The release pen is where the shooting season is won or lost

Late summer is a busy time for us at Honeycombe in Dorset. We are releasing poults and reflecting on the roebuck rut. There are a lot of early starts and late finishes with the partridge season, as I write, almost upon us.

I am really pleased that we have had a gold medal roe head from the shoot, as well as two silvers last year. All the deer management that has gone in has paid off. Stalking is not all about the heads here – it is about managing a healthy population of primarily roe and fallow, but also a few sika and muntjac. Twenty years ago I saw my first muntjac on my ground and have only ever seen a handful since then. It has not resulted in the boom I was told to expect. However, it pays to stay vigilant.

Walking the poults back in

Outside the roe rut, the bulk of my time is now spent walking the poults back into the pens, guiding them through the pop-holes. When they are used to that, we open the gates of the pens and lift the wire so that they are freer to explore the area around them. It is at this time that they are most vulnerable, so I keep the electric fences on day and night to hold foxes at bay. They can now acclimatise themselves to the world outside, find new roosts and become aware of predators. If you have got the pen right they will return to it, as they see it as home.

Before I open the pen, they are hopper-fed for 14 days. I then introduce them to the trail-feeder on the back of the buggy. We gradually move the hoppers towards a ride in the pen and then trail-feed around the hoppers. We let the hoppers run out of food, by which time the poults are accustomed to being trail-fed. We then take the hoppers away and solely trail-feed. It is all about introducing change slowly so that the poults can adapt.

I whistle while trail-feeding so that they learn it means feeding time, and feed them morning and late afternoon. That helps stop the birds straying and, while it is a commitment every day, it does pay off. I do it throughout the season and can whistle birds up to flushing points, chosen cover crops or woods.

Water is vital, inside and outside the pen

I provide water throughout the season, both inside and outside the pen. The water is vital; even a good cover crop may be avoided if it lacks water. I use 25-litre manual drinkers that can easily be moved. To ensure good hygiene, I move them a short distance every time I refill them and keep them washed and clean. Checking the drinkers is also a good way of spotting any signs of illness in the droppings around them. If anything looks suspicious, make sure to call your vet.

Dogging-in with a clap of the hands

When I first lift the wire and open the gates of the release pens, I keep a watch out for the birds jugging out in the fields, where they are vulnerable, rather than roosting in or around the pen. If this is happening, regular dogging-in stops it. I have a good team who dog in for me, including my wife, Antonia, who has an excellent, mixed team of dogs. I ask the team to clap their hands when the birds flush back to the pen. Over time the birds associate the clapping with the dogs, so they flush back at the sound alone.

Stepping the feed down as the birds mature

As the days pass, I also reduce the protein content of their food, moving from 23% protein pellets to 20% and then to wheat. After the rapid growth that follows hatching, they do not need as much protein as they get older. Wheat is cheaper than pellets and doesn’t disintegrate in the rain when trail-fed. It should be introduced slowly as the birds mature.

Lastly, don’t let up on fox control – both for general wildlife and for your poults. We have shot 21 foxes in the past four weeks. If each fox takes a poult a day, that can run into hundreds a month.

Mike Appleby runs the Honeycombe Shoot in Dorset with his wife, Antonia.