Pheasant Pen

bunny shooter

My club want to build a pheasant pen and raise pheasants.

Need advice on dimensions, building layout, health issues etc.

Meeting Wednesday night.

All info appreciated. This is new ground for all in the club

No Bulls..t please. ITH that means you !

ivanthehunter

ok i'll LAY off:D mate of mine breeds'em i might give him a bell..

bunny shooter

ivanthehunter wrote: »

ok i'll LAY off:D mate of mine breeds'em i might give him a bell..

How do you breed pheasant pens :D

Oh no ! Now I'm getting as bad as 'im :eek::eek:

cavan shooter

10-15 square foot per bird, NARGC hand book isn't handy I'll check tomorrow. BTW google search turns up good info

bunny shooter

cavan shooter wrote: »

10-15 square foot per bird, NARGC hand book isn't handy I'll check tomorrow. BTW google search turns up good info

Cheers !

cavan shooter

very good site http://www.pheasant.com/page.aspx?page_id=28

cavan shooter

And even better
http://www.ehow.com/how_2092361_build-pens-pheasants.html:D

Trojan911

Buddy of mine did it a couple of years ago. He had a half acre of rough terrain on a hillside, put a 12ft fence all round and meshed it off on top. Cost him the bones of €5k to do it then feed on top of that.

There is a lot of hard work when the chicks are born, seperate housing, heating, incubating & caring etc & he lost a lot of chicks on the first year due to diesese. He has since given it up at a loss but says he enjoyed it.

Tips here

Terrier

Our Club decided to raise our own birds last year also. We got 8 week old poults from the NARGC pheasant release program at €2.50 per bird (set to increase to €3 this year). This gives you a mixture of hens and cocks being the only downside but for the money you can't got wrong and the fact that they are 8 weeks old is perfect as care and attention is not needed as much.

We cleared an old area of scrub on a members land, approx 56foot X 48 foot. We made the basic pen sides out of donated old site gates. You know the ones you see to close of building sites with the tubular frame and mesh inserts. These were put flush with the ground. I used heavy duty cable ties to lock the together tight. We then attached 2foot X 10foot galvanised sheets along the bottom, drilling holes in them to attach to the fence units. Use plenty of cable ties to give good structurally strength. Next we attached 1inch chicken wire above the galvanised sheeting all around the pen. (I think this was €110 for a 50meter roll). We also cut a door out of an one of the site gates and attached an old shed door to allow entry.

Next we attach rope at the junction points of each of the site gates, this creates a grid on the roof of the pen in order to support the netting used to cover it. We also placed support poles along the centre of the pen to give support and extra height. I got a net from the UK for about €140 which was way cheaper than anything here. I can't remember the website as it is bookmarker on my personal laptop but PM if you need more details.

For feeders we got 10 litre buckets and drilled 2 inch holes in the bottom and inserted spiral feeders and mounted 4 of these within the pen. We also have 6 more of these feeders available for release areas when required later in the season.

We were lucky to be able to tab into a water supply on our members farm but a holding tank can also be used. We used a toilet ball-cock unit mounted in a gutter pipe to allow fresh water always to be available. Always ensure this is covered so the birds can't fowl it.

Shelter was made from galvanised units raised on bricks to allow the birds cover, plenty of these need to be built if last summer weather is anything to go by !!

Roosting areas were provided by old tree branches raised off the ground.

Last year we developed a disease called Coxy within some of our birds! Manly due to the damp conditions of last summer. To combat this and other diseases I would recommend getting some Baycox or other poultry medication and treating the water supply every 2-3 weeks to ensure a disease free environment.

For feed we used whole barley in the feeder units while also giving the a chicken\turkey grower feed which seem to build them up very fast and make them a lot more active. We also gave them cabbages and veg that were from members gardens.

We tagged all our birds with large white leg tags I got for Dingle Poultry. These are a good size ring and are visible so birds can easily be identified in the field and when they are returned.

