Why so many cocks?

[sh1kar]

I was a gun at a gundog trial yesterday. A very enjoyable day with a mixed bag of woodcock, partridges, pheasants and pigeon. Of the 56 pheasants shot, 55 were cocks. It wasn't as if we were targeting them, we just didn't see any hens. This was on part of the shoot we don't usually shoot, the keeper spent a couple of weeks feeding to get ready and is a fair way from the drives we use. It got me wondering, why did so many cocks travel there. I thought it was usually hens that wandered off
S

 

[Rhodesianjess]

I've noticed over the years that I've keepered that some woods are favoured by one sex or the other. No reason why, just the way it is.
I was helping another keeper once, quite a lot older than me then, and he called one wood that we were about to beat a henny wood. Sure enough, majority of birds that exited were hens!
Really don't know the answer but it's a regular thing, I've noticed this on various estates that I've worked on and where I've helped others by beating or picking up.

 

[Brave Echo Niner]

Not to derail the thread but I was surprised to find this title to be shooting related and not about parliament…

 

[Swedish]

Not to derail the thread but I was surprised to find this title to be shooting related and not about parliament…

I thought it was about train drivers!

 

[old keeper]

I've noticed over the years that I've keepered that some woods are favoured by one sex or the other. No reason why, just the way it is.
I was helping another keeper once, quite a lot older than me then, and he called one wood that we were about to beat a henny wood. Sure enough, majority of birds that exited were hens!
Really don't know the answer but it's a regular thing, I've noticed this on various estates that I've worked on and where I've helped others by beating or picking up.

I had exactly the same thing. It seemed to me that at times especially when first released the two sexes tended to seperate.

 

[Ratel]

Never really had those problems of separation, always similar to photo. but I know I have to kill a lot of cocks on our wild bird shoot as they well outnumber the hens this time.

 

[countrryboy]

I was at a Gwct open/shoot day walk abput years ago.
Someone mentioned the old 'wandering cocks' line/myth.

They reckon they have done studies with trackers on cocks and hens.
They said cocks dont actually wander any more than hens.
Althou it might depwnd on wot habitat u have on ur shoot, they might well bugger off but settle on ur nieghbours if they liked it better

1 reason was they do get noticed wandering more, quite often the cock will syand out and u dinae notice the hens in the cover beside it.

And the other reason is that hens and cocks have different preferences in a wood/habitat.
Hens often like really warm woods
Whereas a cock might roost in the same wood but will wander down a hedge to a scrubby rough corner and then hang about therr all day.
I imagine the cocks will always be looking to find and hold a decent territory for breeding but if/when they find it they'll stay there.

I imagine if ur shooting for a gundog test u will be out and about raking all the wee ruff corners and small woods which are ideal for cocks.
Esp with this cold weather mibbee all the hens are staying in a warm wood..

I know on the wee syndicate i ran, it was amazing how often ud flush 2,3 or 5 cocks from a wee corner and even if u were shooting straight u'd still flush almost the same number 2 weeks later and it would be like that all season
Im guessing as soon as a space/territory a cock moves in from somewhere else.

 

[JTO]

One January, a keeper told me that she had caught up her hens(for laying) before Christmass!
Mallard drakes seem to out-number ducks!

 

[HistoricBore]

To resurrect this thread:

Now that our shoot is almost done for the season, we seem to have had many more cocks than hens. One Gun was speculating that the breeder that we get our poults from must have sorted the eggs to separate male from female, and then given us all the boys.

I am told that in chicken farming eggs can be scanned and sorted (with a bright light?) so is this done with pheasant? It all sounds a bit unlikely to me.

Any ideas?

HB

 

[Tim.243]

I was a gun at a gundog trial yesterday. A very enjoyable day with a mixed bag of woodcock, partridges, pheasants and pigeon. Of the 56 pheasants shot, 55 were cocks. It wasn't as if we were targeting them, we just didn't see any hens. This was on part of the shoot we don't usually shoot, the keeper spent a couple of weeks feeding to get ready and is a fair way from the drives we use. It got me wondering, why did so many cocks travel there. I thought it was usually hens that wandered off
S

On a ride I have a high seat the first and last thing that come out before roost is cock birds with a few hens, the owner has used the same chap I got my pheasants from and they were about even when delivered. Bigger bird to compete with for food as those that are around the feeders are cocks with the hens holding back, I see far more muntjac bucks (bigger range) than does as they are often back in cover.
A deer stand in Nth Essex while waiting their will be 10-20 cross the bottom end of the field going to roost all cock birds.

 

[kieran222]

I am told that in chicken farming eggs can be scanned and sorted (with a bright light?) so is this done with pheasant? It all sounds a bit unlikely to me.

The scanning or candling as it's called is to check for fertile or duds, not sex. Sexing a chick is difficult, it requires close examination.That wouldn't be possible in the egg.

 

[countrryboy]

To resurrect this thread:

Now that our shoot is almost done for the season, we seem to have had many more cocks than hens. One Gun was speculating that the breeder that we get our poults from must have sorted the eggs to separate male from female, and then given us all the boys.

I am told that in chicken farming eggs can be scanned and sorted (with a bright light?) so is this done with pheasant? It all sounds a bit unlikely to me.

Any ideas?

HB

Wot age were ur poults boight in at?

By 6 weeks onwards u can tell the sex fairly easily.
If the gamefarmer wanted to sort them that way.
Be a bit of a pain to do.

 

[sh1kar]

Wot age were ur poults boight in at?

By 6 weeks onwards u can tell the sex fairly easily.
If the gamefarmer wanted to sort them that way.
Be a bit of a pain to do.

all about 50 50 released

 

[enfieldspares]

To resurrect this thread:

Now that our shoot is almost done for the season, we seem to have had many more cocks than hens. One Gun was speculating that the breeder that we get our poults from must have sorted the eggs to separate male from female, and then given us all the boys.

I am told that in chicken farming eggs can be scanned and sorted (with a bright light?) so is this done with pheasant? It all sounds a bit unlikely to me.

Any ideas?

HB

My late mother used to do it with a gold wedding ring suspended by a cotton thread. It moves side to side ir one sex. Round and round if the other sex. Surprisingly it works on humans too.

 

[Norfolk Horn]

My late mother used to do it with a gold wedding ring suspended by a cotton thread. It moves side to side ir one sex. Round and round if the other sex. Surprisingly it works on humans too.

Well years ago you had a fifty fifty chance of being right but now days who knows what they may be.

 

[Malxwal]

I asked her why, she just shrugged her shoulders and said "why not?"

 

[VSS]

My late mother used to do it with a gold wedding ring suspended by a cotton thread. It moves side to side ir one sex. Round and round if the other sex. Surprisingly it works on humans too.

I knew someone who used that method to determine early pregnancy in her goats and sheep.
It rather smacked of witchcraft (her husband was a vicar!) but she was always right!

 

[Taff]

You probably think there are more cock birds on the fringes of the shoot as they want to setup there own territory, I always found hens on the boundary’s always seem to not want to fly, only my experience.