Incubating Pheasant Eggs: Temperature, Humidity & Hatch Timeline

Pheasant eggs behave differently than chicken eggs in an incubator. They are smaller, lose moisture at a different rate, and give you less room for error on temperature. If you have set pheasant eggs using the same settings you use for chicken eggs and ended up with a disappointing hatch, an off temperature or humidity range is usually the reason.

This guide covers what pheasant eggs need at each stage: incubation temperature, humidity through both the setting and hatching periods, and a full day-by-day timeline. The ranges below are drawn from commercial pheasant hatchery guidance and university extension sources, and they include the normal variation you will see between pheasant varieties and incubator types, rather than presenting one number as the only correct answer.

Quick Answer

Incubate pheasant eggs at 99.5°F (37.5°C) in a forced-air incubator, with humidity around 50-55% relative humidity for the setting period. 

Most Ring-neck pheasant eggs hatch in 23 to 25 days, though incubation time can run as long as 26-28 days depending on the pheasant variety and incubation conditions. Around day 20-21, stop turning and raise humidity to roughly 65-75% for lockdown through hatching.

Pheasant Egg Incubation Chart

Settings can vary by pheasant variety, incubator design, and hatchery protocol. If your incubator manufacturer's instructions differ slightly from the ranges here, follow the manufacturer's guidance for your specific machine.

Pheasant Egg Incubation Temperature

Temperature is the variable with the least tolerance for error in pheasant egg incubation. Both humidity and temperature matter, but sustained or extreme temperature swings tend to cause more serious harm to a hatch than the same degree of variation in humidity, with high temperature generally being more damaging than low temperature.

• Forced-air incubators (with a circulating fan): set to 99.5°F, with an acceptable range of roughly 99-100°F.

• Still-air incubators (no fan, heat pools near the top): set 1 to 1.5 degrees higher, around 100-101°F, since the temperature at egg level runs cooler than the reading near the top of the unit.

A few practices that make a real difference:

• Run the incubator empty for 24 hours before setting eggs so the thermostat stabilizes and you can catch calibration problems early.

• Verify your incubator's built-in display with a separate, independently calibrated thermometer positioned at egg height.

• Keep the incubator in a room with a stable ambient temperature, away from direct sunlight, drafts, exterior walls, and heating or cooling vents.

• A brief, minor dip or spike will not ruin a hatch. Hours at several degrees off target is what causes real damage.

Pheasant Egg Incubation Humidity

Humidity governs how much moisture an egg loses through its shell during incubation. Too little humidity and the egg loses too much moisture, leaving the chick dehydrated and effectively shrink-wrapped inside the shell at hatch time. Too much humidity and the egg does not lose enough moisture, leaving too little air space for the chick to position itself and breathe before it starts to hatch.

A common starting range is 50-55% relative humidity for the first 19-20 days, though the ideal setting can shift slightly depending on your incubator's ventilation, your local climate, and how much moisture your specific eggs are actually losing. Some hatcheries run closer to 45%, others closer to 55%, and both can produce good hatch rates when paired with consistent monitoring.

During lockdown and hatching, raise humidity to roughly 65-75% relative humidity. Higher humidity at this stage keeps the internal shell membrane from drying out and sticking to the chick once it pips, which is one of the more common reasons a chick starts hatching but cannot finish.

If your hygrometer reads in wet-bulb temperature rather than relative humidity, expect the setting-period range to correspond to roughly 82-86°F wet bulb, rising to roughly 88-91°F wet bulb during hatching. A factory-calibrated digital thermometer/hygrometer combo removes most of the guesswork by showing both readings on one screen.

Using egg weight loss to check your humidity setting

Many experienced hatchers treat the hygrometer reading as a starting point and confirm it by tracking how much weight their eggs actually lose. Weigh a small sample of eggs on day 1, then weigh the same eggs again around day 18-19. 

As a general guideline, a healthy incubation run loses somewhere in the range of roughly 13-15% of the egg's starting weight by that point, though the right number for your eggs depends on egg size, shell thickness, and your incubator. 

If your eggs are losing noticeably more than that, humidity is likely too low. If they are barely losing weight, humidity is likely too high. This method tells you what is actually happening inside the shell, rather than relying on the humidity reading alone.

How Long Do Pheasant Eggs Take to Hatch?

Most Ring-neck pheasant eggs, the variety most commonly raised by hobbyists and small breeders, hatch in about 23 to 25 days, with 24 days being typical under stable incubation. 

Incubation time varies somewhat by pheasant variety: some sources report a broader range of roughly 23-28 days across pheasant species in general, and closely related gamebirds like Chukar partridge fall in a similar window. 

In the wild, a hen sitting on her own nest generally hatches her eggs in around 23 days. Do not be concerned if chicks from the same batch hatch on different days within this range; small differences in fertility, storage time before setting, and incubator temperature stability all affect the exact day.

Pheasant Egg Incubation Period: Day-by-Day Timeline

Before day 1: store and rest the eggs: If possible, store fertile eggs at roughly 55-65°F before setting, and try to set them within 3-5 days of collection or shipping for the best hatchability, since hatch rates decline the longer eggs sit before incubation, generally dropping off noticeably after 7-10 days. Store eggs pointed-end down and let shipped or refrigerated eggs rest at room temperature for 12-24 hours before setting, so the yolk settles and the egg warms gradually. Setting cold eggs directly into a warm, humid incubator can crack shells and kill embryos.

Day 1: Set the eggs: Wash your hands before handling eggs to avoid introducing bacteria through the porous shell. Avoid washing visibly dirty eggs if you can help it, since washing can strip the egg's natural protective coating. Set eggs pointed-end down or on their sides, mark one side with a small pencil X if hand-turning, and start at the incubation-stage temperature and humidity settings above.

