Pheasant SOS

[jennyb]

I feel really quite upset. Late this afternoon my husband went out our back door and almost stood on a pheasant chick. Mum was sitting looking terrified right beside our back door. On closer inspection it seems that she is sitting on her chicks but 2 of them look in a really bad way and will not survive.

Not sure how many there are, but at least one of them looks pretty perky.

We really don't know why she left her nest. I saw her feeding under our bird feeder this afternoon and maybe when she left her chicks to do that they went walkabout. Maybe she herded them into the corner beside our back door, but we found 2 of them some distance away in very bad shape.

I am not really sure what we should do about them. It is now completely dark and she is still there. I think perhaps the best thing to do would be to leave them alone. However, this is the main thoroughfare into our house and it is difficult to avoid walking past her.

Here are a couple of pics...





Any suggestions?

Jenny

[thunder]

Pheasant chicks leave the nest as soon as they have hatched, and trot around after their mother. I suspect she will move off early next morning. She will try calling any errant chicks, but it's inevitable that not all will survive. If you can avoid usng the area tonight as much as possibel that will probably help.

henrya

[jennyb]

Thanks for this. I hope she is gone in the morning. We will not be going out again tonight but we can see through the glass door that she is still there.

I find it quite distressing to see these dying chicks. But, that's nature, I guess.

Jenny

[jennyb]

An update - she is gone this morning, but has left behind 2 dead chicks. I hope the others survive.

Jenny