Lighting and sex ratio for breeding ringnecked pheasants in confined housing

In two trials with breeding pheasants, pheasants were assigned to two male:female sex ratios (1:12 and 1:18) arranged factorially with two lighting regimens (14 or 16 hr of light) in a 24-hr period. In each trial, 1644 or 1680 pheasant hens divided in two replicates were assigned to each experimental treatment and placed in controlled environment housing. Hen mortality, percent culled eggs, total eggs per hen-housed, fertility, hatchability, and usable chicks per hen-housed were determined over a 9-week production period. Although mortality and percent hatch were not affected by either sex ratio or lighting, percent culled eggs increased with increased light (16 hr light) and usable chicks per hen-housed decreased with increased light. Increasing the sex ratio from 1:12 to 1:18 increased egg production but decreased fertility. These data demonstrate that pheasants reared in a controlled environment require less than 16 hr light for maximizing usable chick production per hen-housed and there is a trade-off between fertility and egg production.