This session of the European Curlew Headstarting Workshop was led by Chrissie Kelley from Pensthorpe Conservation Trust and discusses best practices for rearing chicks. Topics will include designing optimal enclosures, feeding and monitoring routines, and techniques for weighing, sexing, and ring/tagging chicks. The session will also examine the recommended timelines for keeping chicks in pens during various developmental stages. In this blog you can find the recording of Chrissie’s presentation as well as a summary of the Q&A and discussion that followed during the live conference in 2025.
Discussion with Chrissie Kelly
Chrissie Kelley has worked in aviculture for 30 years specialising in waterfowl and waders. She has been involved with species reintroduction projects for Eurasian cranes, corncrake and most recently, leading curlew headstarting in Norfolk UK.
Coming soon
European Curlew Headstarting Online Workshop
This blog was produced as an output of the European Curlew Headstarting Online Workshop, a virtual event delivered by Curlew Action and the Biological Recording Company. Check out the other presentations and outputs in the other blogs resulting from this event.
- An Overview of Headstarting Curlews
- Curlew Headstarting Projects: Europe
- Curlew Headstarting Projects: England
- Curlew Headstarting: Eggs, Incubation and Hatching
- Curlew Headstarting: Rearing Chicks
- Curlew Headstarting: Health & Disease Coming soon…
- Curlew Headstarting: Releasing Birds Coming soon…
- Curlew Headstarting: Post-release Monitoring Coming soon…
For more information about this event, the speakers and the presentations see the event delegate pack below.
Biological Recording 