Pheasant release pen scoring system checklist

Water tests should be performed annually and within 1 month of release. They should be performed at a minimum of 3 locations. Tests should be performed at all pens, or from the same pen but at different points (source/header/drinker).

Where possible, poults should only be able to drink from the water supplied to them via the water system. Where possible, external supplies such as streams, for example, should be excluded, at least for the first few weeks. Dirty puddles and standing water soon become contaminated with faeces and drinking from such should be prevented if at all possible. Feeders and drinkers should be moved to clean fresh areas periodically, but not moved so far as to cause the birds to “lose them”.

Header tanks or dosing systems should be used to provide the ability to medicate the birds if required.

1. Equivalent to 125 birds per Mancia feeder MINIMUM ratio. Ideally aim for 1:50. If the pen is very large, then increased numbers of feeders may be required to cover all areas.
2. Deciduous woodland is best. Coniferous woodland with no ground cover is poor. There should be a variation in heights of branches to enable birds to quickly learn to go up, and then higher branches to establish good roosting.
3. Medium cover should be 30cm-150cm in height. Floor space should be covered with grass/ low lying plants. 0-30cm in height.
4. Stocking of pens should follow the GWCT guidelines on release which states: 1000 birds per hectare of pen
   700 birds per hectare of pen in ancient semi-natural woodland.
   The higher the stocking density, the sooner birds should be allowed to disperse from the pen. At higher densities they should be in the release pen no more than 7-14 days. When refereeing to any possible effects on the environment that would be considered less than ideal, these should be recorded, and an improvement strategy introduced for future years.
5. Vehicle access must be possible to the pen.
6. Birds from different sources should not be mixed within the same pen. (Different sources should be classed as different businesses supplying the birds, not different egg/chick suppliers providing the poult supplier.) Birds from the same supplier but from different batches should not be mixed in the same pen.
7. The Defra Code of Practice for the Welfare of Gamebirds Reared for Sporting Purposes states: 5.1 The use of management devices or practices that do not allow birds to fully express their range of normal behaviours should not be considered as routine and keepers should work towards the ideal of management systems that do not require these devices. Such devices and practices include mutilations such as beak trimming, procedures to prevent or limit flight such as brailing (placing a band on a wing to prevent extension of the wing), trimming of non-sensitive flight feathers and specifically regarding wing clipping 5.8 Outer primary feathers may be clipped to restrict flight, but trimming growing feathers (“blood quills”) must be avoided if it constitutes interference with a sensitive tissue and would, therefore, be a mutilation.
8. There should be evidence of a proactive approach to vermin and predator control such as electric fence wires around the pen and rat bait stations (with appropriate certification/licenses). A single straight line of feeders and drinkers should be avoided.

Total Score (out of 40)

30-40 Good

25-30 Adequate

<25 Poor/Not Suitable