Pheasant Feeding

[fortune82]

Would anyone be able to give me an idea as to the quantity of grain / feed 1000 pheasants will consume over the course of a year?

 

Thanks

[Quist]

Sheesh! Allow about 50 grammes per bird per day

so thats 500 Kilos x 365 = 182500 kg per year.

 

So thats 182 and a half metric tonnes

 

multiply by 1.1043

 

201.17 Tons of wheat mate B)

 

Bulk buy at say 100 quid per ton = 20117 ........hope you've got a friendly bank manager

[webber]

Quist

 

Check your maths.

 

You are out by a factor of 10, plus there is no need to convert metric tonnes to imperial as grain is supplied in 25Kg sacks.

Where have you got the 50gms per bird figure from?

 

webber

[fortune82]

Thanks! I put that at about 18 tonnes of feed needed, however as the season progresses less birds will be feeding as more will have been shot! Hopefully!

[Browning]

Don't forget to factor in wastage of grain eaten by deer, pigeons, squirrels, rats etc

[nipper]

A few things to consider ?

 

Stop feeding early spring and let the hens get back onto wild food and insects .Otherwise they will bring there chicks to the feeders once hatched and they wont be able to feed !

 

As the season progresses ,more birds are shot so less are there. But the weather is harder and the ones that remain will eat more .

 

If the birds are penned all year they will require feeding with a balanced diet ,not just wheat .

 

If its poults then its a different system again ! pellets then wheat at the right time .

[AmateX]

For releasing we work on roughly 1t of wheat per 100 birds + 1t of pellet per 260birds to start with; game crops provide a lot of food when they are out and about.

 

Adult birds consume 39.46kg per 100 per week so if you where to keep 1000 adults in enclosed pens with little or no other source of food for a year that would be around 20.5t.

[scolopax]

Stop feeding early spring and let the hens get back onto wild food and insects .

 

That is exactly the opposite to what the Game conservancy advise.

 

The key to good production from last years reared stock is to keep feeding right through spring until at least May if not June. Reared hens have a reputation of being terrible mums but I was told this was because so many shoots stop feeding once the season is over. The birds lose condition due to not being able to access the wheat which was previously freely available. The hen bird is basically living off her fat reserves when incubating a clutch and two things are likely to happen, either she gives up sitting before she starves to death or she hatches the brood off then immediatley becomes preoccupied with feeding herself and forgets about mothering the chicks. I only have a small shoot with maybe a dozen hens left to breed after the season but I have noticed a big difference to productivity since we started spring feeding. Even with the last two poor summers our hen pheasants have brought off some nice 'wild' broods.

Edited February 5, 2009 by scolopax

[creakindoor]

This mornings feed behind my house.

[nipper]

That is exactly the opposite to what the Game conservancy advise.

 

The key to good production from last years reared stock is to keep feeding right through spring until at least May if not June. Reared hens have a reputation of being terrible mums but I was told this was because so many shoots stop feeding once the season is over. The birds lose condition due to not being able to access the wheat which was previously freely available. The hen bird is basically living off her fat reserves when incubating a clutch and two things are likely to happen, either she gives up sitting before she starves to death or she hatches the brood off then immediatley becomes preoccupied with feeding herself and forgets about mothering the chicks. I only have a small shoot with maybe a dozen hens left to breed after the season but I have noticed a big difference to productivity since we started spring feeding. Even with the last two poor summers our hen pheasants have brought off some nice 'wild' broods.

 

If you want to know why I stop feeding and concentrate on other things ,here is a good discription of why most of us do.

I found it tonight on another site ,

 

Broadly speaking, a Gamekeeper manages land and game populations for

shooting. Using English terminology, shooting refers to what is usually

known as simply hunting in most other countries. Confusingly, in the UK the

term hunting would only be used to describe the use of dogs or hounds in the

pursuit of it’s quarry.

 

Game refers to a range of avian and mammalian species that are pursued in

this country. The main ones’ that I am involved with are the game birds

Pheasant, Partridge and Duck.

