Hi All,,

I'm looking for some views on the additives that you add to game bird feed in order to stop them straying. Most of these are anniseed based and I was wandering if anyone thinks they actually work or not?

Also, I personally hate the taste of Anniseed, so does it affet the flavour of the bird itself when you cook it?

Nothing like liquorice flavoured pheasant!!

FB

Having had a fellow beat keeper use aniseed to try and pull birds off my beat onto his with the use of aniseed I would comment that:

1. A little aniseed goes a long way
2. Get it on clothes/vehicle and it will smell for a long time
3. To hold birds get habitat right and low disturbance
4. Dog released birds back in the first couple of months
5. Neighbours will think you are trying to nick their birds
6. If you cannot get a feed crop established as cover use plenty of hoppers/feed stations

FB, I have also trialled some wild bird mixtures, birds loved them but they are expensive, they contained aniseed, but it wouldn't entice me to use the stuff.

Shot birds did smell of aniseed, but don't know if that smell came out in the cooking process.

Any help??

Hi Nightwalker,

That is a great help. I heard about the bird mix and several keepers in the area have tried it. apparently they all think that bird love it and it works well, however at £380/tonne it isn't cheap by a long shot. So I decided to pass on that one.

To be honest just the thought of the birds smelling of Aniseed is enough to put me off using it.

We have decided to increase the numbers of pheasants we put down this year from 700 to 1000. I'm looking at all possibilities of ways to increase returns. Things we are changing are:

More cover crops that provide good yeilds of feed.

Another 30 Feed stations

150-200 small straw bales dotted around the woods and pen that will be fed and will give the pheasants somewhere to scatch about on.

Trying to open some of the woods up a bit to give a better understory.

I'm tempted to try using the aniseed on one or two mediocre drive to see what a differrence it makes, although tasting the stuff really puts me off!!

Thans for your comments,
FB

I have allways thought that game birds are short changed in the amount of grit they receive. This is borne out by the amount of times I see them pecking on tracks and by roadsides.

Try some grit mixed in your hoppers. No need for fancy crushed shells etc gravel would do.

Hi 1894,

Yes Grit is definately important to the birds especially when the main source of food is grain. We put out quite a lot this year but just in piles and I beleive it gets washed/walked into the ground.

Have you seen any other way of distributing it?

FB

FB,

Aniseed has long been reported as a holder of birds. STAYPUT, a commercial feed additive was based on aniseed oil. It's sold for years.

The amount you are talking about is ml /per hundred weight. You will not have pheasant walking around doing Fred Bassett impersonations on your shoot !!

It is important to start the feed oil( which can be purchased from good chemists in large bottles for Holistic and aromatherapy use) off in the first feeds.

I have been told (usually down the pub by those that do not know) that aniseed has a magical drug like quality that intoxicates the birds and makes them stay.

good pub tail.

The way it works, or was explained to me, was that as the smell is so long lasting, that the birds associate the smell with feeding stations or rides with food. So, if you have a bird, like the Michigan Blue strain, that tends to wander, then the birds can always find there way back onto you beats and food.

Not too sure how true this is. My experience with true Michigan's and some Mich/ring neck crosses is that the only way you will stop them from straying is breaking there legs !!

It is worth a try. My only other advice would be to steer clear of anything with blue back blood in it.

happy hunting.

Grit in dusting shelters (bit of corrugated iron sloping on four short stakes) straw bale close by.
Anseed is good stuff! just buy a 25kg of racing pigeon feed-£15 ish and mix a handful in each hopper as you go...I luv the smell and can often be found head in feed hopper inhaling.

You guys over there surely do murder the King's English.

quote:

You guys over there surely do murder the King's English.

Their Englis! What do you expect laddy?