oxfordfowler Posted March 25, 2015 Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 I am in need of some advice and or guidance from someone with more experience with this than I have. We have four woods two of which already have release pens. The plan this year is to make more use of a wood on the other end of the shoot which has not been used (to release) for over 20 years. I plan to build a new release pen in this wood. My question(s) are about the (1) Ivy and (2) Yew trees. The entire wood floor is now covered in a blanket of Ivy - so will the ivy affect the poults?. I do intend to clear what I can - should I clear the Ivy (ground level) out of the release pen?. There are several Yew trees in the wood so if I build a release pen around or adjacent to one of the Yew trees will it affect the poults?. It maybe that I am worrying unduly however I don't what to spend time and effort building a new pen if I cannot then make full use of it. Thanks in advance OXF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakerboy Posted March 25, 2015 Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 Get yourself on a BASC Improve your shoot day. It is a two day course but you can choose to just do the one. One day is about your birds, your pens and how to look after them and much more. The second day is Coaching on Shooting. Really the course should be called "How to improve your Shoot and your Shooting" Contact Peter Marshall at BASC. There is a course very soon at or near to Scarborough if I recall correctly, and there is normally one at Loddington home of the Game and Wildlife Conservatory Trust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennett Posted March 25, 2015 Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 Yew won't hurt them, I had a massive one by one pen, the red part of the yew seed is edible and birds eat that and pass the poisonous seed through untouched. Ivy will be very hard to kill and remove and won't do any harm, it may even provide cover from birds of prey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hifly Posted March 25, 2015 Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 give the poults a couple of weeks and it will look like a desert in the pen, best ground critters you can get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted March 25, 2015 Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 Join the NGO. They have loads of professionals who will call you and all advice is free. There are also courses you can attend run by professional gamekeepers. Alternatively just stop worrying about it. We have trees of several species in our pen. Some provide shelter from the weather and predators, while others provide roosting places, and some provide both. So long as none provide access for predators such as cats etc, to use as ladders. I wouldn't worry about the ivy, as someone has said, it'll soon get sorted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmydean Posted March 25, 2015 Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 Join the NGO. They have loads of professionals who will call you and all advice is free. There are also courses you can attend run by professional gamekeepers. Alternatively just stop worrying about it. We have trees of several species in our pen. Some provide shelter from the weather and predators, while others provide roosting places, and some provide both. So long as none provide access for predators such as cats etc, to use as ladders. I wouldn't worry about the ivy, as someone has said, it'll soon get sorted. +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oxfordfowler Posted March 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2015 Thanks for the replies. I'll be building a new pen this year then and looking into some courses. Thanks again OXF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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