 

Most countries of the world have hunting in one form or another. Hunting for

sport has evolved over thousands of years, and is directly connected with

the evolution of the human race, as we changed from hunter-gatherers to

farmers. Of course sport hunting is very controversial, and I am not

attempting through this article to justify it or sell it to anyone. This is

my travel website after all – I’m just offering here a run down of what I do

because many people have never met a gamekeeper or have any understanding of

what one does!

 

In this country, there are many forms of hunting. They range from game

fishing, Deer stalking, shooting and hunting with hounds to Falconry. The

latter, incidentally, is believed to be amongst the oldest sports in human

history. So, if I refer to “fieldsportsâ€, I am talking about all these

various kinds of hunting.

 

As the history of fieldsports goes back so long the terminology which

accompanies them is vast and utterly confusing. Many modern terms in the

English language actually developed from hunting terms, but I digress!

 

Now we have that cleared up, I can tell you a little about what I do.

 

Essentially, my primary role is to provide quality game shooting for my

employer and his guests’ over the estate he owns. Good quality is defined by

how well the shooting day is organised, how well the birds are presented and

whether all the guests had plenty of shooting. The Pheasant shooting season

last’s a mere three months, during which here we will only conduct around 14

shoot days. Thus, the result of my entire year’s work is on display on just

these few days.

 

Is that it? Hell, you must be bored!

 

To provide those few shoot days, we need to ensure a few things happen

around here first! We must ensure the land is attractive to game. This is

done by actively managing habitat such as rough ground and woodland. We have

an ongoing programme of tree planting new areas, as well as planting areas

with temporary annual crops, which contain special native plant mixtures.

Much of this work is physically carried out ourselves, or by consulting with

the various other estate departments.

 

We also actively hatch and rear extra pheasants, to supplement the wild

populations. This rearing period is one of our busiest, stretching from May

through August. To be fitted in around all that is the ongoing predator and

pest control, and general maintenance of all our pens/equipment in large

slices.

 

My working year runs February to February, and is very seasonal. February

1st is basically the final day of the shooting season. In other words, the

end of my year’s work and the beginning of the next. So, the period from

then until around April is a convenient time for gamekeepers to change jobs

as this is about the quietest time of year.

 

It’s worth pointing out now, that job descriptions are quite varied. What

follows is a rough description of my year in my current position. Variations

depend on the size and scale of a shooting estate, the budget, the

predominant game species, location and many more

February will generally be spent doing as little as possible, and this time

is about as good a chance one will get of taking a holiday. I think that’s a

marvellous way to begin a new year! Traditionally for me, February 2nd is

lay in day – my first chance to stay in bed after the previous ten months or

so working seven-day weeks.

 

Here, we (there are two gamekeepers) also have wild Fallow Deer populations

to control. This is carried out throughout winter as time allows, but

February and March are particularly good opportunities as we are not busy

with anything else.

 

During March, a number of wild Pheasant hens and cocks must be caught and

penned. These will provide us with fertile eggs, which form the basis for

next year’s stock. Eggs will start to arrive early April, and from then on

my daily life gets busier!

 

The laying period will continue until we have gained enough eggs for our

target that year, which is worked out roughly by calculating our predicted

number of shoot days next season. From that number we work backwards from

the number of birds we hope to shoot, the number we aim to release and rear,

using percentages base of records from previous years.

 

The eggs are picked up several times daily, cleaned and graded for size and

quality. Once a week during the laying period, which this year ran from

April to late May, we set a batch of eggs in the incubator machine. The eggs

remain in here for three weeks, before being transferred to the hatcher

machine, which offers us complete control over temperature and relative

humidity. Over the next three days, the eggs will hatch.

 

Our particular incubator holds three batches of eggs. So, having set a batch

each week this means at any one time the machine contains three lots of eggs

at three different stages of incubation i.e.; one week, two weeks, three

weeks. This ensures we spread our workload over the summer evenly and hatch

a similar number of chicks each week.

 

The newly hatched chicks are transferred to the brooder house. This is a

large shed with individual units, which are heated by gas. In here, we can

effectively control temperature, light and ventilation to ensure we rear

healthy birds.

 

Once the birds within the rearing units reach six weeks of age, we enter the

most crucial and busiest time of year. Now is the time to catch them up, and

move them out to the woods into specially built release pens. These are open

topped pens strategically positioned around the estate. Their purpose is to

protect the young Pheasants from predators whilst they are gently

acclimatized to life in the wild.

