What shoots found when they tried whole dried insect larvae on their own ground this season.
Birds go for the larvae first, scratch about for them, then clear the grain. And they keep coming back to that spot.
This season, shoots from Inverness to Cornwall have tried Brook & Hollow on their own ground. Most of them started the same way: with a free trial bag and a few handfuls scattered around a feeder, just to see what the birds would make of it.
What they reported back was remarkably consistent. Most birds go straight for it. Some take a day or two to get over their suspicion of something new, and then seem to love it.
“The birds practically dug a trench in the spot I scattered a handful.”
Head Keeper, Devon
“By the morning they were all gone.”
Shoot owner, Gloucestershire
“As expected, the birds took to them pretty much straight away.”
Estate Manager, Co. Tyrone
“Whenever we've sprinkled some around the feeders it's all good pretty soon after.”
Shoot owner, Isle of Wight
“Tucked into them once they got over their suspicion.”
Shoot Captain, Yorkshire
Why it works
A pheasant or partridge chick spends its first weeks eating almost nothing but insects, and the instinct to hunt for them never really leaves. Released birds live mostly on grain, but they still forage for most of the day. Brook & Hollow is a behavioural supplement: it gives birds something worth hunting for, in the place you want them to be. Alongside dogging in and good predator control, that helps them stay where you want them.
It matters most when the hedgerow larder goes quiet. The first hard frost is when a lot of wild food and insects disappear, and this has already been a poor season for them. Cold snaps push birds to wander, looking for better food and somewhere nicer to stay. A few handfuls round the feeders gives them a reason not to.
How to run your own quick trial
Scatter a few handfuls of larvae thinly around one feeder, along a ride or around the pen, and mix a little in with your grain. Put down only what they'll clear in a session, so nothing is left lying overnight. Then watch which feeders the birds hang around over the next few days. Shoots trying it this season tell me the same thing: the birds hang around the feeders that had larvae.
If you want to go further, do what Ross Harland did on the Whitwell Syndicate in North Yorkshire and put a trail camera on it. Read how Ross Harland's three-tray trial turned out.
Request your free trial bag. Trial bags are for UK gamekeepers, shoots, estates and game farms. Request yours at wildwyn.co.uk/game-enquiry, or WhatsApp or call me on 07707 315 943. More on how shoots use Brook & Hollow at wildwyn.co.uk/game.
