Rearing

Most of the 14000 pheasant chicks we place weekly go under electric hen brooders in batches of 250-400, the rest go under thermostatically controlled Sierra gas heaters.

Partridge chicks are reared in conventional 8' x 8' and 10’ x 10’ brooder houses plus sheds with integral night shelters with floors and large grass runs. All chicks are started on nipple drinker systems with medicators supplying acid inclusion to sterilise the drinking water. Chicks start feeding on special chick paper before moving to plastic hoppers which have a weeks feed supply capacity reducing the risk of mechanical disease spread from the extra human visits.

All pheasants are off heat by four and half weeks and are hardened off in grass runs with 4 sq. foot per poult. a night shelter in batches of 300. They are properly 'hard feathered' by delivery.

In these small batches it reduces the risk of pile ups on cold and damp nights. The poults also grow on well in these small groups with less competition and plenty of room. From four weeks onwards, their water is treated with organic acids and chlorine as a cleaner to benefit gut health in the pre release period.

Poults are caught up in the early morning and delivered that morning. We discourage wing clipping and encourage customers to use the same feeders and feed to give continuity to reduce as many stresses as possible. Too much stress changes the pH of the birds gut and leaves it at risk of getting hexamitiasis, trichomoniasis or coccidiosis.