Around 60 million pheasants and 10 million partridges are released annually in the UK for shooting. Their rearing conditions and welfare during release have significant welfare implications.
Game bird rearing for shooting involves welfare compromises at multiple stages. The intensive rearing conditions - high stocking densities in rearing pens - cause feather pecking that requires beak treatment interventions. The transition from intensive rearing to wild release at 6-8 weeks is a significant welfare challenge for birds with no experience of predators, natural food finding, or weather. Release mortality from predation, exposure and starvation in the weeks following release involves individual suffering on a significant scale given the numbers involved. The legal transition from livestock to wild bird status at release removes welfare protections at the point where birds face the greatest challenges. The shooting of released birds, many of which may be injured rather than cleanly killed, adds to the welfare concerns.