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Pheasants with no heeeed


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i have this problem before ,sounds like tawny owl pluck a couple of birds & if it is tawny there will be some bruising on the back & possible breakage where the owl has grabbed the bird.tawny owls normally eat from the back part of the head to get to the brain first ,all i done was to hang empty plastic bags (grower pellets) around the outside of the pen near to were a likely looking perch is also bought a cheap radio & wrapped it in a plastic bag & switched on at dusk just before final check which station is a personal choice but broadland seemed to work for me :good:

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Very interesting read.

In one situation locally, a polecat/ferret was responsible for the removal of poult heads. The beast was seen and trapped and the problem stopped.

Access for a ferret/polecat cross is also very simple. As others have said, examining the wound would shed light.

 

To ensure you solve the problem, I would set a fox trap outside the pen, suitably baited, liberally sprinkle the pen with bright cd's on strings from any low and high branches and set a few fen 6's.

 

We have had problems with Buzzards but, as another thread shows, their damage seems rarely to be this serious/extensive.

 

I would also be surprised if its a tawny owl - one landed by me on a high seat when I was foxing but no birds have been killed in an adjacent pen by owls. A small number have been lost to buzzards.

My experience suggests its either a fox or a polecat/ferret.

 

No one can know in this situation/locality but a night on watch with traps in place and a gun to hand should resolve the problem.

 

It would be very helpful to know the cause.

Hope all goes well

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Just an update..

 

I was out feeding,watering etc this morning and had a good poke around in the pen of murder and found 2 more.1 had been scoffed and only the head and a leg remained,the other one was complete but had 3 puncture wounds in it's chest area.The wounds were to small for fox and looked more like slits from top to bottom.One was in the top of it's chest and the other 2 were in the middle adjacent each other.

Whatever it is has knacked 60 pheasants so far and is not popular and now it appears to be eating them instead of just killing.

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Just an update..

 

I was out feeding,watering etc this morning and had a good poke around in the pen of murder and found 2 more.1 had been scoffed and only the head and a leg remained,the other one was complete but had 3 puncture wounds in it's chest area.The wounds were to small for fox and looked more like slits from top to bottom.One was in the top of it's chest and the other 2 were in the middle adjacent each other.

Whatever it is has knacked 60 pheasants so far and is not popular and now it appears to be eating them instead of just killing.

 

I would be 90% sure it's a stoat,weasel or the like buddy

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I would advise trying some fen traps in tunnels (of course) and bait them with something very smelly but meat not fish.

Wise to remove ANY other possible food (meat) material and, depending upon the age of your poults, consider opening the wire in horizontal slits, no higher than the fox wire, during the day, closing at night. The slits (letterboxes) should be about 3-4 feet long

Let us know the results.

Good luck

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a keeper friend of mine has been having similar trouble over the last couple of weeks, we lamped round the wood every night and sat in high seats before dawn every day and didnt see a fox, it turned out to be a hen sparrow hawk and 2 young killing the birds during the morning, when we plucked a few there were pecks and small tears all over the backs, some had the heads right off and some were on but broken necks

 

mikee

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Sunday night(discovered monday)35 dead pheasants minus heads(heads lying about the place)no birds eaten as far as can be seen.

 

Monday night 7 headless pheasants.

 

wednesday 11 headless birds again.

 

 

The birds are in a wood in a pen surrounded by electric fence and there appears to be nothing going under or through mesh.

 

I am thinking owl but has anyone got any more ideas ?

It's a Tawny.

if ya pen is secure the only way Charles will get in is to climb the wire, they will do that if the pen wire is too tight.

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Very very strange !

 

sat and watched the other night and a pair of eyes appeared in a tree next to the pen.The eyes went along a branch by the fence and jumped to another tree in the pen :blush: dropped to the ground.

 

Lit it up and there sat a very mange ridden ginger tom cat :yes: who promptly got turned inside out with a 22-250.

 

 

Still not sure it was him all along but time will tell.

Edited by Blackbart
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