Tips for Starting Your Flock

Game birds can be a rewarding and profitable addition to your farm. Many enthusiasts are involved in raising game birds , and some even participate in game bird farming. They can be raised for meat enjoyed at home, to help train hunting dogs, and for release back into the wild for repopulation/hunting. Many people raise these birds because of local demand for eggs, which are not only a delicacy (especially quail eggs) but also sold to other farmers to incubate for their own game flocks.

Investigate Game Bird Regulations

Game birds fall under specific legal circumstances depending on each state. Some states require you to have a Game Breeders License and others do not. You also may need to have a Game Warden inspect your operation and animals. Some states (even those without breeding or Game Warden regulations) have laws about how and when the birds can be released into the wild. Unlike domesticated fowl, game birds require some extra-legal homework before you take the plunge. For those in the US, it is advisable to review game bird legal requirements specific to your state.

Before you take any steps to raise game birds, consult your wildlife authorities and local laws. A phone call to your state’s Special License Department will provide the answers you need. Make sure you are abiding by all local laws and are aware of your limitations when raising game birds.

Purchasing Game Birds From a Hatchery vs Incubation

Before you take any steps to raise game birds, consult your wildlife authorities and local laws. A phone call to your state’s Special License Department will provide the answers you need. Make sure you are abiding by all local laws and are aware of your limitations when raising game birds.

Brooder Pen & Flight Run Setup

For a smaller farm, the same brooder setup you would use for chicks will do. Kits are available to make part of your garage or outdoor shed a temporary brooder for a small number of birds. But if you raise these game birds in larger numbers, a draftless brooding pen with an attached outdoor run is the most successful model (this is an essential brooder pen setup for game birds and flight run for game birds ).

For your flock of game birds, you can use a small shed with clean bedding, such as wood shavings or dry leaves. As long as the space can be closed with a secure door and not exposed to rain or drafts it will do as a large brooding area. This also serves as suitable poultry housing for game birds . Heating the small, young chicks will require special attention to avoid suffocation from crowding around heat sources. Offer several heating stations with bulbs meant for brooding poultry. Give these brooding heat lamps the ability to be raised higher as the birds start to feather out and learn to moderate their body heat.

The bird’s space outside is a pen, or flight run. It is an open-air containment setting with special netting on all sides, including a netting roof, which stops birds from flying out. The outdoor run will also be where the feeding station and watering stations will be set up.

Game Bird Feed & Supplies

Game birds can be raised much like other poultry but their needs (especially regarding nutrition) are very different. It is important to ensure proper game bird feed and nutrition for optimal growth. Since these birds are fairly common, finding these feeds isn’t hard but may require special ordering. Quails are already fully grown and laying eggs around eight weeks of age. It takes a high-powered feed to create fast growth like that! For those seeking quail farming tips , proper feed is essential.

Be sure you are using the right styles of feeders and waterers for small birds like quails. If you are raising a small flock for your home supply of meat and eggs, consider using feeders and waterers designed for chicks, not adult chickens.

For larger birds like pheasants, many of the supplies used for chickens and turkeys suffice. However, there are specialized watering systems specifically for game birds, too. Smaller birds like quail can walk into larger chicken watering stations and soil them or even drown. Gravity/Nipple systems are a safer bet. This advice also applies to pheasant care and feeding.

Still have questions on what you need to get your gamebird flock started? Give our experts a call today at 888-433-5275. Check out our full supply of game bird and poultry products here.

What kind of setup do you have for your game birds? Tell us about it in the comments.