Dead bird

Alchemist2

Was out with the pup this morn walking along a ditch when she came across a dead cock, riggo hadn't set in and i checked for any wounds but there were none to be seen yet there were tiny maggots between his breast and wing lots of em... this wasnt a bad sized bird fully feathered but you could tell that he was this years... any ideas what may have led to his demise.. there was no sign of any vermin about as the pup was beatin the cover well and nothin bolted??

Tackleberrywho

Alchemist2 wrote: »

Was out with the pup this morn walking along a ditch when she came across a dead cock, riggo hadn't set in and i checked for any wounds but there were none to be seen yet there were tiny maggots between his breast and wing lots of em... this wasnt a bad sized bird fully feathered but you could tell that he was this years... any ideas what may have led to his demise.. there was no sign of any vermin about as the pup was beatin the cover well and nothin bolted??

Maggots only live on rotting flesh, you sure he has not hit by a car?

Alchemist2

well tack they wern't fully grown maggots if you know what i mean... they were 1/4 the size of a normal maggots.. like they just hatched... but thats prob the answer because we were only 15 yrds or so from the road never even entered me head... i started to throw it for the pup, she was reluctant at first but brought it on after a good sniff... ive shot mallard over her this season but shes waitin for pheasants.. can hardly wait meself:D

Tackleberrywho

This is what I saw the other day whilst walking back to the car, at first I did not know what it was

On closer inspection there was no doubts lol

Birdnuts

Theres no doubt that road deaths are a significant cause of premature death for many released gamebirds in certain areas:(

ArseLtd

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

This is what I saw the other day whilst walking back to the car, at first I did not know what it was

On closer inspection there was no doubts lol

Was he ok? :P

premiercad

Saw the exact same thing as the OP last year, full grown Cock pheasant which my dog actually set, when I walked up it didnt budge, wing had been badly damaged but the poor creature was still alive, wing bones had gone all green and maggots had set in, I dispatched the bird but nearly sure it had been hit by a car, I have a new motorway near me that must claim a lot of birds every year. :mad:

Birdnuts

premiercad wrote: »

Saw the exact same thing as the OP last year, full grown Cock pheasant which my dog actually set, when I walked up it didnt budge, wing had been badly damaged but the poor creature was still alive, wing bones had gone all green and maggots had set in, I dispatched the bird but nearly sure it had been hit by a car, I have a new motorway near me that must claim a lot of birds every year. :mad:

Going by the amount of dead foxes, rabbits, badgers, pine martens, hares even otters and deer on these motorways I'd say its pretty devastating locally allright:(

IceMaiden

Its very true & unfortunate that many birds on the roads are firstly unaware of the danger that’s going to hit them, many use the roads for grit, some shoots try distributing small areas with grit to help keep birds off the roads & its found to be successful to a degree. Obviously its never going to be possible to keep all birds from straying onto roads .