Stalker62
Well-Known Member
To enjoy a 30 bird event on my wee shoot, you would have to have a team of decent Guns, and they would have to come twice...
Dead pheasants
- Thread starter Barlowbob
- Start date
Bandit
Well-Known Member
As someone who rears a ‘few’ birds and releases a ‘few’ aswell I would recommend that you pluck some of the birds to see wether there are bite marks or claw marks on them and then where they are on the carcass, this will give us/you a better understanding of what’s killed them. Put up some pics if you can.
Will do
Rhodesianjess
Well-Known Member
If you know anyone that keepered many years ago in "the bad old days", they'll tell you. Old boy that taught me was left in pens at dusk with a 410 to sort the problem when he was an underkeeper,circa 1930's.
Generally a pair with youngsters of their own to feed,once shot the problems stopped.
These days it's a grin and bear it job, unless you fancy trying to find a new job and house without gun license's
countrryboy
Well-Known Member
If birds only been in pen a few days so not up much if at all, would an owl take them off the deck??
Surprising how quick they will start to roost even knee high if u have plenty of low branches they can climb up.
I have had owl problems thankfully not often, one time taking the heads off near mature birds and they were lying dead under the trees they roost in.. Over a few nights lost 20 odd then it just stopped, think the birds moved roost,
Never had any problems with them being taken on the deck before.
Areur birds clipped?? If so clipped hard or not so much?
Was there many outside the wire in the morning? I'e as if something chasing they round pen.
As others have said plucking birds for other signs, also really look round Ur wire and at paths esp if any wet areas for tracks.
My shoot was on a wet area so always a wet bit somewhere round the pen, I'd occasionally wipe the tracks away sou can see wots going about, old fashioned version of a trail cam.
Or deliberately make a puddle before a plank bridge so u could see who's using it, that was more for humans thou
As for daylight hook bill problems all u can do is have awell designed and we'll sited pen with as much cover and sunlight close together and scattered throu the pen.
Our old pen was a bugger, badly designed and losses were terrible to buzzards and sparrows.
Moved it and losses went to almost nil for a few years, plenty of cover, planted patches of Canary grass by hand and willow and birch planted in lines then bent over to form living tunnels.
I found CDs to work well and even better is those shiny holographic kids windmills, always spinning and reflecting, put them up a few days before birds Go in aand then take them down.
Althou 3 years later a goshawk found 1 off the new pens ended up adamdoning it, was a cracking pen too.
,Wasn't wot it killed it was the stress it put on them and there was a ride on q side the birds would flush across it and were to scared to go into open ground to get back to the wire.
Our neighbour had similar problems but his birds were scared to go to the hoppers to feed.
Surprising how quick they will start to roost even knee high if u have plenty of low branches they can climb up.
I have had owl problems thankfully not often, one time taking the heads off near mature birds and they were lying dead under the trees they roost in.. Over a few nights lost 20 odd then it just stopped, think the birds moved roost,
Never had any problems with them being taken on the deck before.
Areur birds clipped?? If so clipped hard or not so much?
Was there many outside the wire in the morning? I'e as if something chasing they round pen.
As others have said plucking birds for other signs, also really look round Ur wire and at paths esp if any wet areas for tracks.
My shoot was on a wet area so always a wet bit somewhere round the pen, I'd occasionally wipe the tracks away sou can see wots going about, old fashioned version of a trail cam.
Or deliberately make a puddle before a plank bridge so u could see who's using it, that was more for humans thou
As for daylight hook bill problems all u can do is have awell designed and we'll sited pen with as much cover and sunlight close together and scattered throu the pen.
Our old pen was a bugger, badly designed and losses were terrible to buzzards and sparrows.
Moved it and losses went to almost nil for a few years, plenty of cover, planted patches of Canary grass by hand and willow and birch planted in lines then bent over to form living tunnels.
I found CDs to work well and even better is those shiny holographic kids windmills, always spinning and reflecting, put them up a few days before birds Go in aand then take them down.
Althou 3 years later a goshawk found 1 off the new pens ended up adamdoning it, was a cracking pen too.
,Wasn't wot it killed it was the stress it put on them and there was a ride on q side the birds would flush across it and were to scared to go into open ground to get back to the wire.
Our neighbour had similar problems but his birds were scared to go to the hoppers to feed.
Tawnies will predate them but usually stops after a night or two. My money would be on a four-legged predator - amazing where they can squeeze through or jump over. I would stick another fencer line around the pen - maybe 5 to 10 yards out. Radios are a good bet. Good luck
I had big problems with tawny owls, six-week old poults were very vulnerable, but two weeks later the attacks usually stopped.
Check for feathers but I think it’s a tawny owl / owls. Especially if the poults are on the floor.
Imagine a poult on the floor. It’s body is still and blends in with the leaves but it’s head will move and will look like a mouse to the owl.
As soon as they start roosting the problem will stop.
Imagine a poult on the floor. It’s body is still and blends in with the leaves but it’s head will move and will look like a mouse to the owl.
As soon as they start roosting the problem will stop.
Stoats.
I'm with you on this Jess, adult tawny owls teaching a brood to hunt. I've seen it once some years ago when a late friend had a release pen in a walled garden. He lost 80+ birds in one hit, they were landing on the posts in a fence on one side and attacking from there. I know it was owls because he showed me the results of his loss. As you say we now grin and bear it, he didn't but is no longer with us in this world.If you know anyone that keepered many years ago in "the bad old days", they'll tell you. Old boy that taught me was left in pens at dusk with a 410 to sort the problem when he was an underkeeper,circa 1930's.
Generally a pair with youngsters of their own to feed,once shot the problems stopped.
These days it's a grin and bear it job, unless you fancy trying to find a new job and house without gun license's
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