incubate eggs or buy day old chicks

richiedel123

im looking for opinions based on fact on this one lads. me and my mate are planning on rearing pheasants this year. we dont know which way to go though. buy hens and incubator and hatch the eggs out or buy day old chicks and rear them. does any know the price of day olds? we were pricing incubators from china and they are relitavely cheap but i heard bad reports about buying them this way. did any 1 here try this before or know any one who did. another option is making an incubator but this seems to be a lot of hassle. any opinions welcome. thanks

beretta686s

were buying full grown shot over birds, for 5 yoyo each less hassle of rearing feeding building pens and so on this our 1st year doing this so this time next year we'll have the results of this;)

richiedel123

beretta686s wrote: »

were buying full grown shot over birds, for 5 yoyo each less hassle of rearing feeding building pens and so on this our 1st year doing this so this time next year we'll have the results of this;)

Are ye planning release them now? Where are ye getting the birds for that price. Im guessing they are cocks ye are buying at that price. We have tried this for the last few years in our gun club but never found it over successful but good luck wit it anyway hope it goes well. Make sure have feeders out where ya release them to hold them there

cavan shooter

i buy poults 8 week olds, takes a lot of hassel out of it.

richiedel123

cavan shooter wrote: »

i buy poults 8 week olds, takes a lot of hassel out of it.

What price do you get them for. We are thinking whats gonna be the best return for the least money spent

beretta686s

richiedel123 wrote: »

Are ye planning release them now? Where are ye getting the birds for that price. Im guessing they are cocks ye are buying at that price. We have tried this for the last few years in our gun club but never found it over successful but good luck wit it anyway hope it goes well. Make sure have feeders out where ya release them to hold them there

i think april now sure where yet where there geting them there were saying a mix of 60/40 towards cocks did ye tag yer birds to see how many were shot

wildfowler94

I have an incubator for sale 90 yo yos

richiedel123

i think april now sure where yet where there geting them there were saying a mix of 60/40 towards cocks did ye tag yer birds to see how many were shot[/Quote]
We wing tagged them the first year and not one of the members got one wit a tag. So we taught maybe they fell out or something so tried leg tags and got a few nothing major now like maybe 15 or 20 from 200. Thats not saying other people didnt shoot them we just didnt get them

richiedel123

wildfowler94 wrote: »

I have an incubator for sale 90 yo yos

Were looking for a big enough incubator like a thousand egg one. Make it worth while to run it thanks anyway

beretta686s

feck poor return:eek::eek:





We wing tagged them the first year and not one of the members got one wit a tag. So we taught maybe they fell out or something so tried leg tags and got a few nothing major now like maybe 15 or 20 from 200. Thats not saying other people didnt shoot them we just didnt get them[/QUOTE]

wildfowler94

you need to put out feed hoppers and sow cover crops if you want to have any hope of holding the birds. and level predators especially fox and mink.

richiedel123

wildfowler94 wrote: »

you need to put out feed hoppers and sow cover crops if you want to have any hope of holding the birds. and level predators especially fox and mink.

this is the only way to do it. a certain amount still get driven outta the area by old wild birds in the area. once they have food they will stay or build a release pen

terminator2

beretta686s wrote: »

were buying full grown shot over birds, for 5 yoyo each less hassle of rearing feeding building pens and so on this our 1st year doing this so this time next year we'll have the results of this;)

where ????

greylag

lads, we have tried every way u can think of to try and have plenty supply of birds on ground for noveber 1st. releasing adult cocks in march/april was a complete waste of money. they are out for 8 months before they can be shot and they have too much time to wander off and get killed by cars and vermin. a lot get killed on the roads because they were fed on laneways on the shoot they came from. cost us 2000 euro to buy 200 cocks and feed. shot under 30.
next option was 7 week old poults bought in june, placed into several release pens with dozens of feeders up in surrounding country side. 400 released. foxes and mink very well controlled and under 30% only shot. very poor return, cost us 3000 euro to buy birds and food, not including cost of building release pens.
we also tried releasing adult cocks in october. bought 150 cocks for 2000 euro and over 100 were shot. this proved to be the best method we tried. same money for buying cocks in march but way better return. they dont have time to wander off, plenty of stubble fields to hold them and no fighting with wild cocks to drive them off at this time of the year. they are in the bag before the fox gets them!!

TriggerPL

cavan shooter wrote: »

i buy poults 8 week olds, takes a lot of hassel out of it.

yea poults at 8 week old are alot less hassel ! about 4 euro each day old are about 50c to a euro , but chance of all you buy surviving is slim and then there is 8 weeks of feed on top of having two diferent pen one for poults when they reach 8 weeks !

richiedel123

greylag wrote: »

lads, we have tried every way u can think of to try and have plenty supply of birds on ground for noveber 1st. releasing adult cocks in march/april was a complete waste of money. they are out for 8 months before they can be shot and they have too much time to wander off and get killed by cars and vermin. a lot get killed on the roads because they were fed on laneways on the shoot they came from. cost us 2000 euro to buy 200 cocks and feed. shot under 30.
next option was 7 week old poults bought in june, placed into several release pens with dozens of feeders up in surrounding country side. 400 released. foxes and mink very well controlled and under 30% only shot. very poor return, cost us 3000 euro to buy birds and food, not including cost of building release pens.
we also tried releasing adult cocks in october. bought 150 cocks for 2000 euro and over 100 were shot. this proved to be the best method we tried. same money for buying cocks in march but way better return. they dont have time to wander off, plenty of stubble fields to hold them and no fighting with wild cocks to drive them off at this time of the year. they are in the bag before the fox gets them!!