 

The next eight weeks or so get a bit hectic, as we are busy taking care of

these birds in the woods, continuing with the rearing in the shed and still

hatching new chicks. A typical day now starts at sunrise, and finishes at

sundown. Which will explain my lack of emails to anyone at this time of

year!

 

It is always a relief to finish the hatching and rearing. By late July, the

last of the young birds have been reared to six weeks, and moved to the

woods. From here, I am able to concentrate on looking after these as they

grow and become semi wild. Within three to four weeks they begin to leave

their release pens and spread out over the surrounding land, gaining more

independence along the way.

 

With all the maintenance completed, rearing equipment cleaned, sterilized

and stored and birds now living wild I now enter the next part of my year.

 

The period from August to late October is spent managing the birds over my

“beat†(the part of the estate for which I am responsible for). The feeding

continues, and takes up around four hours of my working day, ensuring the

Pheasants stay healthy and in the area. Predator and pest control is still

an ongoing responsibility to protect both farm crops and guard against

excessive losses of Pheasants. Much of this is carried out at night with a

high-powered rifle, adding several hours to my already long day!

 

Young Pheasants naturally like to spread out and wander, and now my priority

daytime job is to limit this. Essentially, our main method of keeping the

Pheasants on the estate is to make the habitat as attractive to them as

possible, so they want to stay! This, as I explained earlier, is why we

manage the habitat in this way by planting crops and trees etc. It is also

the reason why land managed for game shooting is commonly regarded at some

of England’s’ healthiest and most diverse countryside, of benefit to all

wildlife. Most of the UK’s top conservation organisations openly acknowledge

this, including the respected RSPB.

 

About Gamekeeping...

Regardless of all our efforts in providing the habitat, Pheasants will still

go on extended walks. The weather can play a huge part in this, as will the

amount of wild food available. As the annual autumn bounty of insects,

berries and nuts become available, they will go to great lengths to avoid me

and my boring food to get at these.

 

So, much of my days will be spent patrolling the boundaries of my beat with

my team of three English Springer Spaniels. It probably sounds rather

idyllic, roaming around with a gun and team of dogs out in the countryside!

Well, it is pretty good – but the novelty wears off quite quickly when you

have a million other jobs to be getting on with, the dogs are so tired they

go on strike and it seems every Pheasant on the place is hell bent on taking

up residence on farmer Blogg’s land next door!

 

As we move through October, the days become much shorter (and my life less

hectic), and we begin to prepare and make plans for the forthcoming shooting

season. The season for Pheasants runs roughly from November to February. I

am always relieved to get the first shoot day over with. It’s the first time

we get our team of helpers and dogs into the woods, and gives us a good idea

of Pheasant numbers and an indication of how the forthcoming season will go.

The winter routine will consist of daily feeding, continued planning of

shooting days, Deer stalking and enjoying the short days and long nights!

 

In seemingly no time at all, I am thinking about potential holiday plans, I’m

also another year older and we start all over again!

 

Game shooting in this way is carried out all over the British Isles on many

different scales; ranging from the small group of friends who all help to

run the shoot to the largest estates which may employ eight gamekeepers or

more. It is a valued rural industry, which provides income and employment

for a vast range of people both directly and indirectly. One of our

supporting organisations once tried to compile a list of all the services

and businesses that benefit from fieldsports – it was considerable in

length!

 

I understand that plenty of people totally disagree with my chosen way of

life. I respect their opinions; it’s unfortunate that many of them fail to

respect mine! Human nature I guess. Whoops, I promised not to get political

here!

 

I justify my activities to myself, and am ever aware of what I am doing. I

liken game shooting to an inefficient form of free range farming, which also

happens to greatly benefit wildlife in general. Of the number of birds we

release, commonly no more than 40% are shot. Of these, guests and helpers

are free to take home what they like and the rest are sold to a game dealer.

Eventually, the finished product is a healthy and versatile food source that

can be purchased in markets throughout Europe. If I had to choose between

being a chicken living in a shed facing certain slaughter, or a Pheasant

living wild and free I know which it would be!

