying large feeders right away. They may cost a bit more, but they will greatly reduce feeding time.

Feeding pheasants is a science.  Making sure you are offering your birds the correct protein percentage will help you to raise the highest quality pheasants.  Shop around to find feed with the correct protein content and remember an abundant supply of fresh water is an extremely important component of any game bird’s diet. If you would like more information on feed consulting please visit https://www.pheasant.com/consulting/feedconsulting.aspx.

Feeding Pheasants

Rats and mice carry diseases and we make liberal use of bait boxes around the pens, as well as under the feeders inside the pens. We find it is important to rotate the types of poison we use so the vermin don’t become immune to one type.

Piles of loose dirt around freshly dug burrows near outside pens indicate rat activity and we immediately put bait boxes down the burrow.

Mice are a concern inside the barns. We use soft bait mouse poison and traps inside the barns. Feed is kept up off the floor to deter the mice, and workrooms are swept and kept clean of loose feed on the floor. When pheasants are moved outside, or from one room to another, all feed stations are immediately cleaned up. Gravel around the perimeter of the barns helps keep the mice in check, and we keep the grass trimmed to remove cover for them.

Keeping the grass mowed and trimmed around the pens also helps keep the bigger predators away. Predator protection starts with an electric fence around the outside of the farm and when pens are built the fence is buried and flared out to help prevent predators from digging their way in.

Hawks tend to pick off stray birds that get out of the pens so we are diligent on checking for any holes in the fencing that can let birds out and predators in. If we find birds with the heads off in the pens that means an owl is on the prowl – birds with gnaw marks mean we’ve got to start looking for a raccoon. We have occasional problems with foxes and coyotes. The bigger predators can be trapped and removed.

The most important thing to remember is to stay vigilant. Keeping inside areas where there is food clean, keeping traps out and bait boxes filled keeps vermin at bay in the barns. Set up a gravel perimeter around the barns.

For the outside pens, keep everything in good repair to keep the pheasants in so you aren’t attracting hawks. Keep the top nets taut so you don’t have birds getting stuck if they are flushed up which makes them easy prey for owls and watch for digging around the outside of the pens which indicates the presence of four-legged predators.

Vermin Pest Control

Brad Lillie, our Financial Officer, and I recently went to a conference in Baltimore, Maryland, co-hosted by the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the U.S. poultry industry. Leaders in the poultry industry and the USDA presented the latest information on avian influenza and their plans for managing the spread of the virus.

Brad and I appreciated the chance to talk with other people in the industry and to represent our business. The USDA staff provided a lot of great information and were very supportive of what we do. They could ask us questions, and we then could tell them more about our business, particularly the gamebird industry. They learned more about our work and experiences and how they could help us. It is important that we have a good relationship with people in the state and federal poultry industry, and this time to talk with them was very valuable.

We have always followed strict biosecurity practices at MacFarlane Pheasants. At the conference, we learned that there may have been some things that were overlooked in other facilities that allowed viruses into them. Being aware of these “gaps” is important so that we can troubleshoot the practices in our own facilities. Our staff needs to be completely engaged in the process, too. Our goal is to be proactive with biosecurity by carefully watching the flow of birds in and out of our farm. We also want to continue with disease prevention measures, such as disinfecting our crates after every trip.

Avian influenza can hurt our business even if our birds are not infected. In the spring of 2015, problems with bird flu in other parts of the Wisconsin impacted us. If bird flu shows up in Wisconsin, other countries embargo our products even if our birds are fine. If farms in other states have avian influenza, we can not travel through those states with our birds.This makes it very difficult to get our birds to Canada. Exports are important to our business, and we want to be able to continue shipping to other countries. One idea is to get Wisconsin regionalized so that we could still ship our birds even if avian influenza is found in other parts of the state.

Our website has more detail about what MacFarlane Pheasants does to protect our birds from avian influenza:

https://www.pheasant.com/resources/supportfaq/avianinfluenzaprecautions.aspx

Preparing for Avian Influenza: USDA Conference

There’s a lot of activity inside, too. The crew at the hatchery is waiting for the chicks and when the hatch is done, there’s cleaning and then we start all over. Eggs spend about 20 days in the incubators and then trays of eggs are moved on wheeled carts from the incubator room to the hatcher room.

The trays from the incubator go on a device that rotates the entire tray – gently – 180 degrees and then deposits the eggs in a mesh screen basket. The baskets are then moved onto dollies and into the hatchery. Eggs are fragile and the eggs from different species are different sizes, but breakage is not a problem.

The hatchers contain stacked up trays of eggs which have been candled once to make sure the trays are full of fertile eggs. In the incubators, infertile eggs are removed and the fertile eggs are positioned together in the center of the tray. Keeping the fertile eggs all together ensures they maintain a constant state of warmth and humidity.

The trays are transferred from the incubator room, where they spend about 21 days, to the hatchery and crews quickly go through the trays condensing all the fertile eggs and then load them on to wire mesh bottomed baskets in the hatchers.

