As part of an ongoing experiment to see what happens to gamebirds on the Chayne and in an attempt to learn something more about gamekeeping, I’m now bracing for the arrival of thirty partridges. We won’t be shooting these birds, but it will be interesting to see how they get on in their pen, which [...]
Archive for the ‘Pheasants’ Category
Releasing Birds, Mk.2
Posted in Pheasants on October 7, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Releasing Pheasants
Posted in Pheasants on September 11, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The past two or three days have been very busy since the pheasants have arrived. A single crate containing fifteen birds went up on Thursday morning, and I’ve been back and forth trying to keep an eye on them ever since. The continuous wild weather is making the whole project a pretty bleak affair, but [...]
Release Pen?
Posted in Pheasants on July 7, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
After two days of serious graft, the pheasant release pen is starting to take shape. It’s always extremely satisfying to work a chainsaw in a sitka plantation, because it gives you the pleasing feeling that you are carving yourself a space out of the trees from the inside. Thirty spruces have come down to open [...]
Ten Days Later
Posted in Pheasants on July 7, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Ten days out of the incubator and the pheasant chicks are starting to come along leaps and bounds. Some are showing rapid development in their wings and wing feathers, and all are getting bigger by the day. Their incessant peeping rings through the kitchen at Solway Feeders, where they are housed in a huge cardboard [...]
Incubator Magic
Posted in Pheasants on June 28, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
After twenty four days in the incubator, my pheasant eggs suddenly showed fruit this morning. The early trouble with a power surge appears to have killed the overwhelming majority of eggs during the first thirty six hours, but after candling and scanning eggs for the past fortnight, we were able to filter out the majority [...]
Candling
Posted in Pheasants on June 8, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
It’s been four days since my pheasant eggs went into the incubator, but already things have not been going according to plan. A power disturbance during the first three hours of the incubation process seems to have temporarily upped the voltage, subjecting the eggs to 40 degree Celsius conditions for around two hours. Although I [...]
Into the Incubator
Posted in Pheasants on June 5, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Having come across two dozen pheasant eggs on Friday, the time came yesterday to put them into the incubator. I may well look like a fool for admitting it, but I had no idea that eggs retain their fertility and hatching potential for up to three weeks after they are laid. I had always thought [...]
The Big Experiment (on a small scale)
Posted in Pheasants on June 3, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
If you’re not careful, shooting and countrysports can take over your life. As a freelance journalist and writer, I am lucky that I have the freedom to shoot, fish and spend time in the countryside whenever I want, and turning my hobbies into my work has meant that almost everything I do is related in [...]
