Not just Amherst's are capable of crossing with Golden Pheasants. Others include: Silver Pheasants, where fertile cocks and sterile hens result; Cheer Pheasant, resulting in sterile hybrids; and various ringneck type pheasants and Reeves where only males appear to have been fertile.
Most pheasant preservationists are in agreement that crossing species should never be done as the hybrids invariably become disseminated and the natural and distinct gene pools ruined. Such has occurred to a large extent in the captive Golden Pheasant population.To help deal with the inbreeding and impurity problem in the pheasant, in April 1964 the Game Bird Gazette's Game Bird Propagation Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, imported pure Golden Pheasants from China through a dealer in Singapore. Progeny raised from these at the Center were distributed free of charge to interested pheasant breeders. This new pure blood greatly improved the captive population of the pheasants which was evidenced in competitive shows where "Federation Golden Pheasant" stock won "Best Golden" classes regularly over a several year period. Of particular note is the Oregon Show where a number of breeders in that area took real interest in trying to multiply and preserve this new pheasant blood-line. Venerable pheasant "old timers" in the Northwest who were active at that time in showing pheasants and preserving the purity of species will recall how Sam Shoop won "Best Golden Pheasant" in the Oregon show with the pure stock for several consecutive years.
This new Golden Pheasant stock was acclaimed for its outstanding quality and much sought after and bred by pheasant preservationists. The pheasants were disseminated throughout the country and became the recognized hallmark of top quality Golden Pheasant stock and were offered for sale throughout the classified section of game bird publications for the next 20 years or more. The impact of the Center's pheasant importations was immeasurably beneficial to the preservation of this pheasant and other pheasants that were similarly helped.
Mutations of the Golden Pheasant have been developed and have been described in the Game Bird Gazette and in 
the Pheasant Standards book published by the Gazette. They include the Yellow Golden Pheasant (shown on Gazette magazine cover at top left and at bottom left), Dark Throated Golden Pheasant, and Salmon Golden Pheasant. Yellow Goldens are the most beautiful and popular of these pheasant mutations. So popular and beautiful are these pheasants that they have graced the covers of several Gazette editions.
Goldens Pheasants are often one of the first acquired by the beginner getting started in the pheasant raising field. Like its cousin the Amherst Pheasant, they are quite disease resistant and hardy in most climates. It does well on a standard pheasant diet which can include mixed grains, greens, and/or manufactured game bird feeds such as Mazuri maintenance crumbles in the off seasons and layer fe&d just before and through the breeding season. Since they are polygynous, compatibility and good production will usually result by having several of the pheasant hens with each male. A fairly spacious aviary is recommended for this pheasant to allow them to chase about as their lively and ra
ngy courtship ritual is happily carried on in spring. In captivity, Golden Pheasant hens generally lay from about 5 - 12 cream colored eggs per clutch that hatch in 22-23 days.
Because there are so few really pure Golden Pheasants found in captivity, I believe Golden Pheasants can be considered as challenging and exciting to pheasant breeders as Tragopans, Argus, or any of the other more expensive and rare pheasants. A great contribution to preserving the pheasant can be made by researching blood lines and breeding birds that meet the standard for wild type pheasants. In my opinion, there is no more brilliant, enchanting, and behaviorally exciting pheasant in the world to breed and help preserve. There are Golden Pheasants listed for sale in the classified advertising section of the Game Bird Gazette magazine all year long, and you can get eggs and chicks right now. Adults pheasants are normally shipped by U. S. Po
stal Service Express Mail and eggs by priority or FedEx is good for eggs as well. Information on purchasing, keeping, breeding, incubating, hatching, brooding, and marketing the Golden Pheasants and many other gorgeous pheasants can also be found in the magazine.
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