Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh buzzards

cockerdog

Well-Known Member
Well after 3 virtually trouble free weeks of releasing the poults i get to one of my main pens yesterday to find two young buzzards fleeing the scene.

And the trail of destruction they left made me feel like throwning the towel in. I gathered over 50 dead poults, just pegged and carried to the field in front of the pen.

I havent seen buzzards do this for nearly 20 years, and i never want to see it again.

We used to hardly see one of them around here, now the worthless buggers are every where.

Bang goes my averages this year already.
 
not good mate,

we have two families of approx ten birds on two hundred acres.

lots of carcases and nothing we can do about it...

we get a mate out with his goshawk this tends to scare em off but lasts only for an hour or two

f.
 
Hang a load of cd's round ya pen
I have buzzards and kites on my place and lose very few birds to them
 
cant do that in the open les.... birds just sit there waiting to be taken... where going to try the kite idea but it scares of the birds too... no win situation f.
 
I've put the rotating pigeon scarers with big eyes on one main pen post and 2 on the stubbles near the other big pens. Seems to be working so far. Will keep you posted. My heart sank when I saw 5 circling my main pen. I've lost about 50 too. Tin hat going on now. I'm in favour of a licensed targeted cull. They kill most when they come off roost. The young buzzards are the wanton killers. The older ones don't seem to bother.
 
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I'm in favour of a licensed targeted cull. They kill most when they come off roost. The young buzzards are the wanton killers. The older ones don't seem to bother.

agreed a cull may be required and recall some conversations about this last year..
they do seem to breed better than most birds of prey.. i believe they may have two broods but stand to be corrected...

f.
 
cant do that in the open les.... birds just sit there waiting to be taken... where going to try the kite idea but it scares of the birds too... no win situation f.
The op said they were being taken from his pen.
I'm lucky where my pens are, as soon as a buzzard goe's over they all run onto the bank where the buzzard can't get them.
The other thing I do is put a big plastic eagle owl on my corner posts
 
Well after 3 virtually trouble free weeks of releasing the poults i get to one of my main pens yesterday to find two young buzzards fleeing the scene.

And the trail of destruction they left made me feel like throwning the towel in. I gathered over 50 dead poults, just pegged and carried to the field in front of the pen.

I havent seen buzzards do this for nearly 20 years, and i never want to see it again.

We used to hardly see one of them around here, now the worthless buggers are every where.

Bang goes my averages this year already.

I haven't checked the law where you are CD. In Scotland you can apply for licence to deal with animals of protected species which cause serious economic loss. I'm not aware that anyone has been granted such a licence yet and every case I know of application has resulted in refusal... but the improtance of game shooting to rural communities is recognised. Buzzards can be/are a pest. Really, the way to get the authorities to grant licence, or get the law makers to change the law, is by lobbying them with the facts.... so do it.
 
I haven't checked the law where you are CD. In Scotland you can apply for licence to deal with animals of protected species which cause serious economic loss. I'm not aware that anyone has been granted such a licence yet and every case I know of application has resulted in refusal... but the improtance of game shooting to rural communities is recognised. Buzzards can be/are a pest. Really, the way to get the authorities to grant licence, or get the law makers to change the law, is by lobbying them with the facts.... so do it.

photos always work at provoking a stir, :stir::rofl:
 
I haven't checked the law where you are CD. In Scotland you can apply for licence to deal with animals of protected species which cause serious economic loss. I'm not aware that anyone has been granted such a licence yet and every case I know of application has resulted in refusal... but the improtance of game shooting to rural communities is recognised. Buzzards can be/are a pest. Really, the way to get the authorities to grant licence, or get the law makers to change the law, is by lobbying them with the facts.... so do it.

Gutted for you. I would give BASC a call, I read an article about this recently from BASC. The law is exactly as stated by TAMUS but its rare if ever anyone ahs been granted permission to shoot them. BASC said somehting about the government relaxing this slightly to actually allow pople if it can be fully justified.
 
Gutted for you. I would give BASC a call, I read an article about this recently from BASC. The law is exactly as stated by TAMUS but its rare if ever anyone ahs been granted permission to shoot them. BASC said somehting about the government relaxing this slightly to actually allow pople if it can be fully justified.
Pretty sure that no such licence has ever been granted. The SGA and English NGO have constantly sought cull licences. Probably more the SGA than the NGO. Don't hold your breath chaps. There is, at present, no easy or permanent solution unless you want your guns confiscated and a fine and/or prison sentence. It stinks but it's the law. Bunny huggers are not persuaded by logic or evidence. I've tried. The Royal Society for the Protection of Buzzards (sorry birds) watch us like hawks if you'll pardon the pun. I've caught people Buzzard watching outside my main wood! Does me fecking head in !!!
 
I know of licenses being granted at lambing time for the control of Ravens, they can be a real killer around here.

Its a shame they wouldnt do it for other species too.

As you well know there is no cure for the buzzard................
 
I watched a documentary last year that showed eagles (cant remember what type) in Germany that had started to breed again. There were dozens of dead Buzzard corpses below the rocks where they had nested....Need to get some of them over here, dont think they would be too interested in Poults when they have nice big buzzards to eat!!
 
I also leave a few bunnies laying around for them.
Buzzards are lazy hunters with small feet, they likes a bit of carrion
 
No problem with Buzzards this year, The Fu**ing Ravens have pushed them out I counted 11 Ravens along a fenceline on Sunday morning. Just waiting for the Red Kites to move the 15 miles down the valley and push the Ravens out. Seems there is always something (hedgehogs were a real killer a few years ago) and if there is nothing around to kill them, Poults have a real nack for suicide.

Good luck, Ezzy
 
try some white spray suits hanging with a stick running through the arms they always worked for me in the past but you have to keep moving them about for them to be effective and there cheap to
 
I gathered over 50 dead poults, just pegged and carried to the field in front of the pen.

Why are you gathering them up?

Until such times as you can pro-actively do something about the buzzards, leave the kills lying until they are stripped clean. Some kills are unavoidable but if it happens you may as well leave the carcases to be eaten completely to perhaps prevent them coming back and killing more each day. Buzzards are lazy and will eat carrion before having to hunt. They are not however stupid and will be aware where the food is lying.
 
I have not had any hasstle this year from buzzards,because we have a lot of mixi rabbits and they seem to be taken them first,as said before they are lazy hunters.
But have lost one or two redlegs to a couple of sparrowhens.
 
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