We are on our 4th year raising day old pheasant chicks. We are very fortunate that the Perham Sportsman Club gets pheasants and sells them to area people to raise and release. We keep the birds in brooding rings in the garage with heat lamps for the first week. I made the rings with some bolts and wing nuts and some material I bought at the local Menards. I think it can be used on the walls of a bathroom. When I went there to find something I pulled a sheet off the rack to see if it was flexible enough to make a ring, but sturdy enough to stand up on it's own. We are on our third year and it works great.

The first year I struggled with bedding, they like to pick at everything and pine chips was not a good choice for us. I think they got impacted gizzards as I lost a lot of them. I use a layer of newspaper because it makes cleanup a lot simpler and for the first few days just put a layer of paper towel down on top of the newspaper. This prevents them from eating a bunch if wood chips.

After about a week they have enough feathers that they get enough lift that they can get out of the brooding rings and we end up chasing them all over the garage. That is when we move them out to our coop that we made out of old pallets. It works good. If I had to do it again I would build a split door, we have a chicken wire door on the inside that swings in and a solid door that swings out. Both are about 12" higher that the floor so they can't run out under your feet. I would Split the outside door and have the door go all the way to the floor, This would make clean up easier. Right now it is a little tricky to clean out the coop.

We have our share of struggles every year, with skunks, fox, hawks, raccoons, and neighborhood dogs, but overall we have been successful. A fly pen is a must for when they get a little older. We dug the chicken wire down and out about a foot which is important if you have predators. If you think you don't have any predators get pheasants and you will soon find out what is really in the neighborhood. 1 year we trapped 13 skunks. It is totally if you build it they will come situation.

There are all sorts of plans and ideas and information on the web if you need ideas. I will tell you this, it is pretty amazing to watch them fly away at 8 weeks. All the work is worth it!

Friday afternoon we headed for Illinois to help out with the 2019 KlM-GNA VJP - This is a JGHV test or more commonly know in the states as a German Hunting test. NAVHDA modeled their testing system off of the JGHV system, The VJP is the spring puppy test were they are looking for the natural abilities of the dogs. You can find more info on the specifics of the test on our testing info page.

This year the rabbit track portion of the test was held at the Northern Illinois Brace Club (NIBC) or better known as the Northern Illinois Beagle Club. Cheri and Larry were amazing hosts and very knowledge experienced dog people. We had an absolute blast. We got to meet Larry's Teckel (aka Wire Coat Dachshund) Larkin.

Larry was our Field Marshall for both days and we had a hoot! Saturday we were honored with 4 fabulous little girls ranging from 7-12 and Larry passed the time challenging them to hit his hat with a stick. The girls all seemed to enjoy there time at NIBC. 

Be prepared, it is important!! The things that I usually forget are to put sunscreen on, bring a hat and carry water, you would think I would have this figured out by now, but sadly no, I managed to get sun burnt on the first day and didn't carry water with me. I at least had a hat but only because Ryan had a couple extras in the truck.

Advice for new handlers, use a slip lead, a 10'-12' cord with a loop to slide over your wrist and then hook in your dogs collar. When your dog is on the rabbit track you let go of the loose end and your dog walks away to track with no resistance. This will help so you don't distract your dog when trying to mess with the leash clip. We saw dogs lose their concentration and get a bad start on the track from this on multiple occasions over the weekend.

Overall it was a great weekend with great people, I always learn something, which makes the trips to tests worth it!