Life in the Pheasantry

I’m super excited because a major milestone was met over the past few days - the first animals moved onto Brimwood Farm.

I’ve always had a key thought that to survive as a small business, particularly a farming one, diversification is a must. I’ve worked for myself long enough to know that when one income stream dries up, you’ve got to have others to rely on. So though Brimwood Farm will predominantly be a market farm garden, I don’t want to solely rely on that revenue. And that’s where the pheasantry comes in.

Both my husband and I are animal mad, so there was never a time when we thought there would be no livestock. There will be traditional animals like sheep, pigs and poultry, but I thought it would be cool to having something a little different too. Pheasants are such beautiful birds, and though used for eggs and meat, can be also used as ornamental specimens. This allows for a wider appreciation, not only as a game bird but an aviary bird. Our pheasantry began in our terraced house with Reeves pheasants. Over the past couple of years I’ve established a breeding trio and an unrelated cock bird ready for another breeding line. Logistically, I needed to move them to the farm first to free up aviary space and so we set about building their enclosures quickly.

Now, I need to be honest here. You do not need such lavish quarters for pheasants. In a commercial sense, we stuffed up here because it’s going to take a long time before this venture breaks even. BUT, there is also the joy of having the birds and providing good welfare and enrichment to consider. So in my eyes, it’s worth the cost. The aviaries should last a decent length of time, and are adaptable enough to house other species too; birds of prey, for example.

To see the full extent of their aviaries, check out my YouTube video - I tour the aviaries, talked about planting and feeding, and release the birds for the first time.

I’m really thrilled with how the aviaries turned out. I think that our pheasants are going to do extremely well! Our end two males will hopefully be sold too (message me if you’re interested) which means I’ll have a free aviary. That means I can get another species … trying to wittle it down to just one is going to be tough! My husband also began clearing another section yesterday and their are already stirrings of grand new plans for more, extensive avairies!