ShropshireSam Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 Had some time to pass in London the other evening and had a look in Fortnum and Mason...always very well set up to extort money from Christmas shoppers. They have a great selection of meat including game. Amazed that most expensive birds on sale were dressed squab at £9.95 each, even dearer than grouse. Now that pigeon is even more popular with top London chefs it is shame the price we get is still only 25p a bird. Currently getting £1 worth of beer/food when bartering pigeon breasts at local pub....best price i can find round here...and good beer/food. Does anyone get a premium for squabs or have a good bartering deal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aga man Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 Interesting post sam, i get 30p each for my pigeons all year round, that is frozen birds regardless of how small or shot up etc. Most of the birds i have taken to the game dealer this year have been young ones. There's no doubt they make very good eating when cooked properly and i would imagine the top chef's can do wonders with them. It can only be good for us shooters if the woodpigeon becomes popular on resturant menu's here, for sure we get paid very little for them but if demand for the meat grows then we are in a good position surely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yickdaz Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 (edited) Interesting post sam, i get 30p each for my pigeons all year round, that is frozen birds regardless of how small or shot up etc. Most of the birds i have taken to the game dealer this year have been young ones. There's no doubt they make very good eating when cooked properly and i would imagine the top chef's can do wonders with them. It can only be good for us shooters if the woodpigeon becomes popular on resturant menu's here, for sure we get paid very little for them but if demand for the meat grows then we are in a good position surely! lets hope it does we deserve a little more than 25p which it seems most of us get ok you get 5p more I think 50p as a standard rate would be good Edited December 5, 2014 by yickdaz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aga man Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 completley agree daz, most things have gone up in price in the last 5-10 years except the price we get for pigeons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenholland Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 12p pence that's all I get in Walsall area of Birmingham. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yickdaz Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 12p pence that's all I get in Walsall area of Birmingham. your being robbed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuy Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 (edited) I get 40p a bird, which I think is ok , but 12p is day light robbery Edited December 5, 2014 by stuy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE MEK Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 Same as rabbit, been a quid for years now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdsallpl Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 We sell ours for 50p but direct to restaurants Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yickdaz Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 We sell ours for 50p but direct to restaurants how many at a time though, I wait till my 2 chest freezers are full which is 150 each time, not many restaurants will take that amount in one go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdsallpl Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 We supply between 20 to 25 to each restaurant immediately they are shot. Lately we haven't been able to supply them all. It's looking a bit better now. All the income goes towards the clubs Chrismas do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigeon controller Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 lets hope it does we deserve a little more than 25p which it seems most of us get ok you get 5p more I think 50p as a standard rate would be good When DB started shooting with his brothers thirty plus years ago they would stop shooting at approx one hundred and would sell these at a butchers for ten shillings ( 50p) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamster Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 Those squabs are almost certainly French purpose bred pigeon and not the same size, type or taste as our native woodie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dead eye alan Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 When DB started shooting with his brothers thirty plus years ago they would stop shooting at approx one hundred and would sell these at a butchers for ten shillings ( 50p) Each Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sitsinhedges Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 Folk who are prepared to accept 12p per bird are their own worst enemies, it wouldn't even cover the electricity cost of chucking them in a freezer for a few weeks. Find a different buyer or even bin them until a sensible price is forthcoming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRYAN3 Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 Folk who are prepared to accept 12p per bird are their own worst enemies, it wouldn't even cover the electricity cost of chucking them in a freezer for a few weeks. Find a different buyer or even bin them until a sensible price is forthcoming. Bin them . Why not breast them and freeze for your own use? If shooters stop letting them go at such insulting prices then said prices will begin to rise. Too many idiots are already leaving birds in ditches,just what the anti's need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchrat Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 Bin them . Why not breast them and freeze for your own use? If shooters stop letting them go at such insulting prices then said prices will begin to rise. Too many idiots are already leaving birds in ditches,just what the anti's need. I quite agree it is wrong to bin them, but how many can you eat?? OK "sitinhedges", so I have a freezer full of breasts (small house = small freezer) and a truck with, say, 50 dead pigeons(I wish!). Weather is warm. Now what do I do, take the 10p or not?? If we bin them, the game dealer will stop taking them at all, then what?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael170874 Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 I never sell a single bird i de breast them and they all go in a chest freezer iv'e had over a thousand breasts this year ,pies,stews,pan fried,roasted etc iv'e got some great recipes ..it's tasty good natural source of protein and fresh .those idiots who throw them in ditches are morons and don't deserve to shoot in my opinion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hushpower Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 (edited) Those squabs are almost certainly French purpose bred pigeon and not the same size, type or taste as our native woodie. Totally agree, bred and fattend with some finish on them. Edited December 6, 2014 by hushpower Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloudwalker Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 We get 30p for large pigeons but our game dealer sorts through them and if there are any squabs, we get less for them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sishyplops Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 (edited) Isn't there a post on PW that buys pigeons for 50p collected anywhere in the uk, must be steel shot though as are used to feed raptors It's the second post (pinned so stays there) in the wanted section Edited December 6, 2014 by sishyplops Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sitsinhedges Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 Bin them . Why not breast them and freeze for your own use? If shooters stop letting them go at such insulting prices then said prices will begin to rise. Too many idiots are already leaving birds in ditches,just what the anti's need. The farmer is happy because the pests are controlled and we are happy because we had some sport. Trying to get morally indignant over a 12p pigeon is nonsense, it's not as if the pigeon cares. Fact is that the dealer will sell them on for a tidy profit and you selling them to him for a derisory sum will just encourage him to keep paying just that. It's called supply and demand. I probably sold 1000 pigeons last year for 40p each. If I was getting 12p I probably wouldn't bother or would find another outlet for them even if it meant giving them away elsewhere just on a point of principle. Certainly don't want to eat them all myself Not worth buying and running freezers for at 12p each when the dealers are getting up to 10x that and the restaurants a damned sight more. We get 30p for large pigeons but our game dealer sorts through them and if there are any squabs, we get less for them! Garretts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitchrat Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 I never sell a single bird i de breast them and they all go in a chest freezer iv'e had over a thousand breasts this year ,pies,stews,pan fried,roasted etc iv'e got some great recipes ..it's tasty good natural source of protein and fresh .those idiots who throw them in ditches are morons and don't deserve to shoot in my opinion Wow, you are a dedicated pigeon-eater, fair play to you. However, my wife coos already, twice a week is enought for her! (NO jokes please!) I agree about morons who ditch the bodies and it just gives ammo to the antis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harnser Posted December 7, 2014 Report Share Posted December 7, 2014 your being robbed We are all being robbed by the game dealers . Dressed pigeon in a well known supermarket at £4 .50 each . I give mine away or eat them myself rather than be screwed by game dealers . Harnser Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdsallpl Posted December 7, 2014 Report Share Posted December 7, 2014 I don't think anyone is screwed exactly by game dealers. It is all about supply and demand and business acumen. Game dealers run a business purely for profit, exactly like any other business. We don't sell to game dealers because we have cut them out of our supply chain. We sell direct to restaurants the same day shot and can undercut the the game dealers. It takes a lot of effort to get the outlets but if you want it you have to work to get it. The easy option is selling to game dealers, so we shouldn't moan that we are not getting top doller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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