Bog Myrtle & Peat

Having seen how black grouse can be reared in captivity and presented with the opportunity to do it myself, I need to start planning the actual process. There is not a huge amount of technical equipment involved in keeping black grouse, and besides the creation of a totally fox proof enclosure, I can look forward to taking on the poults in September without too much stress.

Looking to the longer term, breeding looms large as one of the most exciting and fascinating processes on the horizon, and despite the fact that there are still several months before eggs are produced, it would be foolish not to make some plans for brooding and incubation. Having come across young black grouse being reared by bantams on Arran last year, it makes sense to use birds of my own to hatch and nurse any potential chicks which may or may not appear. Lacking any access to bantams of my own, I bought two silkie x light sussex bantams at the weekend.

They are curious birds, with silly pom-pom hair styles and attractive honey coloured plumage. Unlike many hens I have come across, they are pleasantly sedate, and I hope to get them to stage at which they can be handled and moved around without too much fuss. Bantams are well known for their efficiency in brooding and rearing chicks, and silkies in particular are often excellent mothers. I’m not wild about poultry, but if these birds perform their function by brooding and rearing black grouse chicks, then I’ve got no doubt that they’ll win themselves a place in my heart.

My attempts to keep and breed black grouse may be in their very first stages, but the foundations are being laid…