Days 1-19/20: active incubation: Turn eggs at least 3-5 times a day if turning by hand, or let an automatic turner handle it continuously. Turning prevents the embryo from sticking to the shell membrane and supports even development.

• Day 7: candle the eggs. A fertile, developing egg shows a dark spot with small blood vessels branching outward. Clear eggs with no visible development are likely infertile.

• Day 14: candle again. The embryo should now fill most of the egg, largely obscuring detail except for the air cell at the large end. Remove any egg that looks unchanged since day 7, or shows a ring of blood, since a spoiled egg left in the incubator is a contamination risk.

• Days 15-19: keep conditions steady and limit how often you open the incubator, since each opening costs heat and humidity that takes time to recover.

Around day 20-21: transition to lockdown: Stop turning the eggs. Remove the eggs from the automatic turner, or switch it off, and place them on the hatching tray according to your incubator manufacturer's instructions. Begin raising humidity toward the 65-75% range. The exact day this happens can vary slightly by pheasant variety and by hatchery practice, so treat day 20-21 as a target window rather than a fixed rule.

Days 20-25 (up to day 28 for some varieties): lockdown: Leave the incubator closed except for brief water top-ups. The chick uses this stage to absorb the remaining yolk sac and position itself toward the air cell to begin breathing air before physically breaking the shell.

Hatch window: pipping and hatching: You will typically hear soft peeping from inside the eggs shortly before the shell cracks. "Pipping" is the chick's first small break in the shell, usually near the air cell at the large end. From first pip to fully hatched can take anywhere from a few hours to a full 24 hours, which is normal.

Do not assist a chick that is still active but working slowly, since intervening too early can cause bleeding if the internal membrane has not finished absorbing blood vessels. If a chick appears stuck and inactive for an extended period, check that your humidity and ventilation are within range rather than intervening physically, and keep the incubator closed while the rest of the batch finishes hatching.

Leave hatched chicks in the incubator until they are dry and fluffed, since newly hatched chicks can comfortably go without food or water for up to 24 hours.

After hatch: clean up: Once chicks are moved to the brooder, disinfect the incubator and all removable parts following the manufacturer's directions, using a diluted bleach solution or a poultry-safe sanitizer to reduce bacterial risk for your next batch.

Ring-Neck Pheasant Egg Incubation

Ring-neck pheasants are the variety most home hatchers and small farms raise, and the settings throughout this guide are built around them. If you are working with a different pheasant variety, expect the same general temperature and humidity approach to apply, but check the incubation length specifically, since some varieties run a day or two longer than the common Ring-neck timeline. 

When in doubt, use the 23-28 day window as your outer boundary and do not assume a batch has failed just because it has not hatched by day 25.

Common Pheasant Hatching Problems and What Causes Them

Getting Your Incubator Set Up for Pheasant Eggs

Because pheasant eggs are smaller and thinner-shelled than chicken eggs, a few equipment details matter more than they would for standard poultry hatching.

• Egg trays sized for pheasant eggs keep eggs from shifting into gaps meant for larger eggs during turning.

• A separate digital thermometer and hygrometer placed at egg level gives you an independent check on your incubator's built-in readings, which is especially useful while you learn how a new machine holds temperature in your specific room.

• A reliable humidity source, whether a simple water reservoir or an automatic humidity system, matters because pheasant eggs dry out faster than larger, thicker-shelled eggs if humidity drops unexpectedly.

• A bright egg candler makes the day 7 and day 14 checks easier, since pheasant eggshells are often darker and more mottled than chicken eggshells.

If you're setting up an incubator for pheasant eggs for the first time, our Egg Incubator Buyers Guide walks through choosing between tabletop and cabinet models based on how many eggs you plan to hatch. 

For equipment sized around pheasant and other gamebird eggs, see our pheasant egg incubator collection. Pairing your incubator with an automatic egg turner and a digital thermometer and hygrometer addresses two of the most common causes of hatch failure: missed turns and unnoticed temperature or humidity drift. 

An incubation hatch timer with a built-in countdown can track the days automatically and flag lockdown and hatch day so you are not doing the math by hand.

FAQs (People also ask)

Q: What temperature should a pheasant egg incubator be set to? 

Ans: 99.5°F for forced-air incubators with a fan, or 100-101°F for still-air incubators without one. Lower slightly, to around 98-99.5°F, during lockdown.

Q: What humidity do pheasant eggs need? 

Ans: Roughly 50-55% relative humidity for the first 19-20 days, then raised to about 65-75% for lockdown through hatching. Exact numbers vary somewhat by incubator and hatchery practice.

Q: How long does it take pheasant eggs to hatch? 

Ans: Most Ring-neck pheasant eggs hatch in 23 to 25 days. Some pheasant varieties can take up to 26-28 days, so give a batch extra time before assuming it has failed.

Q: When should I stop turning pheasant eggs? 

Ans: Around day 20-21, three to five days before the expected hatch date, when you move eggs into lockdown conditions with higher humidity.

Q: Can I hatch pheasant eggs in a chicken egg incubator? 

Ans: Yes. The same incubator works for both, as long as you adjust temperature and humidity for pheasant eggs and use a tray sized so smaller pheasant eggs stay secure during turning.

Q: Why are my pheasant chicks dying in the shell after pipping? 

Ans: This is most often a humidity problem. Low humidity during lockdown lets the internal membrane dry out, causing the chick to stick to the shell. Check that lockdown humidity is in the 65-75% range and avoid opening the incubator once pipping begins.

Q: Do pheasant eggs need to be turned by hand or is an automatic turner better? 

Ans: Either works. An automatic turner reduces the risk of missed turns and keeps the incubator closed more consistently. If turning by hand, aim for at least 3-5 turns a day at roughly even intervals.