could do with some keppers tips

[tomtommckinnon]

Hello, Im a trainee keeper lookin for some tips on getting your pheasants on the whistle.

cheers

Tom

[MM]

always keep your eye on the ball, and watch his run up

[nipper]

You whistle EVERY time you go near them , the same whistle every time . Especialy when you feed them . Same time of day every single day. Eventualy they will put food and the whistle together and come over IF they are hungry. You are basicaly brainwashing them to associate the whistle with food means run! and they come..I feed eight pens and whistle about twenty minutes a pen . They have been on long enough now to let me choose which pen I do first .The only time I do change my routine is if there is a problem with a particular pen . Then I would do that one first and spend more time on it . I keep a big drum feeder full as well ,so the ones that dont come in can still get a feed later .A week before the first shoot starts ,I let the drum feeder get empty so the birds are hungry a day or two before the shoot. After the shoot I fill the drum feeder again untill the next shoot .

But whistle every time I go near them !

 

 

Might not work for everybody , but it works here .

Good luck with the season .

[tomtommckinnon]

my bird like a walk and it takes me about an hour just to go round and through the woods to walk them back, so did you say you spend 20min standing where u'v put your feed out whistleing none stop?

cheers

[nipper]

YES , I stand at the feed ride and whistle . Once they are all fed ,the rest of the day is dogging in and getting the rest of the jobs done . You cant be everywhere at once ! so you have to decide what is more important and do that first . All shoots are different and what suits my ground , might not suit yours . Try and find out what they did in the past and adapt it to your position .

 

Forgot to add ,If they dont all come in for a feed ,you only feed the ones that are there . Some days a full bucket some days a quarter of a bucket ? If there is food left from the last feed ,then you are feeding too much OK.

Edited October 4, 2008 by nipper

[tulkyuk]

I personally think that you've left it to late to get em on the whistle this year - you should of started when your birds first went to pen.

[nipper]

If you are a trainee , What does the headkeeper advise ? He will know what you will be better doing on your beat and should give you good advice.

[creakindoor]

tulkyuk is right. You need to start whistling the day poults go to the release pen.

They then soon learn that the whistle means food. However if they are not hungry

whistling is not going to work. So its a balance between giving them enough feed to

satisfy them & keep them in good health but don`t overfeed.

"Keep them sharp lad" as my Headkeeper was always telling me.

At this time of the year with lots of natural food about my handfeeds are often

no more than a trickle. Try some aniseed in your feed. It may or may not work

but it smells nice.