Pheasant pen question

Stevegeraghty

Hi folks
Started on my release pen last night,my poults are due middle of July,
At the mo I'm attaching the chicken wire to my security panels as per the rathcormac gun club video.
My question is location, we have a small woods up the fields that was planted as a wind break and was gonna pop it in there only I read that pheasants need a sun area
Do I need to put in a sun deck for them???

TriggerPL

Stevegeraghty wrote: »

Hi folks
Started on my release pen last night,my poults are due middle of July,
At the mo I'm attaching the chicken wire to my security panels as per the rathcormac gun club video.
My question is location, we have a small woods up the fields that was planted as a wind break and was gonna pop it in there only I read that pheasants need a sun area
Do I need to put in a sun deck for them???

never heard of the sun area , my concern with having it in the woods is pinemartin , fox , and animals that you might be putting it in close contact with .

Stevegeraghty

The woods is quite small, only about 40x40 meters,like I say it's only a wind break.
Not to worried about the fox as I'll fox proof it well enough,pine Martin and mink maybe an issue, I've never seen them before but I remember as a kid the pine Martin wiped out all our chickens and ducks, can you proof against them?
Also will a buzzard be an issue, we have a few of them

Alchemist2

A top net should keep any buzzards that have a penchant for poults at bay

Birdnuts

Stevegeraghty wrote: »

Also will a buzzard be an issue, we have a few of them

Unlikely going on BASC studies which show BOP's in general are responsible for only 1-2% of poult(pen reared) losses on averge. Mainly Sparrowhawks in this case. As others have said, a top net should keep out any unwelcome avian vistors like crows etc.


It will be harder to keep out the likes of mink, but setting traps around the vicnity of the pen should minimize the risk. Electric fencing is also an option if the location is suiteable.

landkeeper

put a roof/net on it , no matter what folk say buzzards and sparrowhawks can do and will wack your poults
buzzards are changing their hunting habits , i have watched this year one take a full grown hare , one take a pigeon on the wing and ambush a greycrow
as well as that one took a 3week old khaki cambell duckling out of a 5x4 open top run the duckling was about the size of a full grown teal :mad:

Stevegeraghty

I wasn't planning on a top net, I was hoping on putting them in and walking away and just letting them do there thing.

Is this a mistake??

wildfowler94

If you want the too do their own thing and still do their own thing the put on the top net and install a fox grid which lets birds out but nothing in, hang a few old cds or dvds on pen panels and install an electric fence low to the ground fry anything getting too close. traps in the area too.

TriggerPL

wildfowler94 wrote: »

If you want the too do their own thing and still do their own thing the put on the top net and install a fox grid which lets birds out but nothing in, hang a few old cds or dvds on pen panels and install an electric fence low to the ground fry anything getting too close. traps in the area too.

Everything wildfowler says ! And don't for one min think. Buzzard wont take them ! Two buzzards took over out duck pond and took 7 adult mallard out of in 2 weeks and battered the rest till they left completely ! They lived on the ponds for the whole winter , ain't seen then since January tho.

garyc007

i would put top netting in,just use some of the mesh or you can buy some online.also homebase have some that may b suitable.also the electric fence, i would use that too. i think thats what kept the fox out of mine

dclarke1977

try and find a quiet corner along side the wood if at all possible it will offer shelter and if you can afford it a roof net is a good safeguard or leave it until next season and see how you go this year two strands of electric wire one a couple of inches off the ground and the other about a foot off the ground should stop foxes getting in around the pen once there's power connected wire mesh tunnels fixed to pen will allow birds in/out but make sure tunnel is big enough to allow birds in/out but not a fox i presume you will be feeding/watering the birds in the pen until they get established? hope some of this info mite be of help

Birdnuts

landkeeper wrote: »

put a roof/net on it , no matter what folk say buzzards and sparrowhawks can do and will wack your poults
buzzards are changing their hunting habits , i have watched this year one take a full grown hare , one take a pigeon on the wing and ambush a greycrow

I've seen them take young rooks and jackdaws in season, but they seem to concentrate on rabbits, rodents and carrion in these parts. One got caught in a crow trap belonging to a m8 a few years back and helped himself to the contents before he was let out;). An adult hare I would say be at the extreme upper end of what a buzzard could manage given its seize(smaller then a Raven but with larger wings).

