Guide — pheasant rearing

Pheasant rearing: the method, the stages, and how to choose your breeder

From lay to release, what rearing a hunting pheasant really takes — and the practical criteria that set a genuine game farm apart from a production line. Written by a family game farm established in Isère, France, since 1951.

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Pheasant rearing: the method, the stages, and how to choose your breeder

The GIBIS method

Our pheasant rearing method, since 1951

A hunting pheasant is not manufactured in a cage: it is built in the habitat it will meet again on release day. At Chatte, in Isère, GIBIS has been rearing pheasants since 1951 in large planted flight pens, at low density, where the bird flies, perches and goes to cover every day; the FAISAN PUR CHASSE® strain is bred there naturally, with no artificial insemination. This page walks through pheasant husbandry step by step, along with the criteria for choosing your supplier; the facilities, approvals and logistics are presented on our farm page.

Planted flight pens of over a hectare: Dense vegetation and crops sown inside the pens: the bird builds its flight muscles and covering reflexes from the very first weeks.
Natural breeding in the pen: For the PUR CHASSE® strain, natural mating and natural brooding: parental behaviour is passed on — and so is the bird's wildness.
Flushing with pointing dogs: Regular runs by trained pointing dogs through the pens: the flight instinct is in place before release, not after.
Controlled density, full tail: The tail is the best visible indicator of a proper stocking density: a bird with a long, intact tail was not reared in a crowd. It is our first grading criterion.

Portrait d'un coq faisan de chasse — plumage complet et masque facial rouge, élevage GIBIS en Isère

A pheasant's calendar

From egg to release bird: the stages of rearing

Rearing a pheasant fits into a tight annual cycle: lay as winter ends, 24 days' incubation, brooder house, then flight pen until release age. Each stage corresponds to a different product, and a different use on the ground — hatching eggs for those who want to incubate themselves, 12-to-16-week poults for summer restocking releases, adult pheasants of 20 weeks and over for the shooting season.

1. Lay and incubation — February to April: The hen pheasant lays from February to April. Eggs are collected daily and incubated for 24 days (23 to 25 depending on the batch), at around 37.7 °C then 37.2 °C over the last three days, turned 4 to 6 times a day until day 21.
2. Chick — 0 to 6 weeks: Heated brooder house, high-protein game starter feed, low density. This is the most sensitive period: temperature, cleanliness and calm determine everything that follows.
3. Poult — 6 to 16 weeks: Move to the planted flight pen. Between 12 and 16 weeks the bird is fully feathered, flies properly and is still young enough to go wild: this is the window for summer restocking releases — prices on our poults page.
4. Adult — 20 weeks and over: The shooting-season bird: full plumage, flight muscles fully developed. Common, melanistic, Chinese or PUR CHASSE® strain — prices on our hunting pheasants page.

Jeune faisan dans un couvert végétal dense en fleurs — étape volière plantée de l'élevage de faisans GIBIS

Pen, feeding, breeding

Raising pheasants yourself: the technical benchmarks

Keeping a few pheasants at home is within reach of a careful amateur, provided you understand three things: the pheasant is a wary bird that needs space and cover, its breeding is highly seasonal, and the hen pheasant is a poor sitter. Here are the benchmarks we give the people who call us before getting started.

Pen: 4 m² minimum per pair

4 m² per breeding pair is the commonly accepted minimum, and more is always better. Perches are essential, along with shelter from draughts and vegetation or brushwood so the birds can get out of sight.

Feeding: game feed by stage

High-protein starter feed for chicks, then grower, then maintenance or breeder ration. Grain as a supplement, greens and insects at will. On our farm, a large share of the grain is grown on site.

Breeding: 9 to 12 eggs, February to April

In natural conditions a hen pheasant lays 9 to 12 eggs from February to April. Daily collection keeps her laying and yields far higher numbers on a farm — but it requires an incubator.

Health and predation

Netting overhead, wire buried at the base, protection against rats and foxes, and a clean water point. Losses in a small setup almost always come from predators or poor hygiene, rarely from genetics.

Regulations: the 100-bird threshold

In France, up to 100 game birds kept on a non-commercial basis, keeping is unrestricted (ministerial order of 8 October 2018). Beyond that, or as soon as there are regular sales, a certificate of competence and a prefectoral operating licence are required. Registration as a bird keeper, though, applies with no threshold at all.

Before you order

How to choose a pheasant breeder: 6 criteria

All pheasants look alike on an invoice; they do not look alike on the wing. Here are the six questions we advise putting to any breeder — ourselves included — before placing an order. They are the ones federations and hunting clubs ask when they come to visit the farm.

