Duck proof manola

[6points]

On our small shoot we have 3 cover crops with partrige in and about 20 manolas in each. Near to the crops are duck drives the ducks get fed away from the ponds but on 2 have found the crops with £400 ish a tonne pellets it's not something we want them eating. The problem is obviously you want the ducks sharpish but the pellets are closer than there barley so going for the easiest. Has anyone a solution my thought was sheep fencing hog ringed in a circle just a bit wider than the feeder then placed around it? Storing 60/70 of them would be a pain unless you cut the hogs and lie all flat I guess. Any ideas? Be a shame to stop pheasants but we didn't release any this year so not massive amounts about

 

[jall55]

On our small shoot we have 3 cover crops with partrige in and about 20 manolas in each. Near to the crops are duck drives the ducks get fed away from the ponds but on 2 have found the crops with £400 ish a tonne pellets it's not something we want them eating. The problem is obviously you want the ducks sharpish but the pellets are closer than there barley so going for the easiest. Has anyone a solution my thought was sheep fencing hog ringed in a circle just a bit wider than the feeder then placed around it? Storing 60/70 of them would be a pain unless you cut the hogs and lie all flat I guess. Any ideas? Be a shame to stop pheasants but we didn't release any this year so not massive amounts about

Your partridges are still on pellets ?

 

[Lancaster]

Your partridges are still on pellets ?

^^This^^ why are the Partridge on pellets in November????

 

[Lancaster]

On our small shoot we have 3 cover crops with partrige in and about 20 manolas in each. Near to the crops are duck drives the ducks get fed away from the ponds but on 2 have found the crops with £400 ish a tonne pellets it's not something we want them eating. The problem is obviously you want the ducks sharpish but the pellets are closer than there barley so going for the easiest. Has anyone a solution my thought was sheep fencing hog ringed in a circle just a bit wider than the feeder then placed around it? Storing 60/70 of them would be a pain unless you cut the hogs and lie all flat I guess. Any ideas? Be a shame to stop pheasants but we didn't release any this year so not massive amounts about

1. Why are you feeding pellets in November?
2. Why not have directional Autos on legs or piers spinning barley into/along the margins of the ponds?

 

[6points]

1 yes on pellet birds do better on it you want to shoot energetic birds don't you? They get mixed seed + cracked maize and there is a bit of wheat about but when I breast out 20 / 30 birds I guarantee none have wheat in the crop
2 feeding the ducks isn't the issue and wouldn't want to feed them on the pond just makes them lazy.

 

[jall55]

1 yes on pellet birds do better on it you want to shoot energetic birds don't you? They get mixed seed + cracked maize and there is a bit of wheat about but when I breast out 20 / 30 birds I guarantee none have wheat in the crop
2 feeding the ducks isn't the issue and wouldn't want to feed them on the pond just makes them lazy.

1 All the rest of the world feeds partridges wheat
2 Problem solved with the ducks - because the partridges would be on wheat

I would just keep it simple buddy -just feed wheat - with some maize - sunflower - mixed seeds hand fed in the covers once or twice a week - if you think about what you say logically - would pellets therefore not make your ducks "more energetic" also ?

 

[6points]

1 not true maybe you do and if it works for you great
2 wouldn't solve problem as cover crops are closer with unlimited food so the ducks would be add lib.
I get what your saying about ducks and pellets but the world feeds ducks barley.
I guess you don't have any ideas then?

 

[jall55]

1 not true maybe you do and if it works for you great
2 wouldn't solve problem as cover crops are closer with unlimited food so the ducks would be add lib.
I get what your saying about ducks and pellets but the world feeds ducks barley.
I guess you don't have any ideas then?

We dont release ducks - we just flight wild ones - but we feed every day on several of our ponds and to be honest they actually will eat anything

No - im not sure how you can keep the ducks from the other feeders really - could you feed the other end of the drive and drive the partridges the other way - making the journey much further for the ducks ?

 

[jall55]

1 not true maybe you do and if it works for you great
2 wouldn't solve problem as cover crops are closer with unlimited food so the ducks would be add lib.
I get what your saying about ducks and pellets but the world feeds ducks barley.
I guess you don't have any ideas then?

Thinking about it further - would "slot" type feeders deter the ducks - not sure they could get a good fill as their beaks may not be able to access the food easily ?

 

[Tim.243]

On our small shoot we have 3 cover crops with partrige in and about 20 manolas in each. Near to the crops are duck drives the ducks get fed away from the ponds but on 2 have found the crops with £400 ish a tonne pellets it's not something we want them eating. The problem is obviously you want the ducks sharpish but the pellets are closer than there barley so going for the easiest. Has anyone a solution my thought was sheep fencing hog ringed in a circle just a bit wider than the feeder then placed around it? Storing 60/70 of them would be a pain unless you cut the hogs and lie all flat I guess. Any ideas? Be a shame to stop pheasants but we didn't release any this year so not massive amounts about

What I found with an Auto feeder was the ducks learnt in 1 day to peck the spinner paddle as the unit was second hand and had no guard. They emptied the dustbin in 2 days... so I put 4 stakes in and made a hoop of sheep wire which slotted over. Then the feed lasted (wheat) for the setting I had on the timer, pheasants ducks and a few red legs from the shoot next farm over.

 

[Phil fox man]

any game birds will always prefer pellets over grain and your ducks will naturally migrate to the pellet feeder's.
the problem you will have is if you restrict access to duck sized birds you might cause the same for your partridge.
also the ducks might congegrate around the feeders and cause bullying and drive the partridge away.partridge are flighty things anyway and you don't want any more disturbance around them.
I would feed both on grain so as not to give the ducks any special reason to feed over there.
last ditch attempt is to put a sign on the feeders " partridge only".
phil.

 

[6points]

Slot type feeders would work for sure have tried a few in the past with 40gal drums only problem is you have 200kg of feed in one place and I rather have 4 or 5 small feeders dotted about I seen you can get top hats for them drums. Normally its fine they dont go in the crop but once they go slugging and follow some puddles in and find a feeder they dont forget.The topography wouldn't allow the drives to be done any other way unfortunately.