100 birds @ €250
Building & material costs @ €250
Leg Rings @ €10
Feed @ €120 (going to be a lot more this year)
Medication @ €40
Electric fence @ €60

This year we are rearing 200 birds and are in the process of increasing the pen size.
Hope this helps if you want any more information or photos PM me and remember to do out a plan & budget before you start and see what your members can donate before you start buying loads of fancy new stuff..

cavan shooter

Excellent information Terrier glad it worked out. It seems you have got a good group of lads long may it continue

Terrier

cavan shooter wrote: »

Excellent information Terrier glad it worked out. It seems you have got a good group of lads long may it continue

I wish.. two of us did all the work and I don't even shoot game more into vermin control.

As with most clubs.. all the members are big into talking but very few ever do any actions!!

cavan shooter

Agree whole heartly pi$$es me off that the ones who whinge the most are the ones who do fek all

culcuie

We built a pen a few years ago using sectional site fencing and netting for the roof. 16 side sections 4on each side . we straddled a ditch with small trees (10 to 15 ft high) bent them over ..put netting on then released the trees to bring netting up. we also rapped an electric fence around it using screw in insulators to attach it which provented pinemartins climbing up the sides.. it works well but birds need to be treated for gapes yearly ....holds over 100 birds with ease

bunny shooter

Terrier, Culcuie and everyone else many thanks for that !

Terrier would you post photos on this thread ?

Anyone else with advice I'd be interested !

Terrier

These are the only ones I have - hope they help..
Just got 8 more fence units today and 20 sheets of galvanise to start the extension at the weekend!

"Modern Pheasant Rearing" by Len Chappel is a great book.

These are the guys for the nets.. cheapest I found for 38mm (1½") Diamond mesh for Pheasants and Chickens which is perfect for roof netting.

mallards

Here are a few of my partridge release pen.







And the pheasant release pen if they are any help to you.






Mallards.

Terrier

Mallards,
Can you provide information on Partridge rearing?
What sort of habitat is required ? Do you rear from day olds or Poults?
I'm located in the west and not sure if the habitat would be good enough.. ?

Always love to try my hand at rearing a few of these..

mallards

I start by making pen sections like this,



I make at least 4 one with a door in it like the first picture. I just keep making sections so that you can easily double the size of a release pen like in the second picture on the right hand side. A 4 pen section pen is in the second picture on the left.


Staple on some chicken wire and a peice of damp course along the bottom to give some shelter from the wind. I bought some roof netting at the game fair. A tenner i think will get a piece large enough for 4 sections. This can also be bought from 'solway' in the U.K.

Then take the 4 sections and cable tie together. Then cable tie the roof netting to it and put a pole in the middle to rise the roof of the pen. Next cut a path around the pen for the fencer unit. If you don't have a unit you might as well give up!
Don't put the fence to close to the pen. In the second picture it gives more space around the pen leaving a safe area for returning birds who will roost near their buddies in the pen.

I buy 9 week old poults, who at that stage look nearly like finished birds except they need the weight put on.

After about 2 weeks in the pen I start to trickle out a bird here and there. until they are all out well before the season starts.

Importantly remember to sight the pen within a bit of cover. This stops hawks etc feasting on the birds just on the outside of the pen. Keep feed and water close by as this helps by keeping the young birds in the cover.

After a few weeks on the outside your red legs will start to disperse and spread out like your pheasants do. On the other hand if releasing greys they have a much stronger coveying instinct and will hang about in a bunch. I find at the start of the season the partridges are not as good a flyer as the pheasants but come the start of December they're better than most pheasants I've seen.

As for the ground your releasing them on, I release mine onto bog and rough pasture up in the mountains in the North. So the west of Ireland should not be much of a problem for them. I have been trying to get mine to breed in the wild. I have not had any sucess yet but im still trying!.


Mallards.

bunny shooter

That's great lads, cheers !