webber Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 I was unable to attend the shoot on Saturday thanks to a dose of flu. McF contacted me yesterday to advise that of 3 pheasants that he had processed, 2 had empty crops / gizzards. I then contacted two other friends who had also taken birds and requested that they also make examinations. The results so far are that 2/3rds. of the birds shot on Saturday had no food in their crops. There is wheat (treated with aniseed against my advise) in abundance around the shoot. Acorns, beech mast and cover crop food also abounds. Can anyone shed any light onto this problem or are we unnecessarily being concerned? webber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry d Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 ....... or are we unnecessarily being concerned? webber They will top up the crops when hungry and then digest over the course of a day and if you shoot it then it will obviously have an empty crop, also if you shoot early then you may get a few that haven`t had breakfast or have filled their bellies but not their crops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WGD Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 As HD says and I would add that if the weight of the birds is ok for the time of year, they have grown well and tailed up and you are using wheat then they are obviously eating. I took 2 brace home with me after our shoot on Saturday, very well grown birds for time of year but only one had a full crop and we do not use aniseed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdubya Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 I always thought as with pigeon that it was sign of plentifull food and that the bird not being "hungry" KW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieT Posted October 21, 2009 Report Share Posted October 21, 2009 A birds digestive system is designed to work continuously. The crop acts as a storage area for the digestive system and permits the bird to eat "meals" rather then eating constantly. By the very nature of this design there are times when the crop will be empty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flytie Posted October 25, 2009 Report Share Posted October 25, 2009 If you are keeping the birds as you have plenty of wild food available, do not worry. If the birds are wandering off your land, then you can worry. There is plenty of natural food on our shoot. We tend to find that the pheasants move away from the pens and stop using the feeders all the time if there is natural food there. When the weather gets cooler and the natural food is running out, the birds drift back to the feeders. I hope this is what you find too. ft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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