Screens are put onto the edges of all baskets to protect the chicks from falling out of the baskets as they hatch. They rest in the baskets after the hatch, because it’s stressful to break out of an egg into the world. The egg debris actually serves as an aid to the chicks while they are hatching because it gives them footing to brace themselves on.

But when the hatching is done, everything has to be cleaned to make sure the debris, which can grow bacteria in the warm and humid conditions, is removed. The hatchers are swept out to remove the down and egg shell bits.  We vacuum the top of the hatchers to get any down that might have traveled up. In addition to harboring bacteria, the debris can also clog fans and air intake so ever bit of fluff and shell has to be removed.

We rotate between three different foaming agents that are sprayed on the walls, ceiling and doors of the hatchers. A high pressure spray gun with hot water is used to spray down the hatchers and we also clean the floor. As a final step, a sanitizer is sprayed on all surfaces of the hatcher room and left to dry before equipment is moved back in.

Sanitizing and making sure we have removed all the debris guarantees a healthy start for the next set of baby pheasants and it also means equipment is kept in peak condition.

https://www.pheasant.com/aboutus/virtualtour/hatchery.aspx

Hatchery Cleaning

Poultry exported outside the United States, for the most part, is covered by trade laws. These prearranged agreements with our trading partner countries outline guidelines with respect to handling a situation like the recent Avian Flu event. These agreements would cover aspects of the USDA’s response to the event, establishing control zones around an affected farm, as well as the protocols to eradicate the disease. This agreed upon process is designed to get trade back up and going as soon as possible, while protecting the trade partners interests. During the recent outbreak, some countries certainly placed embargoes of U.S. poultry under the guise of the Avian Flu event for political reasons. But our main trade partners have been reasonable, and currently many of the impacted states have now been regionalized so only the 10km zone around the affected farm is restricted for trade. Trade is getting back on track.

But concerns have been mounting on how the movement of poultry within the U.S. is being regulated. For the most part the NPIP (National Poultry Improvement Plan) has worked well in managing surveillance of poultry diseases. But unfortunately, it has come to our attention recently that each state has the right to restrict the movement of poultry across their borders. Several states have now placed increased restrictions as well as additional protocols to allow live poultry to enter their state.  In many cases these are states that were not affected during the recent event, and certainly are operating in their best interests to protect their poultry industries. Understandably, the large southern U.S. broiler chicken producing states are downright scared, and they will do what they can to protect their state poultry industry.

What could this mean? You might not be able to ship your birds to other states or transit live poultry through certain states. You should expect changes in disease testing requirements, biosecurity protocols, and other requirements in the event you’re allowed. In the case of another similar Avian Flu event as this spring, we may see states’ restrictions on all poultry. But as I write this in mid-July, nearly 30 days past the last reported case in the Midwest, we are still in an environment of the fear of the unknown with the coming fall duck migration.

So what can you do?

(1)    Contact your State Veterinarian. They are your best resource to information, and will provide you help if you need it. Tell them about your business, the potential impact Avian Flu or state transit issues has or could have on your way of life. You’ll find out that most of these people will be very interested, and very helpful. If you aren’t sure who your State Veterinarian is, we’ve provided a link.

(2)    Learn the requirements for transiting live poultry across state lines. Each state may have different requirements depending on the part of the country, and many of these requirements are changing or could be changing in the future. Your State Veterinarian can probably help you with that also.

(3)    Follow the rules, even if you don’t agree or they seem excessive or unwarranted. We all know that we’ve operated in an environment with a lack of oversight, but I suspect this will be changing.

In the gamebird industry, let’s face it, we have our birds outdoors. We release them into the wild, deliver them all over the country, and to the mainstream poultry industry we look pretty darn scary. Our actions within the gamebird industry, now more than ever, will be evaluated. When there are gaps in the system that are identified, you should expect regulation to follow shortly after. So by following the rules, trying to do everything correctly, will go a long way in the current environment as more and more scrutiny is placed on the movement of live poultry within the U.S.

We should consider ourselves lucky in the gamebird industry that we were not more involved this spring. It really doesn’t make sense of the high incident within the large turkey and layer chicken operations, while many other poultry types escaped in most cases untouched. But moving forward the past really doesn’t matter. Within our industry we need to be vigilant, proactive and do things to the best of our abilities. Because if we don’t, we may be told how and what we can do in the future.

http://www.usaha.org/Portals/6/StateAnimalHealthOfficials.pdf

Written by Brad Lillie

It is important to maintain a cleaning schedule on your lines as well as shocking the lines between flocks. Chlorine, chlorine dioxide, and hydrogen peroxide are solutions that can be used to clean lines. To shock the lines we have found it is beneficial to let the mixture sit in the lines for between 12 and 24 hours and then flush it out. This allows the solution to clean everything and remove any buildup. E-coli and even Salmonella can sit in bio-films that form in the line and wear a bird’s immune system down by exposing them to the biofilm over time.

