We kept ours in half of a building with little square doors that we could close during bad weather that separated them from the enclosed pen. We had 5 square feet per adult bird. They are NOT, repeat NOT like chickens. They WILL kill each other if they are crowded. We kept as few roosters as possible. They are the worst for aggression. If we didn't have enough space we would put plastic blinders on them which kept the serious blood letting to a minimum. Feed right now is 10 bucks a bag give'er take a buck for 50 lbs. How much you need depends on how many birds you want. We figured about 20 bucks per bird by the time you release'em. The hens were laying eggs long before we released'em so we did hatch a few of our own just to see if we could do it. We didn't have any cats to deal with as our dogs killed every one that came close and they kept the yotes at bay pretty well too. We did bury the chicken wire for the pen down 2 ft to deter digging and we didn't have anything dig in. As far as chores, we had self feeders and waterers and just did a check in the morning and one in the evening to make sure all was well. Heat was minimal and mostly reduced to heated water containers. Pheasants are pretty tough if they aren't standing in the face of a rainstorm or blizzard. At which point they are the dumbest critter on this planet and will just stand there and die. Space, both inside and out will be the limiting factor in my experience. If you have that covered the rest is pretty much peanuts. Don't have a clue where a guy would get day old chicks, but I'm sure someone knows on here. We raised pheasants for about a decade and like I mentioned we released a couple thousand during that time. Some on purpose and some......not so much. If anyone cares, I'm more than happy to share what we learned during that time with anyone looking to raise pheasants for whatever reason.
