What wild bird cover mix should you plant for grey partridges?

Keeping seed mixtures simple is often best as it can help prevent drilling and establishment problems.

By using carefully planned wild bird cover a tailor-made partridge habitat can be created and this can offer an insect-rich brood rearing environment with safe canopy, good winter cover and useful nesting cover.

Spring mix

A spring mix is usually kale based which helps to provide good over winter cover and supplementary feed in year one as well as useful brood rearing habitat in the spring.

A good spring mix is made up mostly of kale, a small amount of mustard, sweet blossom clover and a food crop such as linseed, millet, quinoa or a cereal. If kale proves difficult to establish, spring sown triticale and linseed would offer good brood rearing in year one.

Autumn mix

The role of the autumn mix is to provide good cover for foraging broods during the following year.

Our research indicates a triticale based mixture is best, including a small amount of winter oil seed rape and winter vetch.

Our Rotherfield Game Restoration Project

We are working to bring back a viable population of grey partridges to an area where they had gone extinct. We want to demonstrate how modern farming and legal predator management can increase gamebird numbers and lead to significant biodiversity benefits.