6 Best Pheasant Chick Brooder Kits For Beginners That Prevent Common Issues
Raising pheasant chicks? Our guide to the 6 best brooder kits helps beginners prevent fatal issues like improper heating, drafts, and piling.
You’ve done the hard part of sourcing pheasant eggs or chicks, but the next three weeks will determine your success or failure. Many beginners lose more than half their birds in the brooder, not from exotic diseases, but from simple, preventable issues like piling, drowning, or stress. Choosing the right brooder kit isn’t about fancy features; it’s about creating a stable environment that anticipates the unique fragility of gamebird chicks.
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, this site earns from qualifying purchases. Thank you!
Why Pheasant Chicks Need Specialized Brooders
Pheasant chicks are not just small chickens. They are wilder, more prone to panic, and significantly more fragile in their first few weeks. Their instinct is to fly and hide, which in a poorly designed brooder leads to chaos, injury, and stress.
This flightiness creates specific problems. Unlike chickens that might huddle, pheasants will "pile" in corners when scared or cold, suffocating the ones at the bottom. They are also small enough to drown in a standard chick waterer or squeeze through surprisingly tiny gaps in a makeshift lid. Constant stress from bright lights or temperature swings weakens their immune systems, opening the door for common ailments to take hold.
This reversible feeder provides easy access to food or water for baby chicks. Its wide opening simplifies refills and cleaning, while the 32oz/4lb capacity keeps your chicks nourished.
A proper pheasant brooder directly addresses these behaviors. It must have a solid, escape-proof cover, as they can fly and jump with surprising strength at just a few days old. It should have no 90-degree corners where piling can occur, and it needs feeders and waterers designed for tiny beaks and bodies. Ignoring these needs is the most common mistake a beginner can make.
RentACoop Kit: All-In-One Beginner Solution
For someone raising their first dozen pheasants, the RentACoop kit is a nearly foolproof starting point. It’s a complete system in a box: a sturdy plastic tub, a radiant heating plate, and a feeder and waterer designed specifically for small chicks. There’s no guesswork involved.
The genius of this kit is how it sidesteps common failures. The heating plate provides a safe, consistent warmth that chicks can move under, mimicking a mother hen. This drastically reduces the risk of piling and overheating associated with traditional heat lamps. The included waterer has a very narrow drinking channel, making it almost impossible for a tiny pheasant chick to fall in and drown.
The main tradeoff is scale. This setup is perfect for 10-15 pheasant chicks, but you’ll quickly run out of room if you plan on larger batches. The plastic tub, while easy to clean, doesn’t offer the same biosecurity as a wire-bottomed brooder. Think of it as the perfect starter set that will get you through your first few hatches successfully before you decide to scale up.
Brinsea EcoGlow: Safest Radiant Heat Option
The Brinsea EcoGlow isn’t a full kit, but rather the single most important component for a safe, effective DIY brooder. This is a radiant heating plate, and it’s the modern, safe alternative to the classic red heat lamp. If you build your own brooder, this should be your first purchase.
Its primary benefit is safety. Heat lamps are a significant fire hazard, especially in a barn or garage filled with dry bedding and dust. The EcoGlow runs on low voltage and generates gentle, contact-based warmth with virtually no fire risk. It also allows for a natural day/night light cycle, which is crucial for reducing stress in flighty gamebirds.
You’ll still need to provide the container—a large plastic tote or stock tank works well—along with bedding, feeders, and waterers. The EcoGlow’s legs are adjustable, so you can raise it as the chicks grow taller. This is the best choice for the beginner who wants more control over their setup and wants to eliminate the single biggest danger from their brooder.
GQF 0534: Best for Serious Gamebird Raisers
If you know you’re committed to raising gamebirds year after year, the GQF brooder is a wise investment. This is a purpose-built, all-metal unit designed for biosecurity and efficiency. It’s what small-scale breeders and serious hobbyists use for a reason.
Its key feature is the wire mesh floor. Droppings fall through the floor onto a removable pan below, keeping the chicks completely separate from their waste. This is the single most effective way to prevent the spread of coccidiosis and other diseases that thrive in soiled bedding. The external feed and water troughs also minimize contamination and waste.
