buzzards
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Had a little success with old CDs hung from branches in and near the pens.
One thing I always did was made my feed rides twisty so that birds of prey didn't get a straight run at the poults as they fed giving the poults a little more of a chance should they get hassled.
One thing I always did was made my feed rides twisty so that birds of prey didn't get a straight run at the poults as they fed giving the poults a little more of a chance should they get hassled.
jimbo1984
Well-Known Member
x2 when i ran a small farm shoot i used cds and also sometime just stndard scarecrows made from broom handle and plactic sacks , ive since wondered if a plastic eagle owl would deter buzzards ?? as eagle ows killl all other birds of prey, another very old but stilluseful trick to keeping your poults safe is to have a couple of gineua fowl around the pen!! great warnng system 
countrryboy
Well-Known Member
I think the cd's work to some extent, i tied baler twine inbetween branches/trees like a washing line and hung cd's in the middle of open sunny areas, we also added a load of brash to give them plenty of cover in the more open areas and extended 1 pen to give them a bit more room. It definately helped anyway. Some shoots use radios too
Never been on a shoot with guinea fowl but i know some keepers who say there actually a bad thing as go up to roost afore the pheas and there calling can keep/scare pheasants of the roost. Has anyone else heard this?
Never been on a shoot with guinea fowl but i know some keepers who say there actually a bad thing as go up to roost afore the pheas and there calling can keep/scare pheasants of the roost. Has anyone else heard this?
Crosshair243
Well-Known Member
Absolutely nothing!
Ok not strictly true but I hate the sight of pens adorned with all all kinds of litter!!!!!
Firstly, make sure the habitat in your pen is right. 1/3 ground cover is the GWCT recommendation and can be anything from a bracken and nettles through to laurels, lonicera, dead hedging and brash or even laid elder and Hazel or just some good thick long grass.
Secondly, think about where you place feeders and how many you have. Week one, I have one hopper per fifty poults and place them along the edges of all the cover so the poults can feed quickly and safely. At least half of these should be Mannolas as they will recognise them and be able to shelter from buzzards under the rim of the lid.
Thirdly, find a supplier that can supply you with fit, strong, alert and well feathered poults. This is most important I'd say. It's also more important than size/age. I used to get more 8/9week old poults taken at my old shoot than I do 6.5/7 week old poults where I am now because they're being released into much nicer pens in terms of habitat.
I had my first poults this week on Thursday and despite having a pair of buzzards in all three woods, I've only lost 1 poult out of 6000! And that was on day one and was a bit of a runt anyway.
I do leave a lot of dead rabbits on the maize plots this time of year too to try and make sure the buzzards all have full crops!!
Ok not strictly true but I hate the sight of pens adorned with all all kinds of litter!!!!!
Firstly, make sure the habitat in your pen is right. 1/3 ground cover is the GWCT recommendation and can be anything from a bracken and nettles through to laurels, lonicera, dead hedging and brash or even laid elder and Hazel or just some good thick long grass.
Secondly, think about where you place feeders and how many you have. Week one, I have one hopper per fifty poults and place them along the edges of all the cover so the poults can feed quickly and safely. At least half of these should be Mannolas as they will recognise them and be able to shelter from buzzards under the rim of the lid.
Thirdly, find a supplier that can supply you with fit, strong, alert and well feathered poults. This is most important I'd say. It's also more important than size/age. I used to get more 8/9week old poults taken at my old shoot than I do 6.5/7 week old poults where I am now because they're being released into much nicer pens in terms of habitat.
I had my first poults this week on Thursday and despite having a pair of buzzards in all three woods, I've only lost 1 poult out of 6000! And that was on day one and was a bit of a runt anyway.
I do leave a lot of dead rabbits on the maize plots this time of year too to try and make sure the buzzards all have full crops!!
thanks for all the feedback lads , the rabbit population is definatley less this year so i think they will be turning there attention to my poults for an easy meal. i could shoot rabbits and from other areas and br ing them in do you think it is a good way of keeping them away from the poults
Stacey
Well-Known Member
Around my pheasant pens I put the little windmills that people have in their gardens (think its a kids toy as well?) I found that this deters the birds of prey as they are constantly moving and also that if you use the metallic versions of these windmills and move them a few feet every couple of days it really deters the buzzards. They seem to work really well especially if you put them at the top of the posts around the pen.
Good luck
stacey
Good luck
stacey
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put down an extra 10 percent of your release numbers to allow for loss and disturbance, personally i shake my fist and shout "you ******* birds" at them it dosent solve much but i feel better internally
haveing 4000 on the rearing field going to wood from today onwards ui can usually see 10+ buzzards at any time and i am now starting to see kites on a regular basis
oh well onwards and upwards
WHAT EVER YOU DO DO, DO NOT BE EVEN TEMPTED TO SHOOT AT OR ARROUND THEM THIS IS HIGHLY ILLEGAL AND BEST LEFT TO HISTORY - AS KEEPERS NOW FULL TIME OR PART TIME WE HAVE ENOUGH PEOPLE WATCHING US , WITH OUT PERSECUTING BOP
haveing 4000 on the rearing field going to wood from today onwards ui can usually see 10+ buzzards at any time and i am now starting to see kites on a regular basis
oh well onwards and upwards
WHAT EVER YOU DO DO, DO NOT BE EVEN TEMPTED TO SHOOT AT OR ARROUND THEM THIS IS HIGHLY ILLEGAL AND BEST LEFT TO HISTORY - AS KEEPERS NOW FULL TIME OR PART TIME WE HAVE ENOUGH PEOPLE WATCHING US , WITH OUT PERSECUTING BOP
Its certainly an easy way to loose everything dear to you doing something silly like that.
Its not only the actual killing of poults that I found was a problem but the constant disturbance by the yound'uns once they have left the nest.
Personally I always love to see them......................over the neighbours estate
We have nests in the woods close to the pens but don't have a real problem. We use CD'd and the plastic Eagle Owl which seem to work. Also leave a radio on during the day, pheasants get used to it and any intruder thinks someone is around.
Cheers
Adrian
Cheers
Adrian
norma 308
Well-Known Member
Funny I leave the radio on only at night !
Me too to try and make charlie think twice.
Got to say though in a bleary state in the early hours I have crept u to the pen more than once to see who was there
Crosshair243
Well-Known Member
My friend is fanatical about his radios around his pheasant and partridge release pens. However, twice now he's had foxes dig in and kill partridges less than 20ft from the radio.
We have so many night time walkers and mountain bikers around here, I don't think it would make much difference.
At my last shoot, my head keeper wouldn't even put electric fences around many of the pens, needless to say I too was fanatical about my radios there
We have so many night time walkers and mountain bikers around here, I don't think it would make much difference.
At my last shoot, my head keeper wouldn't even put electric fences around many of the pens, needless to say I too was fanatical about my radios there
Crosshair243
Well-Known Member
You don't need to tell me! Was nerve wracking every morning! Wasn't a small shoot either- 12000 each to look after!!!!
Some people really can't see the wood for the trees
Some people really can't see the wood for the trees
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