 

So that is a typical year in the life of your average gamekeeper. It’s a

great way of life, one which offers the opportunity to observe nature

closely, to stay fit, to follow one’s personal interests and get paid for it

at the same time. It is a lifestyle that demands total commitment, and

because of the responsibilities which it carries, if does very much limit

the time one can spend on outside interest’s. But so long as you can handle

the ties to the work, you are free to manage your own time; and with each

month bringing new priorities, the potential for getting bored is very

limited .

[nipper]

The Game conservancy can advise !!! (and good advice too )

 

 

But ,............... "They" dont have to do my job .

[walter692]

I RELEASE 10,000 AND FEED ABOUT 15 TO 18 TONS OF WHEAT THREW THE SHOOTING SEASON,SPECIAL FEEDS ARE NEEDED FOR BREEDING AND REARING..MY BOSS WOULD HAVE A FIT IF I FED 18 TONS TO 1000 BIRDS...

Edited February 11, 2009 by walter692

[cat amongst the pigeons]

this question is pretty broad, can you be more specific? feed for the whole year or just from the time you have them? as like you said its going 2 vary throughout the on how much they will eat.

[al4x]

one things for sure if your neighbour feeds all year I know where the birds at the end of the season will be. Obviously you should cut back from an economy point of view but if you keep feeders and just top up occasionally you'll hold birds all year.

[Fisheruk]

If you want to know why I stop feeding and concentrate on other things ,here is a good discription of why most of us do.

I found it tonight on another site ,

 

Broadly speaking, a Gamekeeper manages land and game populations for

shooting. Using English terminology, shooting refers to what is usually

known as simply hunting in most other countries. Confusingly, in the UK the

term hunting would only be used to describe the use of dogs or hounds in the

pursuit of it’s quarry.

 

Game refers to a range of avian and mammalian species that are pursued in

this country. The main ones’ that I am involved with are the game birds

Pheasant, Partridge and Duck.

 

Most countries of the world have hunting in one form or another. Hunting for

sport has evolved over thousands of years, and is directly connected with

the evolution of the human race, as we changed from hunter-gatherers to

farmers. Of course sport hunting is very controversial, and I am not

attempting through this article to justify it or sell it to anyone. This is

my travel website after all â€" I’m just offering here a run down of what I do

because many people have never met a gamekeeper or have any understanding of

what one does!

 

In this country, there are many forms of hunting. They range from game

fishing, Deer stalking, shooting and hunting with hounds to Falconry. The

latter, incidentally, is believed to be amongst the oldest sports in human

history. So, if I refer to “fieldsportsâ€, I am talking about all these

various kinds of hunting.

 

As the history of fieldsports goes back so long the terminology which

accompanies them is vast and utterly confusing. Many modern terms in the

English language actually developed from hunting terms, but I digress!

 

Now we have that cleared up, I can tell you a little about what I do.

 

Essentially, my primary role is to provide quality game shooting for my

employer and his guests’ over the estate he owns. Good quality is defined by

how well the shooting day is organised, how well the birds are presented and

whether all the guests had plenty of shooting. The Pheasant shooting season

last’s a mere three months, during which here we will only conduct around 14

shoot days. Thus, the result of my entire year’s work is on display on just

these few days.

 

Is that it? Hell, you must be bored!

 

To provide those few shoot days, we need to ensure a few things happen

around here first! We must ensure the land is attractive to game. This is

done by actively managing habitat such as rough ground and woodland. We have

an ongoing programme of tree planting new areas, as well as planting areas

with temporary annual crops, which contain special native plant mixtures.

Much of this work is physically carried out ourselves, or by consulting with

the various other estate departments.

 

We also actively hatch and rear extra pheasants, to supplement the wild

populations. This rearing period is one of our busiest, stretching from May

through August. To be fitted in around all that is the ongoing predator and

pest control, and general maintenance of all our pens/equipment in large

slices.

 

My working year runs February to February, and is very seasonal. February

1st is basically the final day of the shooting season. In other words, the

end of my year’s work and the beginning of the next. So, the period from

then until around April is a convenient time for gamekeepers to change jobs

as this is about the quietest time of year.

