Chinkwell Shoot 2002
(Click on images to see larger version)
It’s the time of year again
(August) when we begin the annual cycle of putting our young pheasants 'out to
wood'. This is where they will start their lives on the shoot. The birds have
been reared so far from incubator then in pens on grass fields away from the
wood until they are capable of flying.
Entry
gate to the pen.
Battery powered electric fencing unit.
Our 300 or so birds have now been
put in the release pen in the wood, which is protected by an electric fence.
The pen is not so much to keep the birds in but more to keep the foxes and
other predators out until the birds learn to roost off the ground at night in
the safety of the trees branches.
If one fox were to enter the pen at an early stage in this process it
would probably kill all the birds. A neighbouring shoot lost 200 birds in one
night last season.
The return over only six or seven shoot days can only be expected to be between 10 to 15 of these birds per day with other non-reared game making up the remainder of the bag. This will be due to density of cover, predation, walking off the shoot and other natural factors, Of course if we have a particularly cold winter we can also gain as birds from surrounding areas they seek the warmth and protection of the woods.
A 'pop-hole'
a fox snare
The birds obviously don’t have
their wings clipped and can fly. If they fly out of the pen they can re-enter
it using a pop-hole
There
are a number of these holes around the fence perimeter, which have small grills
in them, large enough to allow a pheasant through but not large enough for fox.
A fox may patrol the perimeter of the pen looking for a way in so snares are
placed here to catch the persistent offenders. UK laws state that snares must be free running (not locking
and must be checked each day between sun up and sunset.
A pen casualty.
No matter how hard you try
and as in any stock rearing there are casualties. It is essential that the pen
is visited at least once a day and note is paid to the physical condition of
the birds for any onset of disease. Also a good look around for any signs of
predation. I found the young bird pictured above on an 11am visit to the pen.
The body was still warm the spinal cord was severed and the back of the head
was plucked clean as the bird was probably a little to large to have fallen to
a hedge hog the offender was likely to be an avian raptor (probably not an owl
due to the time of day. Law protects all birds of prey here so
A drinker
A small hopper feeder
The
things needed to sustain life are Water, food and shelter (from weather and
predators). Our water is gravity fed from a stream, which rises from a spring
within the wood and is piped to the pen. This constant flow prevents any
disease building up in standing water.
The
birds are currently being fed on commercial pheasant pellets in the small
feeders pictured above. The pen has plenty of perching places and bracken areas
where the birds can hide out of sight.
Large 45 Gallon hopper feeder.
As the birds
grow their diet will be changed to wheat from a 45 gallon feeder as shown above
the large size is convenient as they don’t need to be refilled so often. Note
the spring at the bottom, which presents the feed to the birds and allows it to
drop as they peck at it. This feeder is at this time located outside the main
gate of the pen and filled with the young birds current feed. This will
introduce them to this type of feeder a number of which are placed at strategic
locations around the 100-acre woodland plot.
Photos From around the wood
Foxglove
'Cheesy' hunter photo