6.18.18 Baby Pheasants (guest post by Anna)

Anna had a lot of cute pictures on her phone from work today, so we decided that Anna would write a post and share.
 Where to begin?  I have been working at the Nelson Pheasant farm for a while now so you could think like my boss and say "...I'm a professional" but in all honesty, I feel like a little kid when something new like this comes up.
I have slowly been moving my way up from hooding birds, where we put a red hood over the birds eyes so they cannot see each other. When dressed as such they then cannot peck each other to death.

Last week I moved up to catching the juvenile birds in the barns and moving them to their new home outside in the large cages. Today I was introduced to the freshly hatched chicks. They are super tiny and they have to be under a heat lamp 24/7 while they grow. Then they too have to be moved into larger pens where they finish the growing process.
When they are mature in the fall I help "herd" the birds then catch them for the groups of hunters. And when I say "herd" I do not actually mean herding them. These birds cannot see through the hoods so they move when they hear noise. Just imagine the sight we must be while we move down the pens clapping and making the most animalistic sounds.
 I have officially seen the entire process from day 1 to the end when the birds are taken out for hunts. I am so grateful to get to work there.

The Nelson's go directly to the hatchery to get the birds. They drive them home secure in these boxes.



These are the boxes that the chicks are brought to their new home in.



I happened to set my phone with the camera on, on top of one of the boxes. I must have placed it just right, because I got this cute picture.



Baby chicks waiting to go into their new home that is warm. We boxed up two section into a bucket to transfer them to the heat lamps.



Just noticing how cute this little guy/gal (I can't tell the difference at this age) looked. They were so tiny.



They get dumped under the heat lamps, so that they can get warm fast. After a long drive with no heat and just being hatched that morning really put strain on these little guys. After about a week they can fly, and after a few weeks go by they will be big enough to move into the big pens.