 

It’s worth pointing out now, that job descriptions are quite varied. What

follows is a rough description of my year in my current position. Variations

depend on the size and scale of a shooting estate, the budget, the

predominant game species, location and many more

February will generally be spent doing as little as possible, and this time

is about as good a chance one will get of taking a holiday. I think that’s a

marvellous way to begin a new year! Traditionally for me, February 2nd is

lay in day â€" my first chance to stay in bed after the previous ten months or

so working seven-day weeks.

 

Here, we (there are two gamekeepers) also have wild Fallow Deer populations

to control. This is carried out throughout winter as time allows, but

February and March are particularly good opportunities as we are not busy

with anything else.

 

During March, a number of wild Pheasant hens and cocks must be caught and

penned. These will provide us with fertile eggs, which form the basis for

next year’s stock. Eggs will start to arrive early April, and from then on

my daily life gets busier!

 

The laying period will continue until we have gained enough eggs for our

target that year, which is worked out roughly by calculating our predicted

number of shoot days next season. From that number we work backwards from

the number of birds we hope to shoot, the number we aim to release and rear,

using percentages base of records from previous years.

 

The eggs are picked up several times daily, cleaned and graded for size and

quality. Once a week during the laying period, which this year ran from

April to late May, we set a batch of eggs in the incubator machine. The eggs

remain in here for three weeks, before being transferred to the hatcher

machine, which offers us complete control over temperature and relative

humidity. Over the next three days, the eggs will hatch.

 

Our particular incubator holds three batches of eggs. So, having set a batch

each week this means at any one time the machine contains three lots of eggs

at three different stages of incubation i.e.; one week, two weeks, three

weeks. This ensures we spread our workload over the summer evenly and hatch

a similar number of chicks each week.

 

The newly hatched chicks are transferred to the brooder house. This is a

large shed with individual units, which are heated by gas. In here, we can

effectively control temperature, light and ventilation to ensure we rear

healthy birds.

 

Once the birds within the rearing units reach six weeks of age, we enter the

most crucial and busiest time of year. Now is the time to catch them up, and

move them out to the woods into specially built release pens. These are open

topped pens strategically positioned around the estate. Their purpose is to

protect the young Pheasants from predators whilst they are gently

acclimatized to life in the wild.

 

The next eight weeks or so get a bit hectic, as we are busy taking care of

these birds in the woods, continuing with the rearing in the shed and still

hatching new chicks. A typical day now starts at sunrise, and finishes at

sundown. Which will explain my lack of emails to anyone at this time of

year!

 

It is always a relief to finish the hatching and rearing. By late July, the

last of the young birds have been reared to six weeks, and moved to the

woods. From here, I am able to concentrate on looking after these as they

grow and become semi wild. Within three to four weeks they begin to leave

their release pens and spread out over the surrounding land, gaining more

independence along the way.

 

With all the maintenance completed, rearing equipment cleaned, sterilized

and stored and birds now living wild I now enter the next part of my year.

 

The period from August to late October is spent managing the birds over my

“beat†(the part of the estate for which I am responsible for). The feeding

continues, and takes up around four hours of my working day, ensuring the

Pheasants stay healthy and in the area. Predator and pest control is still

an ongoing responsibility to protect both farm crops and guard against

excessive losses of Pheasants. Much of this is carried out at night with a

high-powered rifle, adding several hours to my already long day!

 

Young Pheasants naturally like to spread out and wander, and now my priority

daytime job is to limit this. Essentially, our main method of keeping the

Pheasants on the estate is to make the habitat as attractive to them as

possible, so they want to stay! This, as I explained earlier, is why we

manage the habitat in this way by planting crops and trees etc. It is also

the reason why land managed for game shooting is commonly regarded at some

of England’s’ healthiest and most diverse countryside, of benefit to all

wildlife. Most of the UK’s top conservation organisations openly acknowledge

this, including the respected RSPB.

 

About Gamekeeping...

Regardless of all our efforts in providing the habitat, Pheasants will still

go on extended walks. The weather can play a huge part in this, as will the

amount of wild food available. As the annual autumn bounty of insects,

berries and nuts become available, they will go to great lengths to avoid me

and my boring food to get at these.

