News & Advice

Over the past few nights, a fox has been stalking around our partridge release pen. He’s been pushing in the wire and scaring the birds in his attempts to get inside, but as yet, he’s only been able to kill one bird outside the pen. With the electric fence and…

The Solway Ladder Trap, our own version of the traditional crow trap (also known as a letterbox trap) which has been used across the country for the past century. Unlike Larsen traps, letterbox traps don’t use springs or any moving parts to catch birds. They depend on the same principle…

After eighteen days in the incubator, disaster struck. A day before the eggs were due to hatch, the incubator was accidentally switched off overnight. The temperature fell to just 25 degrees and stayed there for around ten hours. Despairing and distraught, our first reaction was to call the whole project…

With the shooting season started, losing pheasants and other game birds to neighbouring grounds can be infuriating for any gamekeeper. To keep birds, and attract new ones, game bird attractants are the best bet for keeping numbers consistent throughout the season. Game bird attractants have always been an important part…

Spiral feeders are a unique and effective way for feeding poultry or game birds. Designed with practicality in mind; the spiral feeder is easy to use and install, makes the birds work for their food, reduces waste and keeps pests at bay. Filling with grain (whole wheat or barley) or standard…

To keep game birds as wild as possible while keeping them on your land can be quite a challenge. Too much contact can lead to them being more difficult to flush out and a degree of domestication which has no value on a shoot. Leaving them to their own devices…

The purpose of this series of writings is to introduce new comers into the very special world of hatching your own eggs and breeding your own flock. Approaching my 60th year, I am still intrigued and excited by putting an egg in the incubator and three weeks later a baby chick…

When raising pheasants from day-old chicks; there is much that must be taken into account. They must have adequate food, water, warmth, shelter and protection. To ensure your preparation for their imminent arrival; there are many things you must consider and many steps you must take. When it comes to…

Having lived in confinement for so long, giving a battery hen a new life as part of a family, on a smallholding or as part of a larger operation, can be very rewarding. As they have never even seen the outdoor world before; ex-battery hens are known for their curiosity,…

We’ve been keeping red legged partridges for the last week, and it’s been a very interesting experience. Despite the fact that these little birds are native to the south of France, they have stood up well to the wild Gallowayweather, and the little enclosure of thirty birds is withstanding wind and rain on a daily basis. Despite…

After five days in the incubator, it’s about time we scanned the turkey, guineafowl and peacock eggs to find out what is going on inside the shells. It’s easy to scan eggs with a candling torch, and with a little bit of practice, you quickly learn what to look for when the light makes the inside of the egg glow up. We recently scannedpheasant…

Nest boxes are vital for anyone looking to rear chickens with the main aim of collecting eggs. There are many choices when it comes to nest boxes but traditional ones can yield poor results with hens getting at the eggs first, wasting the gather’s time through the hunt for eggs…

Keeping rats out of feed left for the birds is an issue that faces anyone rearing poultry. One way of combating them, especially for those rearing chickens or ducks, is by using treadle feeders which are specifically designed to prevent rodents from getting into food. There are two main attributes to these…

Now is the busiest time of year for the home incubator enthusiast, and we have been hatching all kinds of different birds over the past few weeks. Coturnix quail, grey partridges and chinese painted quail have all gone into our selection of incubators, and it’s worth covering one of the most common problems encountered when dealing with small birds. “Splay leg” can…

Spring is fast approaching and as this is when the majority of trapping needs to takes place; we have produced a brief guide for those planning to trap crows and magpies in particular. The General License To legally trap carrion crows and magpies; you must first obtain a copy of…

After yet another resurgence in red mite numbers, it’s time to change tactics. No matter how much dytomite we spread in the nest boxes and on the birds themselves, it seems that the mites have such a strong foothold in the shed itself that all they had to do was wait until the anti-parasite powder had worn off and then come…