Pheasant questions

[Flairball 141]

For better, or for worse, we do quite a few things differently here in the US. It is very rare for anyone to raise poults in an open top pen. I wish more people would. Anyway, I belong to a dog training club. We have 2 bird pens, 1 partridge and 1 pheasant, but we do not do any kind of an early release. Members grab whatever birds they need for training and head out. Being able to train on pen raised birds is a big help when training a dog. Depending on the drill many birds are fly-aways. Truth is most birds I put out are not shot in training, rather I will run a dog the next morning to try to find the birds that were flown away. Being theses are adults when released they haven’t got much survival instinct, and a number do get taken by predators. I’m trying to find ways to help with their survival. So,....

Our pens do not have anything for these pheasant to roost upon. I am planning to build some racks so they can get off the ground. It is not natural for them to stay on the ground, and I believe this is a reason the predators get them. To encourage them to roost I was planning to put about a half dozen chickens in the pen. Any thoughts on which breed of chicken would work best, or any breed I should avoid?

Also, the birds are fed out of feed pans. I am planning to spread hay and put feed down on it so they begin to work for it a bit. I also plan to put  hay out in a few of our hedgerows, and put some feed on the hay. I’m hoping that the released pheasant that make their way into a hedge will associate the hay with food, and being in a hedgerow, roost there in the evening. I know this isn’t a great solution, but I believe it may help. Thoughts?

 

I have absolutely no idea what I can do to help the partridge. Any suggestions?

 

Like I said earlier, this is a for better or for worse situation. I can only work around the system I’ve got access to, so please, I don’t need to hear about how much better the system is in the UK. Thanks. 

[KES2 171]

The only thing you can do to help partridges is predator control and close the pen, letting a few birds out on occasion. The released birds stay close to the penned birds so put feed down close to the pen or cover. A flat field with  a slight dip in it is where they will Jug (sleep) as a covey. This means they can see predators coming and they are always on guard. They always roost on the ground so predator control is essential.

WRT pheasants, much has been learned over the years - I dont know your ground but woodland and pastureland mixed is key to retention as well as food and WATER in areas of release. Pheasants can always find some wild food but will fly miles for water if there's none near where they are released. Phesants are mostly focussed on avian predators so cover (.a place to hide) is crucial during the day. Put feeders on the route to where you want the pheasants to be and provide them in the rossting woods. Pheasants live within the outer 15M of a wood mostly so it needs to be windproof and provide cover at the edges. A range of food is best feeders need to be fairly frequent. However neglect predator control and its all pointless. Dont release where there is constant disturbance and keep dogs away unitl they have established.

Just a few things but, as I say, I dont know your ground.