Archive for Downsizer For an ethical approach to consumption
|
mal55
|
Rearing partridgesHaving seen partridge hatching eggs on ebay and being a great lover of partridge, I've been wondering about rearing some for the table.
Can anyone tell me if they can be kept in a group and what type of feed they need please?
Any advice or information on them would be greatly appreciated.
I've kept chickens and hatched eggs for years so I know the basics.
Cheers
Mal
|
Colin & Jan
|
Hi Mal
I'm assuming they are Red Legs and not Greys? The R/L's are slightly bigger and make better carcasses (although not necessarily better flavour). Partridges are flock birds and do well as a group but as they are 'wild' they can be a bit jumpy. It's best to have a soft netting cover over the pen otherwise like quail they have a tendency to spring upwards and brain themselves.
I've only bred/reared them for release for shooting when they are fed on game grower pellets and then wheat.
Hope that helps
Colin
|
mal55
|
Thanks Colin.
I'd gathered they'd need some sort of cover. I'd thought of using an old polytunnel cover -the sort with the green mesh running through it. The sheeting has degraded leaving a nice close guage mesh that is clearly visible and would provide a bit of screening.
The red legged seem easier to get hold of than greys but as to flavour I'm not sure which the ones I've eaten are.
How long do they take to reach a decent size? Or do you release them before then?
|
Colin & Jan
|
We normally release them at 6 - 8 weeks and start shooting them at about 16 weeks, when they fly well and are fit to eat. Be aware that when they get bigger they may punch a hole through the mesh when they hit it if it isn't sound.
The other thing you could do is make contact with local shoots to see if they have spare birds available either as day-olds or later in the season when they have been shot. I know of of a couple of shoots that were getting 25p - 50p per bird last year from the game dealers and they would reject any that weren't perfect. You might be able to pick up half-a-dozen brace for a tenner with a few slightly damaged ones thrown in for good measure.
|
mal55
|
I'd thought of that but would like to try rearing my own.
When I was a kid I used to more or less have the run of a big country estate and would go through the woods to the Keepers cottage and "help" him with the chicks. Being 7 or so I don't think I was much use but gained a lot of interest in raising things!
I think I was bit of a feral child. Happy days!!
|
Colin & Jan
|
I'd thought of that but would like to try rearing my own.
When I was a kid I used to more or less have the run of a big country estate and would go through the woods to the Keepers cottage and "help" him with the chicks. Being 7 or so I don't think I was much use but gained a lot of interest in raising things!
I think I was bit of a feral child. Happy days!! |
Sounds brilliant and a similar upbringing to me. Best of luck with the rearing and if you need any guidance/assistance please shout.
|
mal55
|
Thanks Colin. I might investigate chicks rather than eggs. The wife's birthday is coming up and she has decided she wants chickens of her own (pretty ones) and has just ordered Voerwerk and Appenzeller eggs. I've sneaked in some more La Bresse so the incubator is full for the next few weeks and I don't know how long the season for partridge eggs lasts.
|
Colin & Jan
|
They are just starting to lay well now so when the incubator is clear in 20+ days time you should be good to go. Might be worth contacting a game farm local to you and see if they will sell you a few eggs.
|
mal55
|
I'll have to find out where there are some or check out the local fur and feather sale. Failing that it's ebay.
Probably the best place to find out would be the local feed merchants.
|
Bodger
|
On a similar theme to the original one, I've just had a phone call from a mate who does a bit of gardening. He's been grass strimming and this morning has strimmed over a pheasants nest with 13 eggs in it. He tells me that the eggs were cold, so hopefully, hadn't started to incubate. I'll be in a position to put them in an incubator in a couple of days time but I'm geared up for chicks of the chicken variety, what the heck am I supposed to do with a load of looney pheasant chicks?
|
mal55
|
My late father in law used to buy pheasant eggs at the local auction to eat -lovely! I suppose you keep them under heat pretty much as for chick type chicks. I've read somewhere that to encourage them to peck you can put hundreds and thousands (the coloured cake decorations) in their feed for a few days to encourage them to peck. The gamekeeper I used to plague as a child used to put them under a broody banty.
|
Bodger
|
He's just tuned up with 29 eggs. his job was to clear a patch of brambles and he found a second nest. Turkeys can be tricky to get feeding and I was told to put some hen chicks in with them until the thickos got the idea. 
|
Tavascarow
|
I've not reared partridge, but have kept pheasant & quail & IMHO the one thing that's different to hens & waterfowl is their propensity to cannibalise.
Make sure there's plenty of cover for any that are picked on to hide, & give them some greens to peck at instead of each other.
|