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Mad arab rider
Silver Member
England
483 Posts |
 Posted - 19 Apr 2009 : 8:53:03 PM
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Feathers that is. I saw this cock pheasant at the farm today. Looks like a fox or something had got hold of his tail feathers.
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mittens
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
2109 Posts |
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Judith S
Platinum Member
Wales
15686 Posts |
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GHALEEM
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
2028 Posts |
Posted - 20 Apr 2009 : 12:36:44 PM
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I am one hundred percent sure that he is an escaped battery pheasant. They are intensively reared (and often caged just like battery hens) for sport shooting and as a result most have damage to the back and tail feathers like this little guy.
Check out this undercover footage! If you watch it until the end there is a bird in exactly the same state as the one in your photo that has escaped from a cage.
http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/f/CAMPAIGNS/blog//4//?be_id=13 |
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Mad arab rider
Silver Member
England
483 Posts |
Posted - 20 Apr 2009 : 6:40:48 PM
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| I do personally know the local game keeper and I can assure you (thankfully) that he doesn't keep any birds in the way that the film shows. He does buy the chicks, (or whatever baby pheasants and partridges are called) in, and naturally I have no idea under what conditions they are bred. What I do know is that the birds once in his care, are reared in traditional pens and then released as soon as they are big enough. At any one time we can have up to 40 pheasants turn up at the yard where I keep my horse. They get fed 2-3 times a day, and as NO shooting is allowed on the land, they are safe all the time they stay there- hence the food, to try to encourage them to stay. However, as the foxes are also fed, there could be a clash between them. |
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GHALEEM
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
2028 Posts |
Posted - 20 Apr 2009 : 8:28:19 PM
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Sorry, i hope i didnt come across as confrontational - i think i often do where animal welfare is concerned . Two of my customers (genuinely lovely people) rear pheasants in the traditional way. I still hate it though and they even agree with me that alot of birds that are shot are thrown away and that thousands die on the roads. I also hate the snaring and trapping around the feeding stations. I really had an eye opener when i saw that video about the battery cages, i believe that the shooting community in general are against it.
Michelle |
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buffy
Gold Member
Scotland
835 Posts |
Posted - 21 Apr 2009 : 8:35:25 PM
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Lovely photos, they are stunning birds.
I saw a couple of cock pheasants last night and both had very little in the tail feather dept. Sometimes I think they loose them when they are fighting with each other over "who's the daddy!"
I used to work as a pheasant rearer after I left school for the estate on the island here. I would then go out beating during the shooting season. I did find it hard to see the birds that I had worked hard to rear being shot for sport, but that is life in the country. At least they knew a natural existance and had a good chance of survival.
The late Marquis of Bute was a real gentleman and only would shoot at birds which were almost out of range.
I've gone very soft over the years and don't think I could be involved in it now. |
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katherineepea
Gold Member
England
883 Posts |
Posted - 23 Apr 2009 : 5:50:27 PM
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| I never knew there was such a thing as battery pheasants till today! |
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