Vo-tech students raise pheasants
About 60 pheasants presented a wide variety of lessons for the agriculture students at the Fayette County Area Vocational Technical School. As part of their studies, the students and staff at the vo-tech raised the pheasants for five weeks and released them Saturday. The goal was in part a restoration program due to the large decrease in the pheasant/quail population in the region. But the brand new concept of raising pheasants provided valuable lessons for those involved.
According to Dr. Edward Jeffreys, director of the FCAVTS, the idea initiated after the students were involved in a trout restoration project. He said the school began working with the worldwide organization Pheasants Forever and plans to start the project were soon under way.
“We thought at the same time these students were learning about the importance of the fish in our world, that we could also learn about the birds,” Jeffreys said.
Jeffreys said because raising the pheasants is more expensive then the fish project, the school set out to find funding, which came in the form of the first donation of $1,000 from Windows, Doors and More and owner Rick Miller. From there, more donations from area businesses allowed the school to begin the project – the first purchase being the $1,800 incubator and the 60 pheasants bought online.
“The students were in school at the start of the project, but by the time we got everything, school was ending,” Jeffreys said. “But the students said they would come back through the summer and take care of them, and they did.”
Jeffreys noted that a committee formed for the project and those members also helped raise the birds.
“Everyone got involved. Taking care of them is cumbersome because they cannot have any human contact,” Jeffreys said. “We all learned how to understand the process and the lessons blend right into the agriculture lessons and it all plugs into our society and how we feel about animals.”
He said the committee looked to Pennsylvania Wildlife for guidance and instruction throughout the project. Students were responsible for watching growth rates, temperature regulations within the incubator and feeding. They also learned about the natural “weeding out” process in nature where only the strongest of the species survive. As a result, there is an average loss of 10 percent to 15 percent of the chicks. The school released 38 birds.
Jeffreys called the program a success and an invaluable experience for the students. The committee is already working on the same project for the start of school, but on a larger scale. According to the vo-tech’s Rebecca Sheperd, who will head the project this year, when students return this fall, they will be responsible for building a large flight pen to house the birds. The pen will be situated on about a half-acre of ground at the vo-tech and will include a fenced in area to keep out animals and a larger enclosure which will measure about 20-feet by 60 feet. The pen will also include a flight net overtop to keep hawks out. She said the school will keep the number to 60 pheasants this year and hopes to have them on the property in about six weeks.
“It will allow the students to get more involved,” said Sheperd, who noted that lessons learned stem from construction, rehabilitation and contact with the community.
“I think they get so much out of the experience just realizing how people can encroach on the habitat,” she said. “They like working with the animals, and it gives them a sense of helping in some way to save the environment.”