This is not a casual purchase. It’s more expensive and requires dedicated space. Cleaning the dropping pan is a daily chore, but it’s faster and more effective than a full bedding change-out. For someone raising 50 or more pheasants at a time, the reduction in disease and mortality makes the GQF system pay for itself quickly.
Stromberg’s Brooder: Easiest Kit to Sanitize
The Stromberg’s brooder design is brilliantly simple and effective. It consists of a corrugated plastic wall that you form into a circle. This simple design directly solves two major problems for pheasant chicks: corner piling and sanitation.
Because the enclosure is round, there are no 90-degree corners for frightened chicks to pile into and suffocate. This is a low-tech but incredibly effective way to prevent a common cause of death. Furthermore, the non-porous plastic surface is ridiculously easy to clean. Between batches, you can unroll it, scrub it down with a disinfectant, and have a perfectly sterile environment ready for the next group of chicks.
This is typically sold as just the enclosure, so you’ll need to add the other components. Pair it with a Brinsea EcoGlow heater, a no-drown waterer, and a linear feeder for a top-tier, hygienic setup. This modular approach is ideal for the hobbyist who prioritizes disease prevention and ease of cleaning above all else.
Harris Farms Kit for Small Pheasant Batches
This Harris Farms chick feeder and drinker set simplifies poultry care. The BPA-free plastic jars offer easy-to-see levels and are simple to clean, providing chicks with effortless access to food and water.
You’ll find kits from Harris Farms and similar brands at most local farm supply stores. They are accessible, affordable, and often come with everything you need in one box, including a feeder, waterer, and a heat lamp. For many, this is the entry point into raising birds.
The accessibility is the main advantage. You can pick one up today and have chicks in it by tonight. However, its biggest feature—the heat lamp—is also its biggest liability. Heat lamps create hot spots, disrupt natural sleep cycles with their constant light, and pose a genuine fire risk.
If you go this route, make two immediate upgrades. First, replace the heat lamp with a radiant heating plate like the EcoGlow. This single change will make the entire setup safer and healthier for your birds. Second, check the waterer. If it has an open dish, add clean marbles or pebbles to the trough so the tiny pheasant chicks can drink without falling in.
Farm Innovators: A Versatile Component Kit
Farm Innovators often packages its components differently, focusing on heated pads or mats rather than overhead sources. This offers a unique approach to brooding that can be very effective. It’s a kit for the person who likes to assemble their own system from proven parts.
A heated floor mat provides warmth from below, which helps keep bedding dry and provides a comfortable resting spot for the chicks. You can place this mat inside any container you choose, from a large stock tank to a custom wooden box, giving you immense flexibility. This is especially useful in a slightly cooler environment where you need to provide consistent floor warmth.
The main consideration is ensuring the ambient air temperature of the brooder is still adequate. A warm floor won’t help much if the air is frigid. You might need to use the mat in a smaller, more enclosed space or in a room that’s already moderately warm. This is a great choice for the DIY-minded farmer who wants to build a custom brooder around a reliable, low-profile heat source.
Final Brooder Setup Tips for Pheasant Health
Your brooder kit is the foundation, but a few details make all the difference. For the first 3-4 days, cover the pine shavings with paper towels. This prevents the chicks from eating the bedding instead of their starter feed, a common and fatal mistake.
Place food and water on the opposite side of the brooder from the heat source. Heat can make water warm and encourage bacteria growth, and it can spoil feed. Always use a high-protein gamebird starter feed, not standard chicken starter, as pheasants have higher protein requirements for proper development.
Finally, secure the top. It’s not a suggestion; it’s a requirement. A pheasant chick can fly well enough to escape an open-topped brooder by one week of age. A simple screen or hardware cloth lid keeps them in, keeps predators (like the house cat) out, and still allows for plenty of ventilation.
Ultimately, the best brooder kit is the one that prevents problems before they start. By understanding the skittish nature and physical fragility of pheasant chicks, you can choose a system that provides security, safe heat, and clean resources. This proactive approach is what separates a frustrating experience from a barn full of healthy, thriving gamebirds.
