Can I buy melanistic pheasant in San Diego right now?

Not from us yet. Corner Harvest has no pheasant for sale today — the first flock is offered to the flock list, in order, and priced when that hatch is ready.

What is a melanistic mutant pheasant?

A colour form of the common pheasant, Phasianus colchicus. The cocks are iridescent black-green rather than the familiar copper-and-white ringneck. It is the same species, bred for that colouring.

Does it taste different from a regular pheasant?

Richer and deeper than a standard ringneck, in our experience and in the general reputation of the bird. It is still a pheasant — dark, savoury, and a proper roasting bird.

Cocks run about two and a half to three pounds live, dressing out to roughly a pound and a half to two pounds. That is a centrepiece bird for two to four people.

Is it legal to raise pheasant in California?

Yes, under a California Department of Fish and Wildlife Domesticated Game Breeder's License, which covers raising and selling domesticated game birds including pheasant and chukar. Corner Harvest's application is in progress.

← The Bird House

The Bird House · No. 03

Melanistic Pheasant

Phasianus colchicus

A colour form of the common pheasant whose cocks come out black — and then, in sunlight, green and bronze and violet all at once. Hatcheries sell the chicks by the hundred; almost nobody raises them out for the table.

Corner Harvest raises melanistic pheasant on a corner lot in University Heights, San Diego.

The bird, in numbers

1.5–2 lb

Dressed weight, cocks

2.5–3 lb live

16–20 wks

Hatch to the table

40–60

Eggs per hen, per season

seasonal layers, not year-round

Rich · dark · deep · savoury · clean

Flavour in five words

First hatch

Priced at first hatch

flock list only — no stock yet

$40–60

What boutique game birds fetch

wholesale-to-chef market, per bird

How it tastes, how to cook it

1
Richer than a ringneck
Same species, deeper flavour. It reads as a proper roasting bird rather than a novelty — the one you put in the middle of the table.
2
Two birds in one carcass
The breast wants fast heat and the legs want time. Cook them together and one of them loses; cook them apart and both are excellent.
3
It is a genuinely beautiful animal
Black at a glance, then green and bronze when the light hits. Worth keeping for that alone, which is part of why we are raising them.

Roast the crown whole at 400°F and pull it at fifty minutes. Take the legs off first and braise them low for an hour and a half — they are the better half of the bird.

Can you buy one?

Not yet — flock list

Not available yet — priced at first hatch.

There are no pheasant for sale today. The first flock goes to the flock list in order, and pricing is set when that hatch is ready. A $10 refundable deposit per bird holds your place and buys the hatching eggs and feed.

Join the flock list See what's ready today

Questions

Can I buy melanistic pheasant in San Diego right now?: Not from us yet. Corner Harvest has no pheasant for sale today — the first flock is offered to the flock list, in order, and priced when that hatch is ready.
What is a melanistic mutant pheasant?: A colour form of the common pheasant, Phasianus colchicus. The cocks are iridescent black-green rather than the familiar copper-and-white ringneck. It is the same species, bred for that colouring.
Does it taste different from a regular pheasant?: Richer and deeper than a standard ringneck, in our experience and in the general reputation of the bird. It is still a pheasant — dark, savoury, and a proper roasting bird.
How big is one?: Cocks run about two and a half to three pounds live, dressing out to roughly a pound and a half to two pounds. That is a centrepiece bird for two to four people.
Is it legal to raise pheasant in California?: Yes, under a California Department of Fish and Wildlife Domesticated Game Breeder's License, which covers raising and selling domesticated game birds including pheasant and chukar. Corner Harvest's application is in progress.

Who raised this bird

Brandon Mills · Corner Harvest

The flock lives at 1264 Lincoln Ave, University Heights, San Diego, CA 92103 — the same corner lot the stand sits on. Every bird and every egg on this page is hatched, fed and gathered here. Nothing is bought in and resold.

Licensing: CDFW Domesticated Game Breeder’s License — application in progress.
Find us: 1264 Lincoln Ave, San Diego, CA 92103 · (619) 384-7039 · hello@cornerharvest.farm

Also in the Bird House

Coturnix Quail

Coturnix japonica

Eggs on the stand today.

Chukar Partridge

Alectoris chukar

Priced at first hatch · flock list.

Raised 40 feet from where you’re standing

1264 Lincoln Ave, University Heights.

See what’s ready today