Pheasant Nose Rings

Whilst out and about over the past couple of weeks, noticing all the pheasants (its pretty much impossible not too) I have seen a large amount of the poults sporting a nose ring. (See Below).

At first I thought it was my eyes and some kind of parasite was crawling out of its nostril. After managing to catch one, I had a closer look, the ring extends from each nostril and under the top part of the bill in a "C" shape (not joining in the nostrils). Soon it was apparent that most of them had one. After doing a bit of research this ring is actually a way of reducing cannibalism when pheasants are in the release pen or being reared. The ring prohibits the bird shutting its bill and creating a point which it can peck with. Its not supposed to cause the bird any harm either.