Derek the pheasant - is this dangerous for my chickens?

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Hi everyone
I had read somewhere that it is a bad idea to let pheasants go near chickens as they can pass on all sorts of diseases to them... IS this correct? We have got a problem with a really tame pheasant - whenever the chickens are out in the garden he tries to socialise with them, then he tries to put himself to bed with them at dusk. He is so tame that he even follows me around... So it seems a bit mean to get rid of him, but at the same time I don't want to risk anything happpening to my chickens. Any advice?
 
Hi Gretl.

That's really nice! I wish the pheasants around here would be a bit more friendly!

Bottom line (IMO) is that having any wild bird come and go is a risk to bio-security. If he / she catches something, he could bring it in to your flock. There are many diseases that are common to pheasants and chooks.

They again.... you could have something carried in on the bottom of your feet too... or by another wild bird feeding / excreating - sparrows, jackdaws etc.

So whilst it's good to minimise the risk of your birds catching something, if you keep their immune systems strong by giving them free range / the right food, fresh water and so on, the risk is pretty low IMO. My chooks are in a field with all sorts of wild animals during the various seasons.

Think about this - Rats are one of the biggest carriers of diseases and can cause all sorts of problems for poultry keepers yet many of us have to deal with them from time to time yet our chooks are normally fine.

Just one view anyway ;)
 
Thanks Tim, much appreciated... Looks like Derek will live to see another day :)
 
Hi Gretl,pleased you've already decided to keep Derek,if he is feeding with your chooks etc and drinking from their water containers he will also benefit from garlic,ACV etc.
I was feeding wild birds in my garden before I got hens,so I do add garlic,acv etc to the water bath thing for the wild birds,and a few verm-x pellets to their food once a month.
Once I have a garden again instead of mud I will also add some louse powder to favourite dust bathing area's, (my hens are currently dust bathing in my house) with some added louse powder.
I'm hoping that this will benefit the wild sparrow/robin population.
 
I haven't tried Verm-X before - I use flubenvet to worm them, and my avian vet gave me front line to put on them for mites/fleas etc.. If you use Verm-X do you have to worm them as well? Is there a more natural product that could be used instead of frontline?
 
Hi,I've only just started keeping poultry,I do use flubevet once every six months,but,also give them verm-x in between the flubevet on a monthly basis.
not sure of what you would use as a natural insecticide instead of frontline.
 
gretl said:
I haven't tried Verm-X before - I use flubenvet to worm them, and my avian vet gave me front line to put on them for mites/fleas etc.. If you use Verm-X do you have to worm them as well? Is there a more natural product that could be used instead of frontline?
Click to expand...

Hmm... Verm-X - that's the million dollar question at the moment. I don't believe Verm-X can legally claim to be a wormer - there is no doubt that with regular use it reduces egg count / worms - and I'm using it here with good results. I did a worm count before and after 6 months of use and there was a clear improvement -but I have heard from a couple of different vets that they have seen sick birds where they have been full of worms and the owners were using Verm-X thinking it couldn't be worms.

For now, I do the same as Lydia - use Verm-x but still use Flubenvet twice a year. More studies and trials need to be done on VermX alone I feel.

There are several Mite / Louse powders you could use - they fall into two categories - those that are Pyrethium based (an insecticide) and those that have only natural ingredients such as tea tree or diatoms.

I use Diatom - but as with most natural solutions, you need to spend more time dusting the birds down and keeping on top of the problem. Frontline will do the job in one dose.

There are some articles you might like here:

Diatom Article
Lice on Chickens Article

Tim
 
I only saw a pheasant go near my hens once. Well one of my meanest hens attacked it. After that I never saw that pheasant. :D
 
Derek is now a fully fledged member of the family... He waits in the drive for us when we get back from work and follows us up to the house. At the weekends he follows us around all day! He even lets us handle him!! The chickens are still not that impressed with him and if he gets too close our cockerell chases him away. But I think the verm-x/ACV etc is doing him the world of good - this is one healthy, happy pheasant!
 
Hi Gretl,that is good news,really pleased Derek has settled in.
 
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