Kes Posted January 10, 2013 Report Share Posted January 10, 2013 Evening all you DIY shoot enthusiasts. Every year on our shoot we have a debate about whether to clip or not to clip. Invariably we dont due to the extra 5p per bird. This year, as a 'supervisor', noticed we lost a lot of birds, early on, through disturbance and the poults flying the pen and being unable to find their way back. Our returns are low and getting lower - no shoots adjacent to the boundary - so my advice is to clip and reduce numbers of poults. If you cant keep a thousand you wont keep 2 (thousand) the lost ones represent 80 % of the total at the moment. The weather was awful, cover crops couldn't be planted so what would you do, assuming all goes well with the weather ? All serious (and humorous) advice welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul223 Posted January 10, 2013 Report Share Posted January 10, 2013 (edited) How high are the trees in your pen, if the weather is wet will clipped birds get to roost, wet birds on wet floors could be dead birds, fan of clipping myself but only if the long range forecast is good Edited January 11, 2013 by Paul223 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotslad Posted January 11, 2013 Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 I'm not a fan off clipping, sort off considering for next year for 1 pen as that pen emptied 5 days after they arrived (persume gossy only thing that can spook birds like that, didnae even kill any) and couldnae get them back (1/3rd off birds i had all but wrote them and season off but we're on 30+% with 2 to go) but i just opened it up and put hoppers throu wood, food still disappeared at a surprising rate so many did survie but far from ideal. Depends on ur situ, in some cases it can be useful but for me the single biggest concern is foxes and badgers, if 1 or more off them gets in ur pen ur in for some real trouble. I worry for first 4 nites after i release poults after that a lot off them are gettin in the low branches and the big kill time is getting over a bit. If u clip ur extending the time they are vurnable, can be a gamble, also depends how 'hard' they are clipped I help a full time keeper at release time and he has started to get all hjs birds clipped and clipped 'hard' as has a few steep pens where birds only need to flutter a bit and they clear the wire at the bottom of banking, but he has been hit by foxes before and his pens are some if not the best built pens i've ever seen, like fort knox and a fox still got in. For me too big a gamble and our shoot generally doesnae hold a high ammount of foxes (some very wet patches round the pens and never seen a foot print and never caught 1 in a snare either) but still to high a risk, i also do not have 90 degree corners inmy pens either U say u lost a lot, do u not have plenty off pop holes and how often are u checking ur pen/walking the wire also wot age were they when they started disappearing over wire (clipping only works until birds start to get primary feathers so only works for a week or so and i have seen 6-61/2 week old poults with there blood quils already) do u put any hoppers outside the wire. Generally i find if been in 3-4 days and the numbers are not massive that flipped over the wire they will hang about the wire and esp so if there is a bit of cover+ sun on there backs and a feeder. Also do u have plenty off cover and space in pen. We had bother with another pen extended it and put a lot off brash in as well as cd's and have had no more bother, touch wood I would not be overly concerned about the wet weather and birds on deck as long as some shelter and low branches/brash they will climb up and roost there, even when clipped they can get a few feet off the ground if 'soft' clipped can almost fly as normal. I also would not be bothered by 5p extra cost, i was taught never to scrimp on ur quality of poults or feed and good poults are worth paying extra for esp so with the weather we get now. If u genuinely want them clipped and think it will benefit ur shoot or even just for certain problem pens go for it, but it is completely personal preference some keeperes will swere by it others never again, but if ur unlucky and get hit by a fox there is a massive potential for losses when clipped Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alycidon Posted January 28, 2013 Report Share Posted January 28, 2013 No, gives them a chance to get away from a fox. A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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