Here's some reading on Buzzards and their prey from Scotland - also mentions those BASC studies on Gamebirds and raptors I mentioned earlier.

http://www.snh.gov.uk/docs/A253112.pdf

Birdnuts

Stevegeraghty wrote: »

I wasn't planning on a top net, I was hoping on putting them in and walking away and just letting them do there thing.

Is this a mistake??

I think a top net would be a wise move - it also offers the advantage of stopping corvids, pigeons etc. stealing your poults food and generally stressing them.

Stevegeraghty

Thanks for all the info folks and keep it coming!!:D

I have a 12v elec fence unit ready to go and I've chosen a patch where there is loads of natural cover nettles/ferns/elder

I'm already on the hunt for some roof netting

At the moment I'm just prepping the panels and gathering all the bits and bobs I need before I put it all together

I need to get my head around the anti fox holes if there is anyone around the Brittas/saggart/Kilbride area who can give me a crash course on re-entry funnels I can reward with tea and Jaffa cakes!!!:D:D

mallards

Stevegeraghty wrote: »

Thanks for all the info folks and keep it coming!!:D

I have a 12v elec fence unit ready to go and I've chosen a patch where there is loads of natural cover nettles/ferns/elder

I'm already on the hunt for some roof netting

At the moment I'm just prepping the panels and gathering all the bits and bobs I need before I put it all together


I need to get my head around the anti fox holes if there is anyone around the Brittas/saggart/Kilbride area who can give me a crash course on re-entry funnels I can reward with tea and Jaffa cakes!!!:D:D

Hi Steve, PM sent.
Cheers
Mallards

Clinty

Them buzzards are one one of our biggest problems when releasing poults we have roughly eight around our clubs grounds and they absolutely hammer young birds we've lost a lot in the last few years and that's only what carcasses we've found they eat the breasts and leave the rest something will have to be done in the next few years to save game birds from them.there numbers are rising rapidly

Birdnuts

Clinty wrote: »

Them buzzards are one one of our biggest problems when releasing poults we have roughly eight around our clubs grounds and they absolutely hammer young birds we've lost a lot in the last few years and that's only what carcasses we've found they eat the breasts and leave the rest something will have to be done in the next few years to save game birds from them.there numbers are rising rapidly

Many predators(fox, mink, stoats, feral cats etc.) will leave similiar remains when they have access to large numbers of poults around release pens. You can't assume that all poults found dead have been eaten by one particular type of predator unless you have direct proof. Buzzards often get unfairly blamed cos their presence in an area is much more obvious then say mink etc. They will also scavange on poults killed by other predators,disease etc..Some poults may be taken by buzzards and other raptors, but losses to other predators, disease, bad weather, road kill etc. are likely to be much more significant in the vast majority of cases. Below is a major study of pheasant poult lossed in southern England using tagged birds by the respected GWCT(Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust). Foxes where primarily responsible for the vast majority of predation losses - this part of the UK also has a very high buzzard density yet only 3 birds where thought to have been lost to these and other raptors.


http://www.gwct.org.uk/research__surveys/species_research/birds/pheasant/249.asp


These findings are similiar to other studies on the subject by other such bodies like the BASC etc.

td5

Dispite all the [spin] that Buzzards dont pose any threat to game birds especially pheasant poults. Anyone who lives in the real world knows what a load of nonesense it is !! Buzzards are by their very nature a lazy bird and a release pen stocked with poults is a very handy food source. I have lost count of the times I have arrived at a release pen that appears to empty. because every bird is hiding in fear of its life. The reason is soon very clear as on starting to walk around pen. A Buzzard will take flight from either a branch where it has been studying the menu ! Or else from the ground where it has already started its dinner !! And being protected all one can do is [ Discourage ] it from calling again. Plastic bags and CDS hung around the pen can help but they soon get used to all these.
So the only real way to protect your poults is spend as much time as possible in and around your pens because when you are there the Buzzard wont be !!!
Yours in sport