Brexit and Covid threatens search for seasonal pheasant pluckers, says Ashampstead butcher, Vicars Game

A meat wholesaler and butcher is on the hunt for pheasant pluckers.

Pheasant plucking season started on August 12 and continues until February.

Vicars Game, in Ashampstead, is seeking skilled seasonal workers to assist with plucking small game — but says a nationwide labour shortage continues to threaten this trade.

Eastern European workers previously filled this labour gap, but this practice has been dwindling since the travel and trade restrictions imposed by Brexit and the pandemic, Vicars Game said.

So, the butcher is now appealing to retirees and local schools for help.

“It’s not everybody’s cup of tea,” explained head butcher, Alan Hayward, who previously managed the company from 1973 until 2021. “I’ve always enjoyed it. I’m good with a knife and it takes a lot of skill.”

And sharing tips on pheasant plucking, he added: “During this time, the grouse go out of season and partridge comes in season in September.

“The art is doing them [pheasants] when they’re two days old. If they get old within a week, then they’ll rip.”

Mr Hayward’s steadfast team of seven works round the clock and can process thousands of birds each day.

To remove the feathers from birds — which range from anything as small as grouse to Christmas turkeys — his team now use a Cope plucking machine.

The birds are then prepared, packaged and sold locally in store or exported.