Avian Flu

MacFarlane Pheasants is thrilled to announce the 3rd Annual NAGA Hunting Club Conference from July 15 to 17, 2024, at the Best Western Plus Ramkota in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. MacFarlane Pheasants is proud to sponsor and promote this event each year. We believe industry professionals must be involved in and aware [...]

The Biennial Pheasant Management Seminar is always exciting for us, as we get to meet old and new colleagues and hear some of the best speakers in the business. This year we had 123 guests, 17 from as far away as France, Romania, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Our United States [...]

  This year’s NAGA conference was held at the Holiday Inn Disney Springs in Orlando, Florida, January 22-24, 2024. MacFarlane Pheasants’ attendees included Bill MacFarlane, Sarah Pope, Chris Theisen, and Ronnie Viljoen. Bill serves on the NAGA Board of Directors, and Sarah is the NAGA Vice President. The most important [...]

Please mark your calendar for March 3-6th, 2024, to attend the International Pheasant Management Seminar hosted by MacFarlane Pheasants in beautiful Wisconsin! This year’s event will take place in Beloit, Wisconsin, at the Ironworks Hotel.  Accommodations for attendees are at the Ironworks Hotel or the Hotel Goodwin, located across the street from the [...]

The gamebird industry is changing in significant ways due to the many risks that are involved in raising birds. The economy, weather and  the Avian Influenza outbreaks that have happened throughout the world In the past five years have impacted the gamebird industry in many ways. Gamebird producers have witnessed [...]

We implemented biosecurity practices 35 years ago at MacFarlane Pheasants, and each year we refine our procedures to protect our game birds from disease. Our biosecurity team meets monthly to review protocols and to respond to the latest biosecurity concerns in bird populations. Avian Flu ( a serious bird virus) [...]

MacFarlane Pheasant, Inc. attendees to NAGA Convention, February 2023: Bill MacFarlane, Owner Sarah Pope, Vice President of Operations Chris Theisen, Vice President of Production Bill and Sarah each hold positions on the NAGA board. Bill is on the Board of Directors, and Sarah is the Second Vice President. NAGA stands [...]

During the 2022-2023 Mature Bird Season at MacFarlane Pheasants, you can still get on a waiting list if you would like to get pheasants or chukars, but at this time, we are sold out. Our customers are ordering more birds every year, so it is vital to learn about the [...]

The North American Gamebird Association (NAGA) Conference at Bally’s in Las Vegas, Nevada was a special treat for attendees. Last year’s event was cancelled because of the Covid Pandemic so everyone was excited to meet up with other gamebird producers and hunting preserve operators to network and learn all the [...]

MacFarlane Pheasants Inc. ships pheasants and other game birds in shipping crates built by a dedicated on-staff carpenter. Basically, we use what we call a warm weather small crate and a cold weather large crate. Recently, we began trying out the use of manufactured plastic crates.  Avian Influenza is a [...]

Health and safety are topics that are always at the forefront of our planning at MacFarlane Pheasants. Health and safety go hand in hand with biosecurity. That is why it states specifically in our employee handbook that employees are forbidden to own birds of any kind. There are many backyard [...]

Predators The protection of our pheasants and the other game birds we raise is a high priority at MacFarlane Pheasants, Inc. Wild birds are a hazard we can’t afford to ignore! Birds of prey, such as red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures, and even bald eagles, prey on our pheasants.  Starlings populations [...]

MacFarlane Pheasants has over 150 acres of netted covered pens. When you are dealing with this much land, you can expect to have a few furry or feathered visitors! Keeping those visitors off of our property is extremely important in the prevention of the spread of diseases and the predation [...]

We are constantly rotating birds out of barns, and chicks into those barns to then be transitioned to the outdoors. Everything has to be cleaned, washed, dried, disinfected and then sprayed down to prevent bacteria problems. Food pans, as well as food and water delivery systems, are cleaned; heating systems [...]

At MacFarlane Pheasants, we’re proud to be the largest day-old pheasant chick and game bird supplier in the U.S.  What goes into delivering pheasant chicks? Hatchery Manager and Propagation Coordinator Ben Lawton sat down with GameBirdExpert to talk about it. “My role here at the hatchery is to get chicks [...]

Three species of Mycoplasma can cause diseases in birds: M. gallisepticum (MG), M. melleagridis (MM), and M. synoviae (MS). A fourth species, M. iowae, often considered an avian pathogen, is associated with embryonic mortality and lowered hatchability but not with clinical diseases. Mycoplasmae are respiratory agents and can be isolated [...]

Whether you are a veterinarian, doctor, poultry man, game bird producer or just a person who heard the news that came out of Asia during 2003 and 2004, Avian Influenza (AI) otherwise known as bird flu conjures up many thoughts and fears. For poultry and game bird people, the thought [...]

Presented by: Vern L. Christensen Department of Poultry Science North Carolina State University See full PowerPoint presentation here The final destination of the properly managed fertilized pheasant egg is the incubator within the hatchery.  Modern-day hatcheries generally have egg-setting capacities of thousands of eggs.  Fertilized pheasant eggs have a 24-day developmental period [...]