The Unintended Keeper ( Diary of a keeping blagger )

[shovel leaner 7,648]

11 minutes ago, Stavross said:

STOP f***ing MY POST UP 

This is a pheasant, this is what this is all about play nice people 

Looks like it’s got sinusitis , I’d tap it on the head .

[FOXHUNTER 5,020]

9 minutes ago, Stavross said:

STOP f***ing MY POST UP 

This is a pheasant, this is what this is all about play nice people 

This is a pheasant

[FOXHUNTER 5,020]

Just now, shovel leaner said:

Looks like it’s got sinusitis , I’d tap it on the head .

Sounds like you enjoy head tapping

[FOXHUNTER 5,020]

Any syndicate places going ? 

This lady is looking ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Stavross 13,794]

So my birds are still eating, sleeping and sh*ting so I can ask for much more than that, I’ve started the swap over onto wheat now and feeding further from the pens into a few of the main drives, the oats at the back of the farm are just about poking through some I’m expecting a mass assault on them any day now, but for now they seem happy enough on the rides and in the cover not to far from the pens, even sharing a bit of spilt wheat with a young prickett. There’s been a couple more reported cases of the dreaded bird flu in the area so I’m keeping everything crossed that I don’t see any of that up there, we are 5 weeks tomorrow until our first day, it soon comes around, I’m away tomorrow so I’ll call in on my way home on Sunday to feed and with a bit of luck they won’t of flicked all the wheat out the feeders to get at the pellet, but I think that could be wishful thinking

[bumpy22 414]

Went up today also feeding wheat now.  Topped up all ibcs and put out last of the feeders in the woods. Birds are scattered far and wide with the warmth of the sun on them. Growing well and certainly getting through feed in pens

[si brown 8,486]

blast from the past...better times

 

[Born Hunter 17,639]

One of my favourite times of year. I don’t get involved with all the keepering stuff anymore, but I love dogging in. I’m fortunate to have a very nice self contained signature drive to dog in on two minutes from home. Sounds daft but I have lads come over just to put a sensible number of birds in front of their dog.

Its quite pleasing seeing three figures picked on the drive you have been looking after and have the keeper say in front of the whole line “that’s your hard work”. Which is of course modest nonsense, there’s much more to keepering than running spaniels about, but it shows genuine gratitude.

 

Edited October 8, 2022 by Born Hunter

[David.evans 5,323]

Great looking dogs

[Stavross 13,794]

20 hours ago, si brown said:

blast from the past...better times

 

I love them old keeper videos on the tube, I often watch a couple if I’ve got an hour or so in my chair, even though I’ve seen them loads of times

[si brown 8,486]

18 minutes ago, Stavross said:

I love them old keeper videos on the tube, I often watch a couple if I’ve got an hour or so in my chair, even though I’ve seen them loads of times

Just enjoyable times, I was a toddler when this was made but it’s how I was formed  

real men and great times… these old lads created me

[Sausagedog 7,381]

1 hour ago, si brown said:

Just enjoyable times, I was a toddler when this was made but it’s how I was formed  

real men and great times… these old lads created me

Same here, two old time keepers that taught me the truth of the country side brought me up, the truth no politician will ever know!

[Stavross 13,794]

Up the shoot this morning just after first light to work out where they are going, I’m starting to see a few more in a couple of the drives, especially the roadside and the piggeries, now I’m swapping them over onto wheat I have left them longer before feeding as they do what they always do and flick the wheat out to get at the pellet so once they have cleaned the pellet up they have no choice other than to eat the wheat a couple of members say this isn’t the way to do it but it seems to work for me because they had cleared the lot up and were hungry, knocking at the spring feeders after something to eat, I’m hand feeding a lot more now to keep them entertained and so far it seems to be working, a few are just starting to creep back onto the field at the back of the farm now the oats are poking through but this isn’t a bad thing as once someone is about they head straight into the tip drive, 4 weeks on Saturday will be the first day if all goes to plan, there’s been a bit of an out break of bird flu in the area so that’s something to keep an eye on, not that I can do much about that, I know of one farm shoot lower down that has cancelled all their days and lost the majority of their birds

[Sausagedog 7,381]

Hopefully your elevation will help you.

[Stavross 13,794]

4 minutes ago, Sausagedog said:

Hopefully your elevation will help you.

I didn’t explain that very well, your thinking “ do you know birds can fly high, stav ” the shoot that’s been hit with the flu is just outside a town that has a bird flu control zone in place, they have signs up saying “ bird flu control zone end “ as you start to go up the hill onto the moor, there’s no control zone up there because there’s no chicken farms

i was reading something the other day that said one shoot was told to kill all their birds that were in the pens because of bird flu, it didn’t really say if they did but I would of thought you’d just release them, a least then they become wild