Lady Amherst

(Chrysolophus amherstiae)

The Lady Amherst's pheasant is one of two species known as ruffed pheasants (the Golden pheasant is the other). They are endemic to China as well as Burma and Tibet.

The cock Lady Amherst's Pheasant has a beautiful long tail and gorgeous contrasting colours which include dark metallic green and blue with red feathers on the head above a ruff of black and white. The belly and lower breast is white as is the tail which is heavily barred with black. The tail also has protruding bright orange feathers near its base.  The skin on the face will be a blue/green colour sometimes showing slightly yellow but NEVER the bright yellow of the Golden pheasant. Lady Amherst's Pheasants look extremely regal strutting about the aviary. They become fully coloured during their second year.

The hens are sometimes confused with Golden hens but they are bigger with blue/grey legs and bluish orbital skin. The Golden have yellow skin and also a yellow tinge to the feathers. Lady Amherst hens also have stronger markings than the Goldens. Hybrids between the Lady Amherst and Golden can be produced and are fertile. I think it is very important that the species is preserved for the future. Therefore at Allandoo Pheasantry we do NOT produce any hybrids.

It is possible to have fertile eggs in the first year however some birds may not breed successfully until their second year.  Laying normally starts during the first or second week in April. A hen can lay as many as 36 eggs in one season. She will lay 6 - 12 in each clutch which will take about 23 days to hatch. 2 - 3 hens are often kept with one cock which can put less stress on each hen as the males can become quite aggressive towards them in the breeding season. We have found however with our own birds that one hen will often be picked on by both the cock and other hen when they are kept in a trio so we keep most of our birds in pairs.

I would advise an aviary size of at least 150 square feet with a covered area for some shelter and preferably some shrubs added for some extra interest. Lady Amherst's pheasants are very hardy and are easy birds to look after. They can have other birds in the same aviary although no other pheasant species should be housed with them. Cocks of different pheasants can be together as long as no hens are kept. They are a particularly stunning bird and can become very tame, with only a little time spent with them on a daily basis. The easiest way to calm the birds is by offering treats. It does not usually take long, with hand reared pheasants at least, before the birds start eating from your hand.

Allandoo Pheasantry

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