waterside Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 Hi all, I do understand people's thoughts on exlayers however it may be the shoot I'm involved in only option this year, we would be releasing into pens, pens are around an acre in size, there are slot of woods on the land some big some with water etc. We have slot of feeders on the land and I do mean alot. We also have about 16acres of cover spread around. Due to some of the crops being veg the fields are left as stubbles over the season and we are allowed to sew mustard etc we normally have 10-15acres of this. We do have guys who dog in for us on a regular basis. What's people's thoughts on the above and exlayers shoot is 1700acres. We would be looking at a large number? Birds pref be an old farmyard ringneck. Cheers guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scimitar Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 (edited) Ex layers do have a bit of a bad rep. But plenty of food and dogging in everyday is the way to go. Also keep on top of the vermin control it'll help any breeding wild birds you may have, and hammer those foxes. Good luck and let us know how things work out. Edited January 13, 2012 by scimitar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waterside Posted January 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 Cheers mate. I'll keep you posted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 We were told not to bother with ex-layers;tales of wandering,poor flyers etc.While they possibly justify these claims at times,ours is a DIY shoot and therefore we're all part time 'keepers,and so had no choice.But we've had good returns so far this season(our first,and I'm not saying all seasons will be this good!)and they have exceeded all expectations. We've put in the work though,pest/vermin control,improving habitat etc,and a lot of feeders,and considering we have no covercrops we've had a good season so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alycidon Posted January 13, 2012 Report Share Posted January 13, 2012 (edited) Are you talking of release Sept/Oct 2012, I assume so. It is illegal to release birds to 'top up' once the season has started. They will be ok and wont really need any pens. I assume this is designed to be a cost saving exercise, cant see the point on saving maybe £1 a bird when the cost of a shot bird is likely to be £25. With the set up you have you could easily release 2000 poults into the pens or a mix of poults and ex layers to wood if your pens are not that large and 2000 partridges into the cover crops in small cages of 50 and shoot from early Sept onwards every 2 weeks. As others have said it is vital to get right on top of charlie and crows, magpies etc. Concentrate the shoot on the best ( hilliest !!) part of the shoot, maybe 1000 acres. A Edited January 13, 2012 by Alycidon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davies8990 Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 I brought 200 ex layers this time and have not shot 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scolopax Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 Off topic I guess but I have being helping out a couple of keeperd for the last few years and was surprised to see that one of them in certain instances, releases poults from 10x10 partridge pens with good success. The 10x10 pens are identical to partridge release pens, and are used to put birds into cover crops someway from the main woods. The birds are generally a little older, maybe eight weeks or so, and are only in the pen overnight, 25 are let out every day and are replaced with another crate of 25. The crops are nearly always maize. You would think that they are very hard on foxes but they are not, for it is also hunting land. They keep an eye out for damage and if Charlie is being a nuisance they try to deal with. Some times they get it, sometimes they don't. Generally losses are minimal, the birds are free flying and soon go to roost in the hedgerows. Might not work if you a putting down a few hundred in total but works well enough when a few hundred need to be put into each cover crop drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanj Posted January 14, 2012 Report Share Posted January 14, 2012 I brought 200 ex layers this time and have not shot 1 Thats grim mate....... if you're not too far away I may be able to help as to not shoot 1 suggest you are doing something waaay wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davies8990 Posted January 15, 2012 Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 (edited) Thank for the offer mate, but to be honest I didn't really have enough time through the summer to dog in or go lamping went out few nights ago an the place is teaming with fox I had 4 in too nights... have been more interested in my flighting pool.. I planted plenty of game cover sunflower and maize mix. I have kept feeders and water topped up regualy.. I just don't have enough woodland here really tho Edited January 15, 2012 by davies8990 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spanj Posted January 15, 2012 Report Share Posted January 15, 2012 Thank for the offer mate, but to be honest I didn't really have enough time through the summer to dog in or go lamping went out few nights ago an the place is teaming with fox I had 4 in too nights... have been more interested in my flighting pool.. I planted plenty of game cover sunflower and maize mix. I have kept feeders and water topped up regualy.. I just don't have enough woodland here really tho That'll be it then !! Good luck for next season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROY Posted January 16, 2012 Report Share Posted January 16, 2012 Thank for the offer mate, but to be honest I didn't really have enough time through the summer to dog in or go lamping went out few nights ago an the place is teaming with fox I had 4 in too nights... have been more interested in my flighting pool.. I planted plenty of game cover sunflower and maize mix. I have kept feeders and water topped up regualy.. I just don't have enough woodland here really tho I am sure if you asked on here you would get hundreds of offers from people willing to dog and especially to come and sort out the foxeas. What area are you in?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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