Hold’em Tight

Marsdens Game Feeds has been designing and manufacturing quality feed for the game community for over 60 years. The consistent, high quality, nutritious feeds cater to wide-ranging shoot sizes; from large partridge shoots like Iford Downs, to small family-friendly syndicate shoots like the Bagsby and Kelfield. Marsdens diets are tailored to support stronger, healthier game birds, all year around.

Hold’em seed mixtures

Every year, gamekeepers are faced with the challenge of holding poults where they need to be. The Hold’em range is uniquely designed to reduce the risk of both partridges and pheasants from straying and support the birds as they adapt to their environment.

Many variables involved in holding game birds for shoots are beyond Gamekeepers’ control, for example, the weather and wood location. Nutrition, however, is something that can be controlled- making it an important area of focus.

The Marsdens Hold’em range has been designed to imitate the countryside’s natural environment. The inclusion of aniseed acts a scent which attracts pheasants from far afield and they love the liquorice flavour. Hold’em split maize is an over-wintering supplementary feed: it ensures the birds maintain their optimum condition over the winter months.

Bagsby & Kelfield

Bagsby & Kelfield is one example of a shoot which has benefited from the supplementary seed mixtures from Hold’em. They are a small syndicate shoot consisting of 10 guns and beaters, located on a farm near Doncaster.

Ryan Pettinger, Head Gamekeeper comments on the impact of the Hold’em range on his birds: “I’ve been very impressed with the difference Hold’em has made to keeping birds in certain areas, which has never happened before. The nutritional benefit of aniseed seems to be the reason for this, as we have previously used the same wheat from a local farm to feed our game birds.

“We have also noticed a significant change in the size, weight and flying ability of our birds in comparison to last year.

“The nutritional benefit of using the Hold’em range has not only provided extra strength to our birds and supported surrounding wildlife, but it has added more value to our shoot.

I would 100% recommend Hold’em to anyone. We’ve seen the benefits in our birds, and I look forward to seeing the impacts continue, and hopefully our shoot continuing to grow.”