Hi all , I am in the middle of building a pheasant release pen in a small wood.I hope to put down 100 birds in august.My pen is situated near a large wooded area which holds numerous wild pheasants.In November i put out around 10 hoppers scattered throughout my land with the intention of attracting as many wild birds as possible. The problem is that there is no sign of these being used - how can i get these birds to use my feeders ?
The hoppers are all filled with fresh wheat and use the spring type nipple.I have also scattered quite alot of straw around the hoppers - is there a specific place where hoppers should be placed ?? e.g in an open area / covered area / in a wood or on the edge of a wood ??
I would welcome any advice with regards to different oils etc ...


PLEASE HELP....

Cheers
Barry.

Hi weimaraner73, good to have you on board. Without seeing your set up it is difficult to say why the birds aren't feeding you didn't mention if you spread any feed around the hoppers when you first put them out this just helps them to find and get use to them. As for where to put them i know this sounds silly but near the areas where you have sighted the birds shouldn't be far out as it shows they are happy in this area, try to find a spot which attracts morning sun with some cover near by so they feel safe. If you have time sit quietly nearby at different times of day and this might show a pattern. The birds may be roosting in your wood and feeding else where hence little use of your hoppers. Hope this gives you some ideas. Good luck Happykeeper

Hi Happykeeper , Thanks for your quick reply.I visit the hoppers nearly every day and on most occasions i try to spread wheat about all over the place.I tend to find that this gets eaten very quickly by other species.Also the hoppers are placed where i have seen birds in the past.I guess it is a waiting game and hopefully when the harder weather comes in , the birds will be more eager to find food.
This is my first time on this website - IT IS BRILLIANT !!

CHEERS. :D

welcome to happykeeper i hope you will continue to write on the forum.
i run a small shoot and find mixing some wild bird seed and some split maize with the wheat makes it more appetizing to game birds and other wild birds also the more feeders the better as you might find dominant cocks fighting over feeders
. good luck MVF

Thanks for the welcome advice .I will try mixing in some wild bird feed and hopefully that will help.
Although i have shot for most of my life - i am new to the gamekeeping side of things.I really value your advice and find this site very helpful.

CHEERS.

Barry; A nice, secluded bunch of rural locations which ye regularly visit to chuck grain and bird seed about, eh?

Got ye Tunnel Traps down then ....? ;)

Thanks Fenn man , I have around 6 mk4 fenn traps but have not had time to deploy these yet. Is it THAT important that these are set when feeding wild birds ??

I don't think fen traps will make your birds feed any better but it will save you on wastage and stop you from being over run by rats,

Yeppers. Rats.

This country's seeing a registered and noticable increase in rats, Barry. They get everywhere, as a matter of course; Fields and farmland just as much as sewers and derelict, urban places.

Nothing attracts rats quite like a steady source of good grub. For those rural rats, grain will be that good grub. Remember too; Rats represent good grub to other, larger creatures. So they, in turn, will bring predators to your patch. See how serious just a few rats is becoming?

Get the traps down now? Absolutely! Once they're down ye don't have to worry about getting them down again. It's done. Just check them. And once they're there, they're part of the enviroment. An enviroment which rats are coming to find. If they find your handy tunnels are already part of this new enviroment, they won't shy. You'll catch them as they come.

Bottom line is; Nothing a rat can and will do is any good to you or your birds. Rats are simply void of redeeming feature. They'll come. You'll have to kill them.

Thanks for that fenn man.I will start to put down my traps as soon as i can.One question - do you bait the tunnels or do you simply rely on the rats exploring the dark tunnel.
Ilook forward to your reply.

Cheers.

from my experience in tunnel trapping i set my fenn traps along well used fence lines or stone walls so to ecourge vermin to run through your traps with a natural boundry on one side of your tunnel.
Also putting a couple of sticks either end to prevent game dogs ets sticking there noses in .
I've always been quite sucsesfull in catching Stoats rats mink etc..
good luck MVF

Thanks for that MVF.

No, mate. No need to bait a Fenn in a tunnel. Just put ye tunnels close to where the main food concentrations are. Rats don't relish exposure and even like to shoot off with a bit of grub, to a more sheltered retreat.

Thinking about it; I imagine Rat Boxes will be more up your street in that situation. Basicly, make a box wide enough to take a set trap, remembering the catch has to fire clearly in there. And make it a few inches longer that the distance across the trap.

Before and after the trap, nail a batton on the floor, flush to the trap without hindering its action. Ok? Then close the ends of the box to within a couple of inches of the floor. Allow for the lid to pop off for easy access. Plonk down around where ye feed. Boosh! Highly mobile. Cost free. Quick to make. Protect ye birds and other wildlife while getting the job done.

With a little bit of imagination ~ and thinking back the model railways, maybe ~ a thinking man would soon devise a simple little signal. Bit of snare wire, run from a trap jaw, through a hole drilled in the roof ..... Then that man wouldn't even need approach the boxes on his rounds. Just glance at the little signal. Talk about having it too easy! ;)

Tunnel trapping is not rocket science but does need some thinking about when setting up, make sure your tunnels are well built and are of the right dimensions.
They can be made from any material beit natural or man made.
Think like the species you want to catch, stoats weasels etc like holes and tunnels that they can explore and in some instances can use as a shelter or a quick escape route etc etc. Rats just like places to hide away.

As i said make sure your tunnels are of the right dimensions or you will find your traps throw the target to too the top of of the tunnel and dont kill properly.

If you build movable tunnels one piece of advise is too add a bit across the bottom to stop the sides from moving in or out:



The tunnel should be just the right width for the trap when set:



and just the right height when fired off:



Here is a tunnel set for squirrels:



notice the sticks at the entrance to stop non target species entering:



when set up properly these traps will work 24/7 for you:

Thanks for all the information guys.I now look forward to setting my tunnel traps properly and hope to eliminate as much vermin as possible.Love the photos BIG FISH - one picture is better than a thousand words. CHEERS MATE !!!!