Temmincks Tragopan Pheasant

Temminck’s Tragopan Pheasant

Temminck’s Tragopan Information

Scientific Information

Class: Aves

Order: Galliformes

Family: Phasianidae

Subfamily: Phasianinae

Genus: Tragopan

Species: Tragopan temminckii

Species English Name: Temminck’s Tragopan Pheasant

Common Name: Temmincks

CITES Status: Not Listed

IUCN Status: Least Concern

Distribution: Himalayas - Northeastern India, Burma, Northern Vietnam, Central China

References: William Beebe’s A Monograph of Pheasants Volumes I, II, III, & IV, CITES status search, & IUCN status search.

Description

• Male - Black face, back of the head, and chin. Blue wattles that encompass most of the face and chin. Blue neck skin that unravels to reveal red and purple accents. Orange crest. Orange neck and body with white and black circular spots or smears on the ends of most feathers. Brownish wing and tail tips. Grey beak and pink legs.

• Females- Brown with creamy splashes on the tips of most body and wing feathers. Reddish-pink legs and grey beak.

Diet

• We feed our breeders and young adults 17% poultry layer pellets, our tiny chicks 21% poultry starter crumble (fine crumble), and our growing chicks 16% grower crumble (coarser crumble).

• Tragopans love treats of any kind. They get a handful of mixed grains every second day except during breeding season. They also get fresh greens (lettuce, chickweed, dandelions, grass) and fruits & vegetables (tomato, grapes, berries, etc.) when available. They also love mealworms.

Breeding

• Temminck’s can be bred in pairs, trios, quads, or colonies.

• Temminck's Tragopans are first year birds meaning that the female will lay eggs in her first year. Males are fertile in their first year.

• They start laying eggs in early April and will lay every second day until they lay up to 15-20 eggs.

• They lay very long orangish-tan eggs with brown spots.

Incubation

• Eggs are collected twice a day and marked with the date and breeding pen number and set daily.

• Eggs are set in an automatic turning Lyons Roll-X (RX2) with grid 89 or a Brinsea Ovation 56 with the standard egg carrier.

• Temperature 99.8°F, humidity-wet bulb 82 with humidity adjusted periodically depending on development of the air space shown by candling

• On the final day of incubation, each egg is placed in its own oval wire mesh hatching basket (6" x 3" x 3") and set in a Roll-X incubator converter to a hatcher.

• Incubation for Temmincks is 28 days.

• After the chick hatches, it stays in the hatcher for a minimum of 8 hours.

Chicks

• Chicks have a creamy belly and throat with a reddish-brown body.

• They start out in our round 18" brooder pen with a mixed assortment of chicks. After a few days they are separated into a 2' x 4' baby pen for about a week. They are then transferred to a Temminck’s - Mikado 2' x 6' pen for the next 7-9 weeks. They stay with this grouping until they go outside. All of these brooding pens have wire bottoms with a heat lamp at one end and feed & water at the other end. The heat lamp is attached to a dimmer switch so we can turn down the amount of heat as the chicks get older until it is turned off completely.

• After they are off of the heat for a few weeks, they are moved outside to the pheasant house (has outside grassy pens and a heated inside house part where hey are blocked in for the night). At this point they are separated into an all Temmincks pen. After they are toughened up, they are moved to an outside chick pen.

• Chicks are very easy to raise together with their own kind.

Pens

• 25' long x 10' wide x 6' high with a 4' x 4' x 4' house in the middle.

• Pens are covered with 2" diamond top-rite.

• Pens contain grass, which generally does not need to be mowed because Temmincks are moderate grass eaters and love to graze.

Behavior

• They are very easy to tame down and are incredibly friendly and curious birds. Most will tame down enough to eat out of your hand or follow you around. Some learn how to do tricks and one male of ours will sit on my shoulder. They are very fond of Shelties.

• The males can become aggressive enough to attack humans during breeding season. Some males will continue to attack humans year-round. They generally go for the legs and/or head.

• They are very calm and non-flighty birds that love to show off when any one is watching.

• Male display is probably the neatest of all of the Pheasants that we have. Males will puff up, make angry whining noises, put their head down, peck at the dirt, and gradually unravel their throat skin and reveal their horns. The throat skin of a male in full display can almost touch the ground when he is standing upright.

• Our oldest male, Wattles, will display on command for our son during breeding season.

• Males hate to have their wattles photographed and will suck them back up if they see a camera or phone.

Article By Krissy & Donna Bush Pheasant Ridge (updated by Krissy Bird - 2025)