Well I received two email responses and they are here for you to read. The first one from Dr. Leland Hayes and the second one from Wallace Morgan, Professor & Head, Poultry Science Dept. from msstate.edu.
Steve--- I have never heard of anything like this. I am not surprised
though.
I would contend that the hatcher is the same as the incubator and not
related to the brooder. The regulations you state surely apply to mature birds. One does not put day olds in those large pens as they must be confined for severaol weeks until feathered out in a small area around the heat source.
The chicks are never let outside (unless the weather is very warm) until feathered.
Can you just ignore the stupid regulations and go about your business?
Leland
PS. Doves are not in the class of pheasant or quail and cannot be raised under the same conditions as you know.
I am sorry that I can't be more helpful to you. I don't undeerstand why they have these regulations.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Kay" <skaybird@zzzip.net>
To: <leland@lelandhayes.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 9:52 AM
Subject: All Wild Game Birds/commercial incubation to hatcher to brooder
>
>
Dear Dr. Leland,
>
I am a pheasant farmer here in West Virginia and have come across a
problem with the states guide lines on square footage on new hatchling's of pheasant chicks.
>
The states rules and regulations, state that Grouse, Pheasant, Quail, or
Doves (unless you request a pen or brooder size waiver)
>
a. Cage size for one to five birds
1) must be 100 square foot enclosure with 6'fence
>
b. Cage size for each additional bird
1) Increase enclosure area by 20 square feet.
>
They are telling me that I need 20 square foot per chick that is still in
my hatcher. I am telling them that once the chick has hatched that they
should remain in the hatcher in a controlled environment for at least 24 hours or until completely dry. I do have a pen and brooder size waiver, but the problem is in the hatcher prior to the move to the brooder.
>
West Virginia does not have any qualified wildlife biologists'in the field of raising wild game birds.
>
I need hard evidence stating to the facts of time requirements, size
requirement in a hatcher prior to a brooder. I have a GQF 1502 Sportsman incubator and an old Cedar Humidiare Hatcher that has 3 hatching draws.
>
Can you imagine 6,000 square feet for 300 pheasant chicks and the cost to heat this?
>
>
Respectfully,
>
Steven Kay
Pheasant Hollow Farm
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I don't know where to start answering your question, but I will try. There must be some mistake about the space needed by any freshly hatched chick of any species (chicken, quail, duck, turkey etcetc) that you stated. Twenty square feet is over 4 ft by 4 ft. My goodness, in nature the eggs hatch in a nest that is quite small, and it is necessary that those biddies huddle together after hatching to keep their body temps up. No incubator, hatcher, or even mother nature would suspect that much space is needed. You might want to get DNR to clarify what they are talking about. As practiced everywhere, the temp in the incubator or hatcher(which ever you use during the hatching process; ie. it might be the same machine, or a separate machine as practiced commercially) needs to be near 100F so the birds are warm. The air supply should move enough to allow the chicks to dry. I have never been aware of any space requirement for that process. Mostly, you just don't want them to stand on top of each other - they will huddle closely because that is their nature and need. Good luck
If they are talking about 20 square feet of floor space in your building for every chick, that likewise makes no sense to me - air supply, temperature and humidity are what matter, and floor space does not address that issue. I am clueless.
Wallace Morgan
Professor & Head
Poultry Science Dept.
662-325-3416
662-325-8292 fax
wmorgan@poultry.msstate.edu
>>> webmaster@ext.msstate.edu 03/16/05 3:26 PM >>>
The following message was received through the MSUcares
web site.
---------------------------- MESSAGE BODY ----------------------------
I have a problem with my state DNR regarding the square footage needed in a hatchery while the chicks are they’re drying.
The state has a blanket one size fits all 20 square foot per bird. They don't care if they are adults, juvinels, chicks, or chicks just born while in the hatchery drying. This includes
pheasant, grouse, quail and dove.
I need some hard paper evidence stating the fact for how long they must remain in the hatchery for drying and whether or not there is a square foot per new born chick recommendation.
I have spoken with the manufactures of the GQF 1502 Sportsman incubators and they assure me that the incubator can accommodate 359 pheasant eggs and can also be used as a hatchery. My hatcher that I currently use is an old style cedar chest Humidaire
Hatcher, which has 3 large, draws.
I have been raising Ring-neck Pheasants for 4 years and this has never come up. They tell me that if I do not remove the chicks right after they are born, that I am in violation of state DNR
Rules and Regulations and I could be find, and revoke my game farm license.
Any information you have regarding this matter will be greatly appreciated
Respectfully,
Steven Kay
Pheasant Hollow Farm
Author
