Game Farms: Coping With CV-19

Dr Kenny Nutting, director of St David’s Poultry Team, takes us through the impact of Covid-19 on the industry thus far (8 April) and the positives that can be taken from the situation

- Dr Kenny Nutting

Can you give us some background on the game division of St David’s Poultry Team?

Alan Beynon founded the game division in 1999 following an interest in game bird health and medicine from a few local shoots. The practice is now the largest independent game vet practice in the UK and Ireland.

The combined knowledge and experience of our large team of game bird vets offer proactive solutions, focusing on preventative measures and health planning. We also provide innovative and practical advice to help achieve the best quality birds for flying. We work with estates across the UK and Ireland with a dedicated team of vets, field service and laboratory teams.

Do you have any early indications on the impact Covid-19 will have on game farms?

We have seen that the initial impact of the pandemic has caused a number of cancellations of poults, chicks and eggs from a range of different sized shoots, estates and farms. I am also hearing that shoots that rely on foreign investment, or those that have high overheads from rental agreements seem to be suffering the most at present, but certainly not all.

In terms of importing, we have seen very few issues at present. I have been in contact with farms receiving batches from Poland, France, Spain and Portugal, but as time goes on this may change depending on restrictions put in place by these various countries. We hope that things will remain stable.

How do you think it will impact the wider shooting industry?