A nesting pheasant hen lays eggs at a rate of about one per day, resulting in nests that contain an average of 12 eggs. The incubation period of 23 days starts after all eggs have been laid. The hen remains on the nest during incubation, leaving only briefly to feed. If the nest is destroyed, the hen will repeatedly nest until she is successful in hatching a clutch, although re-nesting clutches have fewer eggs.

The pheasant hatch peaks about the third week of June, when about 60 percent of the eggs hatch. Depending on weather, many birds continue nesting into early July. Hens make from one to four attempts at nesting during the spring nesting season, but only hatch one brood per year.

The chicks need to be at least two to three weeks old to have any chance of escape from mowers. The reproductive season is over by Aug. 1 for most pheasants, with the exception of a few birds attempting late re-nesting.

Roadsides also should be protected from burning, crop tillage, grazing, blanket spraying of herbicides and vehicle encroachment during these months. The DNR recommends that landowners use spot mowing or spraying to treat noxious weeds.

Roadsides provide more than 500,000 acres of nesting areas in the pheasant range of southern and western Minnesota. Roadside habitat is especially important in intensively row-cropped regions where there is little other grassland available.

For more information about the Roadsides for Wildlife program, visit the DNR website at www.mndnr.gov/roadsidesforwildlife or contact the DNR Information Center at (651) 296-6157 or toll free (888) MINNDNR (646-6367).