1. The strain and its origin: Ask the strain's name, how many generations it has been selected for, and on what criterion. A strain identified and worked over the long term does not behave like a batch bought elsewhere and resold.
2. The type and size of the pens: Planted pen or bare park? What area, for how many birds? A pheasant reared without cover learns neither to go to cover nor to hide, and it shows from the first day of the season.
3. The ages the farm can deliver at: A farm able to supply 12-to-16-week poults in summer as well as 20-week adults for opening day is in control of its production calendar. Be wary of a quoted age with no hatch dates for the batches.
4. The birds' behaviour, checked on site: The simplest test: walk into a pen. An intensively reared bird walks and lets you approach; a hardy bird takes wing. A breeder who welcomes that demonstration has little to hide.
5. Approvals and traceability: Farm registration number, certificate of competence, health certificate and an invoice stating provenance with every delivery: the documents that let a hunting club prove where its birds came from. GIBIS is registered under no. 38001.
6. Track record and open doors: A farm you can visit, whose pens you can see and whose breeders you can meet, stakes its reputation on every delivery. GIBIS has been rearing game on the same site since 1951, across three family generations.

Coq faisan adulte à longue queue entière sur une prairie — critère de qualité d'un élevage de faisans

Where to look

Finding a pheasant breeder near you

There is no official, exhaustive directory of pheasant farms; the lists that exist are partial. The most reliable starting point remains your departmental hunters' federation (fédération départementale des chasseurs), which knows the suppliers working in its area and often oversees restocking operations. Two other avenues usefully complement it: word of mouth between neighbouring hunting clubs, and direct contact with farms that deliver beyond their own region. GIBIS is based at Chatte, in Isère, and delivers throughout mainland France as well as to Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg with its own vehicles.

Go through your departmental federation

The federation knows the farms working on its ground and the restocking arrangements set out in the departmental hunting management plan.

A distant breeder is still within reach

Transport in fitted vehicles makes it possible to deliver live birds several hundred kilometres. Proximity matters less than the strain and the rearing conditions.

Pool orders between clubs

Pheasants disperse beyond communal boundaries: coordinated releases between neighbouring grounds give better results, and a single delivery run cuts the cost for everyone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you keep pheasants at home?

Yes, within a precise limit. In France, a private individual may keep up to 100 pheasants or partridges without a certificate of competence or an operating licence, provided the birds are kept with no commercial purpose or trade — the regime of the ministerial order of 8 October 2018 (article 12 and annex 2). Beyond 100 birds, or as soon as there are regular sales, a certificate of competence and a prefectoral licence to operate an establishment become compulsory, whatever the numbers. In every case, and with no threshold, anyone keeping birds must be registered with the authorities; check with your DDT(M)/DDPP or your departmental federation, and follow the biosecurity measures applying to poultry keepers. GIBIS is a registered game-breeding establishment, no. 38001.

How much pen space do pheasants need?

Allow at least 4 m² per breeding pair, and more as soon as you go beyond a few birds. Pheasants tolerate crowding badly: past a certain density the birds peck one another, tails break and feathers wear. Perches, shelter from draughts and vegetation or brushwood are essential. On a farm producing release birds the scale changes completely: our growing pens exceed a hectare and are planted with crops, because it is space and cover that build flight muscle.

What does a farmed pheasant eat?

A compound game feed matched to the stage: a very high-protein starter for chicks, then grower, then maintenance or breeder ration depending on the season. The pellet is supplemented with grain — wheat, maize — and, in a planted pen, with the greenery and insects the bird finds for itself. On our farm at Chatte, a large share of the grain used is grown on site, which lets us control where the feed comes from.

Do you need an incubator to raise pheasants?

For a backyard setup, an incubator or a broody hen is enough for a few eggs: the hen pheasant herself is a poor sitter and frequently abandons her nest, which makes artificial incubation all but unavoidable as soon as you want consistent results. The precise parameters (duration, temperature, humidity) are detailed in our pheasant egg incubation guide.

When do hen pheasants lay, and how many eggs?

From February to April, with 9 to 12 eggs per clutch in natural conditions. On a farm, daily collection keeps the hen laying and can yield several dozen eggs per hen over the season, but it requires an incubator: the hen pheasant is a poor sitter and frequently abandons her nest. That is why artificial incubation is the rule on most farms — except, in our case, for the FAISAN PUR CHASSE® strain, which we breed under natural brooding to preserve parental behaviour.

How do you recognise a serious pheasant farm?

By three verifiable things: the birds, the facilities and the paperwork. The birds first — walk into a pen: a hardy pheasant takes wing where an intensively reared bird just walks; look at the tails, long and intact on birds reared at a proper density. The facilities next: planted pens, area per bird, cleanliness, water points. The paperwork last: registration number, certificate of competence, health certificate and an invoice stating provenance with every delivery. A breeder who welcomes visits and produces these documents without arguing is a good sign.

Where can I find a list of pheasant farms in France?

There is no official, exhaustive directory of pheasant farms; the lists that exist are partial. The most reliable starting point remains your departmental hunters' federation, which knows the suppliers in its area and oversees restocking operations under the departmental hunting management plan. Word of mouth between neighbouring clubs also works. And proximity is not a decisive criterion: live birds travel very well in fitted vehicles — we deliver from Isère throughout mainland France.

Come and see the farm before you order

Restocking poults or shooting-season pheasants: let's talk about your ground, your release dates and the right strain. Personalised quote on 04 76 38 31 01 or by email — visits to the farm at Chatte by appointment.

Contact us +33 (0)4 76 38 31 01