Game CROPS

Game crops soak up birds like sponges, but only if the birds can get into them and there is something to keep them amused once they are there. If there isn’t, they will walk on by.

A cover-only crop such as kale can be dark and uninviting in late summer. It is excellent in December when there is a wind blowing or a light covering of snow, but not so good in September when the sun is out and you are trying to get the birds to stay where they are.

We open our kale crops up with a swipe to make them more attractive. Not a lot — just a ride here and there to channel the birds in and somewhere to trail a bit of feed. If your crops are on the small side, and you don’t want to start running a swipe through them, open them up in the odd place up the sides. It doesn’t have to be far. A dead end will lead the birds into the middle and once they find that they can hide under the canopy, and that it is drier among the stalks inside the crop than it is among the leaves on the outside, they will start to use it as a base.

Maize crops are more open at the bottom and poults are usually happy to just wander in, pick at stuff and dust-bathe. Feeders and drinkers round the edges, and the odd row swiped off or flattened with a quad bike so the birds can get at the cobs, helps home them in and again slows down the wandering.

We don’t do anything with our triticale and millet crops, other than add a few feeders and a drinker or two, because the birds can see and get at the seed themselves and don’t need any encouragement to push into the crops to get at it.