We use a tracer dye in the lines after the cleaning to make sure all the lines are clear and to make sure the cleaning solution has been flushed out. The dye is added after the chemical so when we see the dye run out, we know the cleaning solution is flushed out. Then we run the lines until they are clear of dye.

It is important to know what is in your groundwater or well water.  Birds, like people, like clean water and sometimes this requires the use of solutions to keep lines clean. Chlorine pellets dropped into outside wells can help keep the water clean, but you have to make sure you don’t use so much as to affect the taste of the water and cause the pheasants or other gamebirds to stop drinking.

As a general rule, if you test the water at the end of the line outside and you are using a chlorine system as maintenance – it should be between 1 and 2 ppm. For brooder barns, there should be absolutely NO chlorine around the chicks or in the barns.

Easy ways to detect if you are getting bio-film buildup is watch for water pressure changes or have a section of clear pipe to see what’s in the line. Set up a regular schedule of checking levels in water and watch the birds – if they start looking lethargic and are staying away from the water, that’s a sure sign something needs to be checked in to.

Animals cannot live without water.  If your birds reject the water because of taste, or drink contaminated water, you run the risk of losing them.  It is essential to keep your water lines clean, and to check your water often to make sure that you do not have unwanted organisms growing.

Check out this video for waterline testing!

https://www.pheasant.com/videos/videoplayer/tabid/244/waterforgamebirds8thintlpheasantmanagementseminar.aspx?tabid=244&videoid=184

Waterline Testing

The next morning, they are moved into the catch pen. If we crated them the night before, there’s a big chance we’d get feather damage on the birds.  It’s also not good to keep them confined overnight, especially if it’s warm and humid. It’s cool in the mornings and less stressful for the birds to catch, crate and truck.

If we are catching young birds inside to move them outside, we also do that in the morning. That way, the birds have a day to acclimate themselves to the outside during daylight and find food and water. If we are catching inside, we can reduce the light which keeps them calmer.

Catch pens have shade cloth on the sides that run about two feet high. Four or five employees herd the birds into the catch pen in the morning and the employees set up in the corners to avoid the danger of birds piling. Crates, as I said, are already in the catch pen and employees work as quickly as possible, catch by hand and crate. It’s pretty amazing to watch, imagine catching and crating 400 or so pheasants at one time.

And it’s not efficient to grab and crate one – that’s how we do it with the stragglers at the end – but usually we catch and hold five or six at one time. Our catch crew grabs the pheasant by both legs, pins it against their leg so it doesn’t thrash around and get hurt and then move it to one hand and grab another. Still working as quickly as possible, they grab the wire cutters, remove the peepers, and put the group in a crate.

Sometimes we have to use nets, but catching by hand is the most efficient because we can sort by breed, sex or quality of bird. The catch crews operate like a well-oiled machine, catch, cut and crate. They work fast and the birds are in the crates and on the road before they have time to get stressed.

There’s a video on our website and you can watch the crew in action – http://tinyurl.com/og4zl74.

Related Resources:

Crate Design Instructions
Catching Pheasant Video
Catching Mature Birds

MacFarlane has been raising and selling meat birds for years, and we’ve honed in on that genetic variation that creates a white bird. As you might expect, we started out slowly since a white pheasant is one in a million. Now we raise them on three farms in Southern Wisconsin.  They get their own facilities because they are raised a bit differently and because keeping the meat stock and the game stock apart lessens the chance of disease.

We recognized the benefits of a white pheasant right away. When you pluck the feathers off of a regular ringneck, there can be a dot in the meat and it remains there when the meat is cooked. It has no taste, but restaurateurs thought some diners might be put off by the dots of color.

We sell dressed pheasants and pheasant food products at our store on Highway 51 in Janesville, but the majority of the meat birds is sold through distributors to restaurants and retail locations. There are a lot of restaurants that appreciate the natural way we raise the birds.

On one of our websites, www.pheasantfordinner.com, there’s great information about cooking with pheasant, as well as a list of some restaurants that have it on the menu. Our list of restaurants is truly no indication of all of the restaurants that serve our pheasants.  We are always pleasantly surprised when we arrive at a restaurant only to find MacFarlane pheasant on the menu.  We’d love to be able to list all of the restaurants where you can find our pheasant, but, due to confidentiality, some of our distributors retain their own customer list.

So if you see pheasant on a menu somewhere, do us a favor and take a picture of the menu with the pheasant selection listed and e-mail it to dressedpheasants@pheasant.com and we’ll add it to our restaurant list. If you don’t have your cell phone handy for a picture, just drop us a note and let us know where you found it.  And, if you happen to have a restaurant that serves our pheasant, we’d love to list your information, so please drop us a line.

The meat segment of our business continues to grow and we’re proud of being able to produce a fast-growing meaty bird as well as our great game birds.

Dressed Pheasants