 

So, much of my days will be spent patrolling the boundaries of my beat with

my team of three English Springer Spaniels. It probably sounds rather

idyllic, roaming around with a gun and team of dogs out in the countryside!

Well, it is pretty good â€" but the novelty wears off quite quickly when you

have a million other jobs to be getting on with, the dogs are so tired they

go on strike and it seems every Pheasant on the place is hell bent on taking

up residence on farmer Blogg’s land next door!

 

As we move through October, the days become much shorter (and my life less

hectic), and we begin to prepare and make plans for the forthcoming shooting

season. The season for Pheasants runs roughly from November to February. I

am always relieved to get the first shoot day over with. It’s the first time

we get our team of helpers and dogs into the woods, and gives us a good idea

of Pheasant numbers and an indication of how the forthcoming season will go.

The winter routine will consist of daily feeding, continued planning of

shooting days, Deer stalking and enjoying the short days and long nights!

 

In seemingly no time at all, I am thinking about potential holiday plans, I’m

also another year older and we start all over again!

 

Game shooting in this way is carried out all over the British Isles on many

different scales; ranging from the small group of friends who all help to

run the shoot to the largest estates which may employ eight gamekeepers or

more. It is a valued rural industry, which provides income and employment

for a vast range of people both directly and indirectly. One of our

supporting organisations once tried to compile a list of all the services

and businesses that benefit from fieldsports â€" it was considerable in

length!

 

I understand that plenty of people totally disagree with my chosen way of

life. I respect their opinions; it’s unfortunate that many of them fail to

respect mine! Human nature I guess. Whoops, I promised not to get political

here!

 

I justify my activities to myself, and am ever aware of what I am doing. I

liken game shooting to an inefficient form of free range farming, which also

happens to greatly benefit wildlife in general. Of the number of birds we

release, commonly no more than 40% are shot. Of these, guests and helpers

are free to take home what they like and the rest are sold to a game dealer.

Eventually, the finished product is a healthy and versatile food source that

can be purchased in markets throughout Europe. If I had to choose between

being a chicken living in a shed facing certain slaughter, or a Pheasant

living wild and free I know which it would be!

 

So that is a typical year in the life of your average gamekeeper. It’s a

great way of life, one which offers the opportunity to observe nature

closely, to stay fit, to follow one’s personal interests and get paid for it

at the same time. It is a lifestyle that demands total commitment, and

because of the responsibilities which it carries, if does very much limit

the time one can spend on outside interest’s. But so long as you can handle

the ties to the work, you are free to manage your own time; and with each

month bringing new priorities, the potential for getting bored is very

limited .

Hey you should take up book writing.

[hutchie the white hunter]

All depends on the land you are on ,what crop they plant ect if wheat and barley fields are present then the birds will take to feeding out on them and you will find it difficult to keep your birds where you want them of course by all means put additives in your wheat to pull them in but the reason i say this is because the feeders in October dont seem to get much interest due to the fact there are plenty food on the field for them so that is one month you will use less feed that is i presume you have stubble parks on your shoot ? going back to amount i would say around 2 tone per 300 birds ,so around 7 and a half tone ! also to keep deer away there great are guards you can buy or just fence them off easy deer problem solved

[hillmouse]

Rule of thumb is 2 x 25 kg bags per 1000 per day at about 12 weeks. Expect this to drop to around one to one and a half bags by the time they are 22 weeks old.

This diminishes as birds take wild feed and stubble gleanings etc. On grassland and conifer woods you can expect birds to take more feed than on arable land with good mixed or deciduous woodland.

Feed intake tends to rise after ploughing and reseeding has been completed and with the onset of winter (remember those?)

Dead birds do not eat so feed intake diminishes as the season progresses and the population lessens.

Crows, rooks, squirrels, rats, badger and deer can eat significant amounts.

 

Spring feeding is proven to be beneficial, however, if predator control and habitat are not in place there will be minimal wild recruitment.

Typically there will be very little wild feed left available by 2nd February if there is any significant release programme and wild shoots and insects won't appear until April/May

There has to be a moral argument to consider regarding releasing birds, feeding them while we want them and stopping feeding on the 2nd February in the hungriest time of year. Our oponnents will work on that aspect.