"SICK" thieves wrung the necks of chickens at a smallholding before hurling them into a pond to lure more valuable birds on to dry land.

Devastated staff at Hodgehill Nursery, near Kidderminster, arrived for work yesterday morning to discover the carcases floating on the pond and feeders dumped in the water.

Pairs of call and mandarin ducks and emperor geese, which had just reached breeding age, were missing from their enclosure.

Manager Philip Needham said the thieves - who managed to dodge the nursery's CCTV system - scaled an 8ft, barbed wire-topped fence to reach the birds.

"They'd obviously tried, and failed, to get the birds off the pool, so they started chucking the feeders in to make them come off," he said.

"But when that didn't work, they grabbed some poorly chickens, which we'd been looking after in a separate enclosure, and pulled their necks before chucking them in too.

"My money's on it being a dealer rather than a breeder. I'd hope breeders would have a better regard for animals than that."

He said Sunday night's raid was the second time the business, which counts a rare breed pig and ex-racehorse among its menagerie, had been targeted in a fortnight.

Its goats and sheep had to be destroyed during the foot-and-mouth crisis.

"Over the Christmas holiday we were closed for three days, during which, we had some birds stolen," said the 36-year-old, who has run the nursery for 15 years.

"But they didn't do a very good job - they didn't get all the pairs.

"They're much more valuable if you have a male and female so they came back and took the male mandarin duck and emperor geese.

"We'll certainly miss the birds because we've become quite attached to them, but if they've gone to a decent home, that's one thing," he said.

"But to get them by killing the chickens - it's absolutely sickening."

Anyone with information on the theft of the birds, which have been valued at more than £210, should contact Kidderminster police on 01562 822058.