We released them a few weeks before the season this year and found it the best also. We got the best return this way also. But we still wanna try rear some to make it cheaper than buying them later in the year.

richiedel123

yea poults at 8 week old are alot less hassel ! about 4 euro each day old are about 50c to a euro , but chance of all you buy surviving is slim and then there is 8 weeks of feed on top of having two diferent pen one for poults when they reach 8 weeks ![/Quote]
We tried a few people already for day old prices and they all want a euro and more each for them. Does any 1 know of a definate price for day olds and have a contact number please

FISMA

Richie,
Although not as great a volume as you've expressed, have you considered, or do you have hens?

We always had a few around when we were young and had good success in getting hens to sit on the eggs.

If you have some hens, it's worth a shot. Cheap too.

greylag

richiedel123 wrote: »

We released them a few weeks before the season this year and found it the best also. We got the best return this way also. But we still wanna try rear some to make it cheaper than buying them later in the year.

its going to cost you the same amount of money when u work it out.

TriggerPL

richiedel123 wrote: »

yea poults at 8 week old are alot less hassel ! about 4 euro each day old are about 50c to a euro , but chance of all you buy surviving is slim and then there is 8 weeks of feed on top of having two diferent pen one for poults when they reach 8 weeks !

We tried a few people already for day old prices and they all want a euro and more each for them. Does any 1 know of a definate price for day olds and have a contact number please[/QUOTE]

leave it with me

cavan shooter

richiedel123 wrote: »

What price do you get them for. We are thinking whats gonna be the best return for the least money spent

I have been doing this the last 5 years

€5 good strong birds.

I lost 2 birds this year out of a pen with 25 in it (fighting)

I lost 1 bird out of another pen with 20 in it.

Worm them with Panacur or anything with Flenbendazole?? in it give them grit and I usually add a tonic to the water for the first few weeks. Feed them on Bashfords feed for the first couple of weeks then blend wheat and eventually onto all wheat with some maize and rolled oats to bulk them. By the time they are out and about they are too fat to fly. (joke)

I ring the legs of all the birds and get a return from a season depending on how much shooting I do of about 65%. I have to be careful with figures because trhis year I shot a cock that was ringed in 2009 and ignored two others that had this years rings (no tails either).

This weekend the last of the birds will be put out (12 left)...and then in July i start again.

POULTS ARE SO MUCH LESS OF A TORTURE...been there done the other and ruined the tee shirt..

sikastag

FISMA wrote: »

Richie,
Although not as great a volume as you've expressed, have you considered, or do you have hens?

We always had a few around when we were young and had good success in getting hens to sit on the eggs.

If you have some hens, it's worth a shot. Cheap too.

+1 Fisma,

Have had good success with hens also. A bit of labour involved but you get what you put in. Rewarding work, worth it for the experience in itself. Might be worth holding back some eggs if you go down incubator route and compare the birds? IMO you get stronger birds with a bit of 'cop on'. As fisma pointed out, might not be suitable for large quantities. But That being said, have seen some adults come off shoots which were very wild and presented a challenge when shooting. I suppose budget and time will govern your decision somewhat. Goodluck with it.

richiedel123

+1 Fisma,

Have had good success with hens also. A bit of labour involved but you get what you put in. Rewarding work, worth it for the experience in itself. Might be worth holding back some eggs if you go down incubator route and compare the birds? IMO you get stronger birds with a bit of 'cop on'. As fisma pointed out, might not be suitable for large quantities. But That being said, have seen some adults come off shoots which were very wild and presented a challenge when shooting. I suppose budget and time will govern your decision somewhat. Goodluck with it.[/Quote]
We are hoping to breed a big number. Numbers are in huge decline in our area and not a lot of lads are interested in releasing them here just shooting them so we are hoping rear as much as possible to try get numbers up and get some good shooting too. Hens wouldn't suit too well as we are planning big numbers but thanks anyway

J. Ramone

Do you need to transfer bantam reared chicks to a relase pen at 8 weeks or are they ready for release at that age?

ranger679

Hi, just spoke to a game keeper who is selling cocks and he told me not to waste my money and buy 7 week old poults !!!! when i asked him why he repplied why do you think we catch them up and sell them??

Gillyann

Any one know where I can get barbu d'uccles preferably around monaghan area

pigeon shooter

richiedel123 wrote: »

im looking for opinions based on fact on this one lads. me and my mate are planning on rearing pheasants this year. we dont know which way to go though. buy hens and incubator and hatch the eggs out or buy day old chicks and rear them. does any know the price of day olds? we were pricing incubators from china and they are relitavely cheap but i heard bad reports about buying them this way. did any 1 here try this before or know any one who did. another option is making an incubator but this seems to be a lot of hassle. any opinions welcome. thanks

I would buy good quality day old chicks for €1-€1.20 and rear them to 8-10 weeks old and release them. This way you save yourself the headache of incubating but yet you know the birds aren't tame gob****es that are going to get clocked with the first car they meet on the road or get ate by a fox on there first night out!!

If you are going down the root of incubation don't buy anything other than a brinsea incubator, them chinese brands are rubbish not very reliable!!

richiedel123

I would buy good quality day old chicks for €1-€1.20 and rear them to 8-10 weeks old and release them. This way you save yourself the headache of incubating but yet you know the birds aren't tame gob****es that are going to get clocked with the first car they meet on the road or get ate by a fox on there first night out!!

If you are going down the root of incubation don't buy anything other than a brinsea incubator, them chinese brands are rubbish not very reliable!![/Quote]
Ya I heard the chinese ones are ****e. Its nearly too late to go down the incubation route by the time I get hens and incubator etc. Where is a good place to get day olds

pigeon shooter

Theres a lad in belmont that sells pheasants I got good quality birds and eggs off him last year! I'll private mail you his number!