rearing partridge

ronn

Anyone know if its difficult to rear partridge or point me in the direction of a decent book on the subject, What to try release some next year on club ground, but the only thing is i might get landed with all the work myself, dont mind that but just trying to get some info before i jump in head first,
any help would be grate, thanks

mallards

You need to break down chick crumbs even smaller as they are so tiny when they hatch out. Also you will need to rear them for around ten weeks before they are strong enough for release. Here's a good book on them.

Mallards

bibio

Hi Ronn,

My club have released red legged partridge in Wicklo over last two years and will continue to do so, as we have found them very easy to keep and release.
We buy in as eight week olds and release them gradually in fours and fives after four weeks untill about five weeks before the season, when we let the last few go. We find they hold in the area very well and although they tend to run a lot and dont hold that well in cover for the springers, they do provide great sport and nice variety.
The Pointer lads in our club seem to get better sport with them.

ronn

thanks lads, just bought that book mallards so prepare your self for loads of questions,
bibio, what sort of land did you let them out/rear them on, im only hoping to start off with 20, as i said i reckon ill b doing all the work my self. are they a needy bird..ie, would you have to check them twice a day, or if they have plenty of food and water would they be ok,
thanks again lads

BoarHunter

The best chance are with the red partridge. ( french ) they are a lot tougher than the grey leg one who needs top conditions to survive.

bibio

Hi Ronn,

We put our poults in a pen of 6 metres by two metres for fifty poults and soft netting for the roof is essential so birds do not injure themselves.
Visit them as little as possible, once every two days is fine. Make sure you have plenty of shelters in the pen and at least two feeders and two drinkers, we just fed them on pheasant pellets.
After about four weeks we let groups of four or five go by opening the pen door and closing it by pulling a string. We keep that going untill we have two or three left and leave them into pen untill about four weeks before season and then let them go and this keeps them bonded to the area.
Our ground is mixed sheep farming area, quite high up, no arable but plenty of rushy ground.
Remeber to duplicate exactly what is in the pne directy outside, you will see this reocmmneded in any books.
We have found them very easy and they provide good sport, although we never get more than about twenty percent shot, although lots are missed.
Cheers
Bibio

270WIN

i agree with the previous posters...red legs are the way to go. I found them easy to rear and very hardy. I also found that you should shoot/hunt them soon after release otherwise they disappear. They will re appear now and then but are very hard to hunt...once you enter a field they are up and gone. My area is very flat tillage ground with little cover only whitethorn hedges. I believe rushy ground suits them very well. I believe you will get little return from them but from the ones you shoot they will provide excellent sporting shooting.