First steps into game keeping!!!!

Stevegeraghty

So I've finished my pheasant release pen and the poults get here tomorrow,
I never had any idea how much work was involved :eek:

Instead of pics I made a vid, I usually hate voice over vids but as soon as I hit record I felt compelled to talk!!!!:o

I'll put pics of the birds up tomorrow

LB6

Fair play - nice work done. Loving the little loving touch of the fat balls

landkeeper

can you cut back some of the overhanging/close to the fence branches , once they start going up to roost they will be out the next morning depending on the birds you get that could be the 2nd day

Stevegeraghty

landkeeper wrote: »

can you cut back some of the overhanging/close to the fence branches , once they start going up to roost they will be out the next morning depending on the birds you get that could be the 2nd day

Wings will be clipped so I hope it'll keep them down for a while but I'll look at taking the branches back a bit,cheers

landkeeper

don't wing clip them is my advice :eek:if they get out they are easy meat for anything predatory ,it's ok in a great big release pen ,but with this weather that pen of yours will be in muck in no time (no offence meant) if you have to let them out early your snookered or rather they are:o

Stevegeraghty

landkeeper wrote: »

don't wing clip them is my advice :eek:if they get out they are easy meat for anything predatory ,it's ok in a great big release pen ,but with this weather that pen of yours will be in muck in no time (no offence meant) if you have to let them out early your snookered or rather they are:o

Too late, they will be here in the morn :eek:

landkeeper

how many and what age

Stevegeraghty

landkeeper wrote: »

how many and what age

25 @6 weeks

blackstairsboy

Lovely pen steve it seems to have an ideal amount of cover, roosting and also sunning areas.
Hope it works out for you sure it is all part of the game. Keeps the interest going throughout the summer months. I was just thinking to myself today looking at my pheasants that it is gas to think that in a few months time the dogs could be hunting one of them miles away when they both started life in the same farmyard at home. Just a funny thing I thought.

mallards

I've seem Steve’s pen first hand and its a hell of a lot of work for one guy. It looks the business and I hope the birds do well in it for ya. All the hard work will be well worth it when that first rooster of the season falls to your shot and your dog brings it back to ya!
Best of luck,
Mallards

Double Barrel

Stevegeraghty wrote: »

I usually hate voice over vids but as soon as I hit record I felt compelled to talk!!!!:o

Ah lad you're a natural.

Great job on the pen BTW.

berettaman

Great Work. That is a lovely set up. Can't wait to see pics of when the birds are in it. Nice one.

EPointer=Birdss

Nice job. Well done. Hope it goes well for you

Stonehall9

Great work lad,a lot for a boy on his own!! But you have the work done for the future! What part of the country are you in?

Stevegeraghty

Thanks for the comments folks, the birds went in about 11.30 and what a day for it, sun is shining and no rain.
I just checked them there and they seem to be settling, I can't seem to get any decent pics as no matter what side of the pen I'm at they all leg it to the other side and there is too much in the way

I'll stick a few up later

alan86

Fair play lad savage job

Stevegeraghty

All iPhone pics I'm afraid, I try remember the camera tomorrow
It's amazing how quick they learnt how my feeding system works!!

Tawny Owl

Stevegeraghty wrote: »

Thanks for the comments folks, the birds went in about 11.30 and what a day for it, sun is shining and no rain.
I just checked them there and they seem to be settling, I can't seem to get any decent pics as no matter what side of the pen I'm at they all leg it to the other side and there is too much in the way

I'll stick a few up later

Don't worry about them running the other side of the Pen they will settle down and you will be able to get quite close and get good photos great set up we have the same set up in the Club but not as much electric fence on the out side I saw a small hole in our Pen the other day and bent down to put cable ties on it till I came back to secure it and my knees tipped the fence such a bang and a yelp I let out of me just keep a close on on them if they start coughing anyway well done.

daniels.ducks

Lovely looking birds. Well feathered! Fine size for 6 week olds.

garyc007

great pen for one person. i know myself how hard it is. the gunclub decided to get poults so i currently have 15 of them in my pen, its funny cos the last adult cocks i released are stil around (many believed they wouldnt be!!) and are going mad outside the pen

223Shooter

Great setup and best of luck with them!

Stevegeraghty

Has an escape last night so had to open up the pop holes, I think he was just roosting on a branch near the side panel and just hopped out so I herded him Bach in!

They are doing well and growing like mad, happy out

pedroeibar1

You’ve got the basis for a great pen. I would put a few lengths of corrugated around one of the corners, it gives the birds some protection and stops them from being spooked. Did you bury the wire along the sides? Have you got water in there for them?

Looking at the ramp thingy in the last photo in post #17, I’m not sure how it works? Is there a gap for them to get in at the top? Usually the birds will run along the ground on the outside of the pen and some are so stupid that they will run past the poppers, so it is a good idea to have a ‘gatherer’ to channel them in to the pop hole.

terminator2

great looking pen , best of luck ......

