A proprietary game bird feed is the easiest way to give your pheasants a nutritious and balanced diet. We use Marsden's pheasant pellets but there are others available that will also do the job fine. Unfortunately the majority of producers only sell their feed in bulk as it is mostly intended for game keepers rearing birds in their thousands. For the hobbyist or breeder of the rarer species only breeding a much smaller quantity of birds the options are few. Heygates sell good quality game feed and 20kg bags can be bought online, which is much less than the minimum of a ton required by other companies. For few years now we've used their crumb and have been very pleased with it. This is a chick crumb produced especially for pheasants and quail NOT poultry. Pheasant chicks will struggle to survive on a poutry crumb which is much lower in protein than a pheasant crumb.
Although our bird's staple diet is a manufactured pheasant pellet we also offer regular "treats". These consist of a good mix of seeds, nuts, fruit and sometimes live food. By offering a large variety we feel it's not only more nutritious but also makes it easier for our birds if they go to new homes as they will more readily accept changes to their diet.
This brings me on to the subject of receiving new birds. Any new arrivals to our aviaries get the special treatment of scattered food around their pen, for at least a few days. We tend to put their pellets in the feed dishes and a little around them but we will also throw down an ample supply of their treats at numerous spots around the aviary. We also recommend to our customers to do the same when they get their birds from us. It is especially useful to include a mix of fruit with the treats as it will keep the birds hydrated if they are not yet drinking from their intended drinker. It can take birds a wee while to become accustomed to their new environment, including new dishes and containers, which they can be nervous of even without any other birds in the aviary. Scattering food will encourage them to explore, help them to become used to the person throwing it and give them time to settle without their health deteriorating. Of all the pheasants we keep the Peacock Pheasants are the least keen on fruit but will still happily gulp down numerous berries particularly soft fruits such as raspberries, blackberries, black currants etc. On the plus side, they love mealworms which should also provide them with a little moisture if you're at all worried about them not drinking straight away when you get them home.
A last consideration when feeding pheasants is the aviary itself. Not only is it good for the birds but it will save money on the feed bill if there are things growing in the pen that the birds like to eat. The main and most likely food stuff here is grass. Personally, I think a grassy aviary is an ideal one. However that is much easier said than done as the birds eat it, trample it, scrape it and dig it and when reseeding is done they assume that is their food too. The bigger the aviary the more likely it is that you'll manage to keep it grassy but even then with certain birds (not looking at you Monals!!!) it can be difficult. Even without grass though, some planting can help to feed the birds in one way or another as well as offer some other useful features such as perch room or hiding places. By planting fruiting shrubs and trees the birds will be able to enjoy munching fruit as well as leaves. Some plants are a great draw to insects that the birds will enjoy and if you have very tough shrubs and trees included they may even be able to dig up some roots without permanent damage (you may consider suckering plants for this reason).
One other thing worth saying is about the game bird pellets or lack of them. It can seem rather daunting that when you're just getting the hang of what pellets you need for your birds they are no longer available. This is because the feed companies make what is needed at certain times of the year. In the spring you'll be able to buy breeder pellets and chick crumb while later in the year it will be mini pellets and grower pellets for the young birds followed by a poult release/covert pellet and lastly in the winter there are maintenence pellets available. There are a few extras in between and there's some overlap too but the feed companies should keep you right about what is needed when. Some types can be missed out: We don't bother with a manitenance pellet as we feel the poult release is fine to keep us through the colder months and we'll move on to a pre breeder early in the year followed by the breeder pellets. If you are unable to buy pheasant pellets a quail pellet is smaller but similar and I think the next closest nutrition wise is food for pigeons. Indeed we like to buy Buckton's pigeon conditioning seed mix for our birds which they seem to appreciate and look forward to (I can tell this by the dirty looks I get when I don't take them any).