BIG 5 Posted October 4, 2013 Report Share Posted October 4, 2013 Question is, will pheasant eat barley? Its all I can get hold of at the moment. How can they tell the difference? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul223 Posted October 5, 2013 Report Share Posted October 5, 2013 They will spend all day picking at barley stubble, wheat is better as a main feed though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worthy130 Posted October 5, 2013 Report Share Posted October 5, 2013 They won't fly as well on Barley as Wheat, ducks are the opposite and get fat on Wheat so ducks should be fed Barley. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1steele Posted October 5, 2013 Report Share Posted October 5, 2013 Wheat every time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotslad Posted October 5, 2013 Report Share Posted October 5, 2013 I will agree with wot everyone else has said, pheasants willl always prefer wheat over barley. Saying that i know of a couple off shoots that do pretty well only feeding barley in hoppers, but they are the only shoots for miles around and fairly poor hilly ground so birds don't have a choice only food available is barley which is better than nothing. If u have neighbours who are feeding wheat ur birds will soon move next door. Be really worth a few more phone calls to find some wheat, if u can't find wheat at this time of year (after harvest, often a struggle july/aug time for early poults) ur speaking to the wrong people, very little price difference between the 2 anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elby Posted October 7, 2013 Report Share Posted October 7, 2013 Barley is ok if they have never had wheat. Mix some aniseed in with it and it'll be fine. Not a lot of wheat grown this year and none on my farm so barley it is. I will also be mixing in some over winter spiced pellets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1steele Posted October 8, 2013 Report Share Posted October 8, 2013 Barley is ok if they have never had wheat. Mix some aniseed in with it and it'll be fine. Not a lot of wheat grown this year and none on my farm so barley it is. I will also be mixing in some over winter spiced pellets The trouble with barley Is that the pheasants quite often don't do as well on it. They will eat it obviously and if that's all that is available then that's what you use. I would try and get a couple of bags of maize and put the odd handful into a bag of feed (if your hand feeding). If you use hoppers, try and get split maize so it doesn't block the hoppers. I would personally try and avoid pellets once you have the birds on grain as we are getting into autumn and the pellets can draw a lot of moisture which in turn can cause the grain to go mouldy making it unpalatable which means your birds have more chance of going elsewhere for food. Aniseed does help but I would use it sparingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinF Posted October 9, 2013 Report Share Posted October 9, 2013 We have ended up with a mix of barley and wheat from a field of winter wheat which was over sown with sprig barley. The pheasants are eating the wheat and leaving quite a bit of the barley on the floor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1steele Posted October 9, 2013 Report Share Posted October 9, 2013 We have ended up with a mix of barley and wheat from a field of winter wheat which was over sown with sprig barley. The pheasants are eating the wheat and leaving quite a bit of the barley on the floor Try and remove the barley that's been left as it will go mouldy and the spores could get onto the wheat which isn't good for your birds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilR Posted October 9, 2013 Report Share Posted October 9, 2013 Try and remove the barley that's been left as it will go mouldy and the spores could get onto the wheat which isn't good for your birds. Easier said than done, there's several tons of it piled up in a barn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1steele Posted October 9, 2013 Report Share Posted October 9, 2013 Easier said than done, there's several tons of it piled up in a barn. Try and remove the feed that the birds haven't eaten as this will be the problem where it can go mouldy or attract vermin. I wouldn't expect you to be able to separate it whilst it is stored. Have you got any duck ponds that you could put the uneaten barley into? I know removing it is time consuming and a pain in the **** but leaving it could give you bigger problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilR Posted October 9, 2013 Report Share Posted October 9, 2013 We do have a duck pond and have been using it in the auto feeders there too. Enquiries are being made to the farmer for some clean wheat. All was fine originally as we had clean wheat and barley, then someone dumped a mixed lot but we could work around it to get to the clean. The problem is now all the feed has been moved to another barn and is thoroughly mixed up. Thanks for the advice we'll sort it out somehow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1steele Posted October 9, 2013 Report Share Posted October 9, 2013 We do have a duck pond and have been using it in the auto feeders there too. Enquiries are being made to the farmer for some clean wheat. All was fine originally as we had clean wheat and barley, then someone dumped a mixed lot but we could work around it to get to the clean. The problem is now all the feed has been moved to another barn and is thoroughly mixed up. Thanks for the advice we'll sort it out somehow. Bit of a pain that is. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinF Posted October 9, 2013 Report Share Posted October 9, 2013 Try and remove the barley that's been left as it will go mouldy and the spores could get onto the wheat which isn't good for your birds. As time is tight and other jobs are higher priority, I will probably leave it where it is and move the feeders a bit. Something else will eat it, or it will germinate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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