Stevegeraghty

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

Looking at the ramp thingy in the last photo in post #17, I’m not sure how it works? Is there a gap for them to get in at the top? Usually the birds will run along the ground on the outside of the pen and some are so stupid that they will run past the poppers, so it is a good idea to have a ‘gatherer’ to channel them in to the pop hole.

the birds are funneled like normal but they go up the ramp which is covered and the pop through the fox grid and down into the pen, the fact that it is 18" off the ground it means you don't need the wire tubes/funnel on the inside, the don't flatten it by sitting on it.

I also didn't want there to be any chance that they might walk out, I want to encourage them to fly as much as possible. Last night I decided to slightly modify the fox grids just to guarantee they wouldn't jump out, the fact they are raised is meant to stop them from jumping up but I wanted to make sure so I made non return flaps, a bit over kill I know but it puts my mind at ease!!





A little vid I found on how they work

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHn2f43rVR0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Stevegeraghty

A bit of an update and a few questions!

I still have 13 birds in and around the pen, I started wits 27, a few were got by fox, sparrow hawk and a few spread their wings

The dog got one one day:mad: I came over a ditch and there were 10 or so sunbathing and the springer managed to catch one,god love it because the hound dragged it backwards through a gorse bush and through a barbed wire fence, needless to say it didn't make it, I was so angry with myself, alot more training was needed, especially the stop whistle

The ones that are hanging around the pen are getting big, so big in fact that they struggle to get back through the fox grids, I've stopped really trying to herd them back in in the mornings as it just stresses them out
TBH I don't really keep on top of the elec fence any more because they roost in the trees around the pen.

My questions are,
1: do you keep the feeders topped all year round or only part of the year?
2: when do I walk away from the pen,leaving the door open and removing the elec fence altogether?

They have the pen stripped bare, I plan on planting it up with some hardier cover for next year, I know I'm very early to be thinking about next year but I like to have a plan in my head



Cheers
Steve

wildfowler94

Stevegeraghty wrote: »

A bit of an update and a few questions!

I still have 13 birds in and around the pen, I started wits 27, a few were got by fox, sparrow hawk and a few spread their wings

The dog got one one day:mad: I came over a ditch and there were 10 or so sunbathing and the springer managed to catch one,god love it because the hound dragged it backwards through a gorse bush and through a barbed wire fence, needless to say it didn't make it, I was so angry with myself, alot more training was needed, especially the stop whistle

The ones that are hanging around the pen are getting big, so big in fact that they struggle to get back through the fox grids, I've stopped really trying to herd them back in in the mornings as it just stresses them out
TBH I don't really keep on top of the elec fence any more because they roost in the trees around the pen.

My questions are,
1: do you keep the feeders topped all year round or only part of the year?
2: when do I walk away from the pen,leaving the door open and removing the elec fence altogether?

They have the pen stripped bare, I plan on planting it up with some hardier cover for next year, I know I'm very early to be thinking about next year but I like to have a plan in my head



Cheers
Steve

Id spread a few feeders over all my permissions, the wild ones will even feed on them if the winter gets hard, also just some advice people say use wheat and yes I agree with them to an extent, but unless your getting it cheap off a farmer or that it becomes dear especially with the way things are, so what we were using was a mix of rolled barley and sweepings from a local feed supplier! Also this time of year I work the dogs on the birds, setting and flushing them, giets them that bit more wild and sporting. Wf

Stevegeraghty

I have 17 feeders spread over about 100 acres

Costing me a fortune to feed all the crows,whats worse, they have all gone to roost by the time I get out with the gun!! :mad::mad:

garyc007

steve
I would have opened the door and turned off the fence a good while ago.they need to get used to the big bad wild world
as for the feeders,cut down,keep feed in whatever ones are used most,i only keep a few topped up and not all the time but it keeps them coming back every so often
gary

Stevegeraghty

To be fair they spend very little time in there, an hour or so before they go to roost

A little vid of the home made feeders in action

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj310/stephengeraghty/994A79B8-ED30-4F0D-B209-46DF4B3F5B8D-4246-00000195F67782D7.mp4

mallards

Wild broods have been very poor this year except for the partridges but then that wouldn't have been hard as we don't usually get any to breed. Only for the stocked birds it would be a very poor season for pheasants.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-W81_qRpes&feature=youtube_gdata_player

garyc007

Stevegeraghty wrote: »

To be fair they spend very little time in there, an hour or so before they go to roost

A little vid of the home made feeders in action

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj310/stephengeraghty/994A79B8-ED30-4F0D-B209-46DF4B3F5B8D-4246-00000195F67782D7.mp4

how exactly do they work? i must have a go at making one

wildfowler94

Put a couple of pallets against the feeders and branchs around the crows wont go near them! Pheasants and partridge still will

Stevegeraghty

garyc007 wrote: »

how exactly do they work? i must have a go at making one

I'll do a little vid on it