For those of you in the Mid-West..

gundogguy · Post by **gundogguy** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 6:40 am

For those that frequent game farms or purchase training birds, Pheasants or Chukars, are you hearing any talk about a shortage in bird numbers and the availability of those birds?
There is some talk about it in Michigan. Just a curiosity on my part.

Gooseman07 · Post by **Gooseman07** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 9:12 am

Yes, I can't find birds in NW OH. I'm having to get them from IL. I even called an old contact in SE PA and he said the same thing. I guess when I need birds, they'll be at a premium.

getzapped · Post by **getzapped** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 9:19 am

Where do you get them in Illinois? I search and search and can never find anything.

Gooseman07 · Post by **Gooseman07** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 9:41 am

I'll have to look at the invoice for his name. I got the number from my NAVHDA chapter. They use him on an almost weekly basis throughout the training season.

DonF · Post by **DonF** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 10:01 am

I don't know why clubs don't get a group together and raise their own birds. Day old's are inexpensive compared to mature birds. I doubt it would cost anywhere near as much as someone else raising and then shipping them. Out here chukar's run about $9+ and Bob White $5+. the initial cost will be considerable but year after year the club could be using the same thing's as at start up. Just wondering why clubs don't do that.

Post by **mnaj_springer** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 10:19 am

I visited a game farm in October and the owner knew at that time that they would run short on birds this year.

Gooseman07 · Post by **Gooseman07** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 5:14 pm

If I had room again, I'd be raising my own birds. I did a cost analysis and it is considerably less expensive to raise your own birds. I will again someday.

Big bloc · Post by **Big bloc** » Fri Feb 06, 2015 4:07 am

http://wichita.craigslist.org/grd/4804873990.html To bad you guys aren't a little closer. There has been plenty of birds around here. Kansas and OK

nhachman · Post by **nhachman** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 9:16 pm

DonF wrote:I don't know why clubs don't get a group together and raise their own birds. Day old's are inexpensive compared to mature birds. I doubt it would cost anywhere near as much as someone else raising and then shipping them. Out here chukar's run about $9+ and Bob White $5+. the initial cost will be considerable but year after year the club could be using the same thing's as at start up. Just wondering why clubs don't do that.

Don, in my experience it's just that no one person is usually interested in providing the space and care of the birds for little or no profit. Sadly another reason I have seen is distrust. In one instance a man was raising quail for a club and said he lost hundreds to disease. Other members of the club speculated that the birds were sold and not really lost to disease.

Now that I have the land for it, I'm raising my own training birds. $20 permit from the state allows me to keep bobwhites for dog training. Last year I bought day olds for a buck each. This year I'm hatching my own, 19 came out of the incubator this weekend and I'm setting more eggs as soon as I have collected enough for a decent set. I should have a good personal supply going all season.

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