A field trial from the 2026 season, run by Ross Harland of the Whitwell Syndicate, North Yorkshire.
Three trays, one trail camera and two days. The birds made their choice without any help from us.
Every keeper has a view on what holds birds, and most of them are right about their own ground. So when Ross Harland, a keeper I work with on the Whitwell Syndicate in North Yorkshire, started putting Brook & Hollow down for his birds, he set up his own test.
He put three trays side by side next to his usual feeder. One was pure wheat. One was a typical pigeon-mix holding feed, with wheat, peas, millet and maize. The third was Brook & Hollow whole dried black soldier fly larvae mixed through wheat. A trail camera was locked off facing all three, and the trays were left alone for two days, from 15 to 17 September. Nothing else was changed.
What the camera saw
Counting the clips the trail camera recorded at each tray, the pigeon mix had 31 visits. The plain wheat had 13. The Brook & Hollow tray had 49.
The detail I find more interesting than the totals is what the birds did once they found it. They cleared the wheat in the larvae tray before they touched the wheat anywhere else, and they kept coming back to that tray looking for more after it had run out.
“Looks fairly conclusive Tom.”
Ross Harland, Whitwell Syndicate, North Yorkshire
What it does and doesn't prove
One trial, one camera and two days proves very little scientifically on its own, and I'd rather say that plainly. What it does give is a strong indication of something keepers tell me again and again: insects pull birds back to the feed line, and keep them there.
It fits the science too. Pheasants and partridges evolved to forage, scratching and pecking for most of the day, and that urge doesn't switch off just because food is easy to find. Give them something worth hunting for, in the place you want them to be, and they have a reason to stay. I'll go into the research behind that in Part 4 of The Hum of the Hedgerow, and you can start the series from Part 1 here.
None of this replaces the basics. Predator control, dogging in and good habitat still do the heavy lifting on any shoot. Insects are the edge on top, not a substitute. The best test is always your own birds on your own ground.
Try it on your own birds. If you run a shoot or keep birds, I'll send you a free trial bag of Brook & Hollow to test for yourself. Request your free trial bag, or WhatsApp or call me on 07707 315 943. More on how shoots use it at wildwyn.co.uk/game.
