Patridge Cover

[Holland 0]

Could anyone advise me on the best combination of cover crops for patridges on low land, in the southeast of England?

["Earth!" 503]

Could anyone advise me on the best combination of cover crops for patridges on low land, in the southeast of England?

maize and millet mix.

[Holland 0]

Thanks for that,

 

I have heard different views on mixed cover.

 

Some say mix the seeds together, others use alternate strips of different cover, or plant squares of low cover with a boarder of a higher crop. any one have views on the best methods?

[willum 89]

on the shoots that i go on they use millet on the edges nice and thick then maize in the middle. but on some shoots they have used elephant grass (giant sawgum)this holds very well but grows bloody tall well over 7 - 8 ft makes the birds climb well.

[danw 1,748]

not sure what giant sawgum is fella but elephant grass is actually another name for mischanthus no relation to sorghum at all.

 

Maize can easily out compete millet so it is best planted separately in alternating strips,dwarf sorghum could be used instead of maize and it is good to plant both red and white millet to extend the seed bearing window some quinoa and triticale can help too

[willum 89]

sorry mate no botanical expert just a few shoots ive been on call elephant grass giant sawgum?

[danw 1,748]

Sorry fella I just reread my post and I sound like a proper cock I just Google'd elephant grass cause I hadn't heard it called that before

[sometree 0]

I am based in Herts and it might sound stupid, but timothy grass works well for partridge as it grows tall enough for them to be sheltered etc from over head preditors and is nice and thin right down low so they can run about.. We use mainly maize on our shoot and the partridges and pheasant both love it.. It works all year round as food and cover! The only problem we have is rooks and pigeons like it to and have stripped everything this year!.. I would suggest a long grass if it is purely for partridge as they can easily menouver under the crop that grows.. Alot of people round here use kale as it is REAL thick on top to protect the birds from but is real nice for them to be able to run underneath.. Like i said we use timothy grass on some, and we use maize with a mixed boarder on the outside.. it seems to work well and the bird can get up and fly over the maize.. Maize would seem a better option aloin with either timothy grass and kale..

 

Ta

 

Matt

[danw 1,748]

Intrigued by the timothy grass fella any chance of some pics, how did it stand up to the snow?

[Holland 0]

Thanks really interesting.

 

Any one used Quinoa or Linseed for Partridge?

[danw 1,748]

If you look into to you can plant WM1 which is a wild bird mixture the landowner will get a grant for it in a similar way to setaside in the wm1 mix you can have linseed,quinoa,kale,millet,yellow blossom clover and a number of other components we use about 50 acres of it as partridge cover and it is well liked and we get paid to have it

 

If you ring Nick at Hurrel and McLean specialist seeds he has a huge wealth of knowledge and would point you in the right direction their number is 01377 271400

[sometree 0]

I cant send any pictures as out timothy didnt come up too well this year as we didnt re-seed after last year.. This is purely because it generally re-seeds itself, but we didnt get the time this year to drop abit more down with the drill.. I dont think it is straight out timothy grass, i think it may be a variation.. Leave it with me and I will get back to you with it tonight if i can.. I can also send you some pictures of the patch it was on (although it didnt really come up and got inundated with thistle) but you can sort of see what it would be like.. Failing that, ill try and find some still standing.. Most of our cover has been killed off with crows and pigeons now.. There just isnt anything for them to eat round here, and the cover seems to be the one big thing they have hit harder than ever before.. Good bit of shooting out of it though!

 

Ta

 

Matt

[mudman 14]

Dedicated game crops are great if you have a farmer willing to put ground aside for them.

 

On our shoot the farmer is good to us in general but will not rent us any land for game covers. He does allow us to put mustard onto his over wintered stubble fields though. We either hand cast the seed into standing cereals a week or so before harvest or spin and disc immediatley after harvest. The one advantage over game strips is that you can grow big acreages cheaply. Partridges and pheasants love it, it does not need to be too tall, anything above knee high is enough. But the main thing is do not make it too thick, in fact the more gaps the better. It will need feeding though. We use hoppers with short legs, so that the partridges can get to the springs.

Edited January 30, 2010 by mudman

[froggit 0]

We combind our maize at the end of the shooting season, crimp it and use as feed the following season.

Sounds like a hassle, but its great feed, and not that expensive to do!