Reeves Pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii)

The wild Reeves Pheasant is from Central China and prefers a habitat of open woodland. In captivity they are perfectly happy in an aviary of approximately 250 square feet or over. In too small a pen the cock's tremendous tail will be easily damaged.
The colours of the cock may not be quite as bright or irredescent as some other species and he lacks a crest and face wattles but his extra long tail and ornate markings certainly make him a stunning bird.
The Reeve's cock pheasant has a white head adorned with a black choker and a second prominent black band surrounding the eyes like a Venetian mask . His body is mainly a shade of deep dark yellow with a black border around each feather. He also has some white on his wings and a rich dark chestnut on the breast. The tail is mainly white with black barring.
The Reeve's hen is a pretty bird much paler than the cock but heavily mottled. She has a creamy yellow head with a brown cap and markings round the eyes to the back of the head.

We have actually only started breeding Reeve's Pheasants in 2009 as we were rather put off by the aggressive reputation this bird has earned. We seem to have been lucky however as we have had no problems with our adult Reeves at all. The Reeves do not require any special attention as they are very hardy and eat a good variety of foods but would still manage on only the pheasant pellets if need be.

Our birds are a year old and the hens have laid well and every egg has been fertile. We have kept the Reeve's Pheasants in trios which has worked fine. The hens have laid an average of about 30 eggs each.
The chicks like their parents are tough birds and easy to rear however they can be extremely quarrelsome especially with other species so it is best to keep them with only other Reeves or possibly some of the other bossy chicks. We have some Reeve's chicks with our White Eared Pheasant chicks and they have settled well together. A few of our older Reeves chicks are now (in July) in outdoor pens with our adult Golden and Mikado hens and they are managing fine, without any problems.

We are really pleased we finally decided to keep Reeve's Pheasants as they are a wonderful addition to our aviaries. A few hens can be kept with one cock and the plants in their pens manage to grow well as the birds don't do much damage unlike some other pheasant species. They are also a quiet bird which is a great bonus if neighbours are likely to complain. Our birds have certainly shown us they are not all villains and should definitely be given the chance to prove themselves worthy.