Sandhill Game Bird Services

08/01/2025

vets audited over 300 sites in 2024 with many more in the pipeline for 2025!

This scheme works with sites large and small to demonstrate best practice and high standards. This is for the sustainability of the sector to help prevent unnecessary external regulation.

Speak to your vet for more information or get in touch with
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23/12/2024

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 🎉🎄

02/12/2024

Ticks and Louping Ill virus are on the rise !

Please take part in our Tick survey over the following week found on our stories !
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17/10/2024

The following letter has been published in The Times, 16 October 2024. Sir, Miranda Hart deserves sympathy for her awful experience of Lyme disease and her deb

01/10/2024

AI biosecurity advice for shoots from Trusted Game

01/10/2024

And the Pheasant season begins!

1st October - The start of the Pheasant Season

In what has been a very tough year in parts for our rural economy with the shortage of grouse we look forward to the start of the pheasant season.

Our rural community embraces the income boost to our hotels, butchers, shops, petrol stations to name a few and not forgetting all the direct shoot day staff.

Check out the Eat Wild information in this photo for the really good nutritional benefits of pheasants.

If you’re visiting the then check out the local pubs that will have pheasant on their menus it’s definitely worth a try.

28/09/2024

Repost
A new strain of Avian Influenza (H5N5) has been identified in a number of wild birds across the UK. Some of these have resulted in high mortality within the population.
This is a reminder that AI is still a threat within the UK and excellent biosecurity should be practised at all times.
See our email update for further details. Message us for more information.
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26/09/2024

Bird keepers in England & Wales must register by 1 October 2024.

Complete the online registration: www.gov.uk/poultry-registration

If you have a CPH and are already registered, you do not need to re-register.

24/09/2024

We are seeing many cases of worms in released birds currently. This has been a feature over the last few years with milder wetter weather.

Not all worms show immediate signs and some can't be seen by the naked eye. Often weight loss or sudden death is the only sign.

Here these birds have lost significant condition with a mixed Gapeworm and Heterakis infection. The thickened caecal lining can be seen here due to damage from the Heterakis worm.

A robust preventative worming program is essential. Waiting for disease then worming can be disastrous.
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19/09/2024

The last of our GL45- Pre Release inspections done for the year !
Next year’s licensing still hasn’t been decided yet as soon as we hear anything we will circulate information .
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06/09/2024

A day of Ticks and Louping Ill. With ticks and tickborne disease on the increase, monitoring and controlling tick populations is essential.
We are seeing ticks spreading across new moorland areas previously unaffected.

03/09/2024

Louping Ill Virus testing in .
Those fortunate enough to have healthy populations of grouse are blood sampling shot birds for Louping Ill Virus antibody. This shows exposure to the virus and along with testing sheep, gives an indication to the prevalence of Louping Ill on the moor. Efforts can then be focused to control tick in those areas.

We can assist with blood sampling and training where needed, or simply provide the sample tubes and correct diluent then perform the testing as required.
Please get in touch if you want to know more.

30/08/2024

Time for a Sandhill team meal following the busy summer 🐣! Finally a chance to celebrate Laura's birthday and Cat's maternity starting. 🍻

27/08/2024

WATER HYGIENE. Testing levels of Hydrocare (Silver nitrate stabilised Hydrogen Peroxide) sanitiser in water lines today.
This sanitiser can be used at low doses with birds present to keep lines clean and at a high dose for cleaning at turnaround.
In our experience, no product comes close to Hydrocare for water line hygiene. As Hydrocare is stabilised with Silver, it remains active for longer and acts further down lines than other products.

Thanks to for the great kit to accurately test levels of Hydrogen Peroxide and the technical support.

12/08/2024

Happy Glorious 12th to those fortunate enough to be out today! This season will be very difficult for most with a huge number of days cancelled following the losses this spring & summer. The knock on effect of this will be massive to the local rural economy and all associated businesses.
Wishing everyone the best season ahead and hoping for better times to come.

26/07/2024

Our delivery and collection van soaking in the views in the sunshine 🌞
Our Yorkshire route runs every Tuesday and Friday around:
- Selby
- York
- Pocklington
- Hull
- Doncaster
- Beverley
- Driffield
- Malton
- Scarborough
- Pickering
- Helmsley
Then back to early afternoon to carry out all testing for a same day result.

Our Northern van route runs every Monday and Thursday around Durham, Northumberland, Borders & Cumbria.

Thanks to Katie for the photos along her route this morning 🙌
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20/07/2024

We are now very busy most days with GL45 vet inspections. These pre-release inspections are required (by DEFRA) within 24hrs prior to releasing game on to or within 500m of an SPA.
These visits are a fantastic opportunity to get out and see healthy birds across a range of pens and management systems.
When it's not raining, we are spoilt with some of the very best views in the country

14/07/2024

Contaminated water lines!
Every year without fail we see a handful of cases where heavily contaminated water directly causes disease in birds. This may present as very high mortality in chicks, grumbling infections in poults, general poor performance and unevenness or medicines apparently not working.

The above culture plates are inoculated with ONLY 0.4ml of the birds' drinking water and yet yielded such heavy fungal/bacterial growth!!

Some drinkers/systems are particularly poor where large volumes of water are stored, especially when in close proximity to the heater.

We recommend all lines are cleaned with Hydrocare (+/- cleaning acids) pre season and then audited for cleanliness before birds arrive.
Depending on the result and water type, drinking water should be sanitised with either Hydrocare, organic acids or chlorine based products. Regular flushing is also essential.
It is essential to continue to monitor water quality throughout the season to ensure the system in place is working.