shalfordninja33 Posted January 16, 2012 Report Share Posted January 16, 2012 I mentioned on one of the other Threads that after the really dry spring and summer we had in Essex there was very little natural water on our shoot. All three release pens have 1000 litre tanks with auto drinkers in them, in addition to we put a number of plastic water drinkers around the pens, these get checked daily when the poults are delivered right through until the season starts. One drive has a stream running through it thats spring fed and there are two other ponds, one at the end of a spinney and the second 1/4 of a mile away from the nearest wood. There was so little run off that all the ditches dried out in the spring and a number of the drives and woods were completely dry. The only water available was that outlined above. We also had a lot of wild food on the farm this year and I suspect this caused a number of the birds to wonder off, far from an isolated case when reading some of the other threads, I'm concerned that the pheasants may also have wondered off looking for water? We've cancelled our last driven day in favour of a walk round as we have so few birds around. Our AGM will be held in February and I'll put the water question to the other Syndicate members. Two of our main woods have an areas that are damp all year round which I believe could be natural springs, I'm going to suggest we club together and hire a mini digger next month to dig down a couple of feet in both of these areas to see of we can create a shallow pond in each wood. They wood be too small to attract any wildfoul, but I hope they would be enough to stop the Pheasants wondering off in search of water, if that's what their doing. Thoughts and Opinions would be greatfully recieved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browning Posted January 16, 2012 Report Share Posted January 16, 2012 Double, triple, even quadruple the number of drinkers you have around the shoot, in the woods, in the covers etc etc. You can NEVER have too much water. Also, you say you keep your drinkers topped up until the start of the season? You need to keep them topped up right through the season, and after the season. Birds still need water after you've finished shooting...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamekeeper1960 Posted January 16, 2012 Report Share Posted January 16, 2012 Hi shalfordninja33, I whole heartedlly agree with browning the more drinkers the better and Id go as far to to say you should have ten times more drinkers than feeder as there is sure to be more food around than you think,Yes its a pain in the **** to keep filling them up and its no certainty it wont stop them from wondering but if you dont do it they certainlly will. I think your idear of making shallow ponds can do no harm at all but you may have to keep these topped up if nessacary one good idear is to fit a 1000 litre tank onto a trailer/back of landrover so you can drive round and top up from a pipe rather than carring cans makes the job easier and you'll get more people to help if the jobs easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teal Posted January 16, 2012 Report Share Posted January 16, 2012 Only thing I would watch with shallow ponds is that they could be a real disease hot spot if poorly designed - depends how shallow you mean I guess! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wy111 Posted January 16, 2012 Report Share Posted January 16, 2012 Our 2 large pens have 1000lt IBC's piped to bell drinkers, but the smaller ones and around the shoot, I have plastic 45 gall(200lt?) drums on pallets, also piped to bell drinkers, via various means. I top them up with a 1000 lt IBC on a trailer, using a 250 gph 12v submersible bilge pump on the end of a short scaffold pole. I try to keep them constantly topped up, but, you have to be careful, like now, when you get a hard frost. It can split the valve stem or pop the top off the drinker and the tanks empty. Being a tight ***** Yorkshireman, I have found a way to repair the majority, cheaply As stated above, drinkers can be more important than feeders/feeding, in some respect, but plenty of both, if possible, is better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shalfordninja33 Posted January 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 Thank you for the advice guys all usefull stuff, gives me some suggestions for the forthcoming AGM. We use the bell drinkers in the pens, I know what you mean with the frost damaging them Sorry browning, we do keep the water topped up through the season, sounds like we just we dont have enough around the place. I'll ensure we also keep the water going thougout the year. Thanks again guys, I'll let you know what's agreed at the AGM! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul223 Posted January 29, 2012 Report Share Posted January 29, 2012 Yes water is so important and birds will wander far and wide looking for it. We use IBC's feeding a header tank for the pens with bell drinkers, the ends of 45 gallon plastic drums cut to about 2 inch deep then invert a 5 gallon drum full of water into it for the feeders out and about. And for topping up a load all with a 2 inch lay flat hose to a adaptor on an IBC, lift the IBC up and open the tap, transfer a 1000 litres in a few seconds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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