Pheasants/Feb. rain

[deleted]

Down in this SE corner we're getting a fairly heavy rain right now with it bordering on 32 degrees. Filling the wood stoves this morning and it's fricking miserable to be outside. What's your thoughts on the birds in this crap.......

 

[arrowdem]

ive never actually thought about that? can this kind of weather kill them off? you would think their feathers would shed the water pretty well and with the warmer temps they would be fine?

 

[Kurtr]

Rained like a mother here last night but it is 40 and supposed to be that way if it was freezing i would say its not good. We have no snow now so that is a big help to the birds to

 

[deleted]

ive never actually thought about that? can this kind of weather kill them off? you would think their feathers would shed the water pretty well and with the warmer temps they would be fine?

Really not sure..........Hope so

 

[KDM]

Pheasant feathers are NOT like duck feathers, they will get TOTALLY SOAKED. If the temps stay above freezing until the birds can dry off they will be fine. If the temps drop below freezing......well let's just say that's NOT GOOD!!! We used to raise between 3K and 5K pheasants a year and rain + freezing temps = long, cold, and wet days trying to keep hundreds of birds from dying. The upside of all the rain is that it should melt the snow and open up food sources so the birds can "fatten up" a bit should be get one of those Mar-Apr ice storms. Cross your fingers we don't get one of those.

 

[SDMF]

If they go to bed wet/cold and it gets cold enough for a hard freeze, coyotes have a nearly endless supply of pheasant-cicles for a while.

Cattails and Conifers are a bird's best friend, or a bean shed with the door cracked open a bit.

 

[Duckslayer100]

Don't worry fellas. That's what all the tree rows and shelter belts are for! Great cover to keep vulnerable pheasants safe from weather and predators. It's a good thing there are so many still around and people aren't yanking them out like a dentist mainlining coffee.

Oh, wait...

 

[wildeyes]

no nesting going on, above freezing temp. there good. a few years back going to minot in jan 2013 rained over a inch and then got subzero for the rest of jan not good

 

[zoops]

Wouldn't worry much about this weather. If we have a good nesting season they're going to be like locusts next fall.