Rearing Game Birds and Gamekeeping: Management Techniques for Pheasant and Partridge

What a great book! Having seen just about every pheasant-management-related book available over the past five to ten years, I have not yet found a better reference or source of practical advice than this one by Ms.Williams. There are certainly larger books, and more expensive books on pheasants, but if you are truly interested in raising some pheasants on your own property, this is the best single source available at time of this writing. If you only purchase one book about raising gamebirds, get this one. Period.I especially appreciated her discussions about incubating eggs and raising young birds in commercially available brooders designed for the home hobbyist. Lots of other areas of gamebird management are given similar treatment, but you could buy this book for the first four chapters alone and be quite satisfied.

Have read some of the book, but not very much so far. I intend to buy some chicks this spring and I am sue this willbe a great resource book for me. Would recommend it

This book needs a different title like "Hobby Game Bird Rearing" or "Gamekeeping for Non-Professionals." this book provides pretty generic information on managing game birds. What I feel the book lacks the most are hard numbers, or reproducible results. Things like sample budgets, time commitments, monetary returns, etc, are completely absent. These are symptoms of a hobby grower that doesn't consider meticulous budgeting as a measure for success, but rather measures success by overall enjoyment of game keeping.As an American trying to learn Brittain's unique style of game bird management, and hunting, I find myself disapointed with this book. It offers plenty of information on raising birds, but that kind of info is easily found on a Google search. I wanted to know more on managing birds from when the birds leave the release pen and through the hunting season. This book offers some information like "dogging in" or planting cover crops, but doesn't explain how dogging in is done (dog breeds, tactics for pushing birds towards the center and not a neighbors property), or how to strategically plant plots around a release pen to retain birds, or detract predators.Also, there is zero information on managing the hunt itself, or at least managing birds during hunting season. The Williams' offer a "rough shoot" on their property which I feel requires very little planning/organizing anyway, but what intrigues me is the "driven" style. How is a driven shoot managed? How do beaters drive the birds? What and where are the flushing points? How do birds make their way back to another driving point to be hunted another day? How much driving pressure can birds take before they just leave the property altogether? You won't find answers to these questions here.Pictures speak a thousand words. If I didn't already know how to raise pheasants I might be confused with what a bit or peeper looks like or how to apply them. This is just one example. There are pictures, that are useful, but many of which I feel are filler.I find the writing style to be lacking. Williams jumps around with information. Instead of offering the info in a consise manner, I find myself jumping around within chapters and between chapters to get a whole perspective. The chapter "Final Few Words" is a Hodge podge of thoughts that are frustrating to read because the topics are so unrelated. This mix of information should have been anexed into the sections of the book that the topics have been reserved for.Williams does offer some gems of information, mostly from her personal experience. I find the chapters on game crops and predator control to be the somewhat useful. Overall, as a gamebird grower, I'm dissatisfied with this book.

Excellent book, clearly written and very helpful. I recommend it.

Not a bad book but the information is kind of generic. There are better books out there.

I found this book to be both fascinating and entertaining.I loved the illustrations,diagrams and photographs which helped break up the more complex sections. It manages to cover absolutely every aspect of rearing game birds from egg to oven! As a hunter, I particularly enjoyed the firearms section and felt I had benefited from the advice suggested.I congratulate the author for a candid potrayal of what makes for responsible and effective shooting and indeed for the clear advice on how to start up your own shoot, with the trials and tribulations included!Whether your interest lies in rearing,hunting,cooking or simply enjoying a book on countryside matters this book is a must.

I bought this book for my son-in-law who is looking to start up his own business. This book was really good and is used as a reference book.

I have really enjoyed this book. It contains a lot of technical detail and is written in an easy to follow and entertaining way. The text is supported throughout by detailed photographs and illustrations. Whether you are planning to rear your own game birds or you are just interested in the process, I recommend this book to you.

lovely book very interesting

Good book