pheasant pens

blaser r93

hi, im going to build pens for 2500 pheasants, approx 6 week old poults.... would anyone have an idea of the materials needed, maybe diagrams etc... im thinking of building 3 pens.... so an idea on size of pens needed for that many birds would be helpful too...... thanks

djflawless

ESB poles, wire mesh, a lot of u nails and even more patience

If I remember correctly from a gamekeeper, you'd want around 2 cubic feet per bird, with 1 water source and 1 feed source per 35-50 birds
I might have my figures wrong

Shape, I'd nearly say circle, no corners for birds to crush when they get spooked

2 ESB poles to your desired height in the middle with a crossbar on top
Shorter ESB poles around the outside.fencing done on the edges a "wrap around" and then steel wire over crossbar for wire roof support
Wire then trapsed over the top in strips and clipped to support wires
Galvanised sheets lengthways around the bottom to restrict the birds view out/predators view in
Then just make a gate suitable enough

If I was going to build a new pen from scratch this would be my plan

Tawny Owl

blaser r93 wrote: »

hi, im going to build pens for 2500 pheasants, approx 6 week old poults.... would anyone have an idea of the materials needed, maybe diagrams etc... im thinking of building 3 pens.... so an idea on size of pens needed for that many birds would be helpful too...... thanks

2500 Birds is a lot of Pheasants, even if you intend keeping them in 3 pens, have you kept Birds this age before, and not to under mine your enthusiasm but the price of 6 week old poults is € 4.50 each the cost of poles and the expence of wire at the moment ( steel prices €€€€€ ) + nails and cable ties / electric fence and the amount of time to build this. I do thnk you should just start out small say 20 Birds. feed alone will bankrupt you. but the best of luck.

landkeeper2

what your suggesting is a lot of work not just building the pens but looking after the birds, it is basically a full time job for a month or 6 weeks after you get them anyway best of luck with it

as far as release pen design is concerned the link is as good advice as you will need/get but you will need to add dusting shelters and some sort of drinker system at minimum

http://www.gwct.org.uk/media/208820/pheasant_release_pen_construction.pdf

johnny3

It must be a mis print and u ment 250 rather than 2500 cus if not ur mad in the head for that number of birds ud need a full time keeper the amount of birds that wd be wandering and just dissapearing wd be savage and by the time ud spot it 1/2 the birds be in the nx county or a lot of fat foxes then there's disease control feed
Feed alone wd be about 5k roughly 2€ a bird to feed em .then the pens 3 pens about 2k per pen no point building ****y pens
Plz take tiny owls advice an start small will a few hundred birds and MIND they

blaser r93

thanks for the replies lads... ok theres no misprint its 2500 pheasants...lol mad in the head , maybe... right, money is there to buy the poults , to build the pens and to feed the birds.... also the help to build the pens and rear the birds is arranged too... what im lacking is pen design, pen sizes for that number of birds. pen materials etc ?????...thanks again

djflawless

blaser r93 wrote: »

thanks for the replies lads... ok theres no misprint its 2500 pheasants...lol mad in the head , maybe... right, money is there to buy the poults , to build the pens and to feed the birds.... also the help to build the pens and rear the birds is arranged too... what im lacking is pen design, pen sizes for that number of birds. pen materials etc ?????...thanks again

I'm not too great with compoopers but I'll draw something on paper and upload pics if you want blaser?

landkeeper2

blaser where are you intending to build these pens? have you access to a decent piece of ground 2.5k of pheasants is no small financial outlay and the feed for them will make you cringe too

it might be an idea if you are intending to do all to get some proper advice from someone with keepering experience re pen location and setup
there is no need to go erecting esb poles and trying to cover pens for that number of birds, a proper release pen or 3 built securely with pop holes and fox grids electric fence is what you need, birds will fly out coming off the roost you can either wing clip them or walk them back in several times a day.

pedroeibar1

The first questions you need to answer are what type of ground do you have, how much cover is on it and how big it is. Answer those questions and you might get a relevant answer. Otherwise you are wasting everyone's time.

blaser r93

there is about 360 acres, about 60 acres of mature oak forest , game crops will be sowed as needed... and im honestly not wasting anyones time... i just need a bit of info on pens....

pedroeibar1

The numbers you are talking about are silly. A 1 acre home pen containing good cover, roosting, grit, shelters, etc., will hold about 400 birds. You need to site the pens appropriately on the ground, so that birds can fly to/from them to the cover crops. Without seeing your ground I’d say you could stock about 1,000 birds max. Put more than that out and they will compete for space, peck each other to death, fight, die from disease and simply just wander off. Start off with a smaller pen and 200 birds. See how you go from there, because, bluntly, throwing money at it is not going to work without a bit of expertise.

blaser r93

sorry my mistake there...i pressed the wrong button,,, its 660 acres in total...

ronn

blaser r93 wrote: »

sorry my mistake there...i pressed the wrong button,,, its 660 acres in total...

What part of the country are you in. Can you contact any game clubs or game keepers and ask them to show you there set up, Most people wouldn't mind showing you around there set up,

blaser r93

djflawless wrote: »

I'm not too great with compoopers but I'll draw something on paper and upload pics if you want blaser?

that would be great thank you

blaser r93

landkeeper2 wrote: »

blaser where are you intending to build these pens? have you access to a decent piece of ground 2.5k of pheasants is no small financial outlay and the feed for them will make you cringe too

it might be an idea if you are intending to do all to get some proper advice from someone with keepering experience re pen location and setup
there is no need to go erecting esb poles and trying to cover pens for that number of birds, a proper release pen or 3 built securely with pop holes and fox grids electric fence is what you need, birds will fly out coming off the roost you can either wing clip them or walk them back in several times a day.

hi landkeeper, there is over 600 acres of land..the money is there for the entire project... also the poults will be arriving on site mid july and the help and expertise required to rear them will be on site in july too..theres also 500 ducks coming....im trying to get the pens built without having to get the gamekeepers in yet...i can get a few local carpenters in to help build the pens...so i was hoping to get a bit of help on pen design, sizes and materials?????? ...so i can get the pens up and running..i was thinking of approaching a nearby estate that have pheasant pens up ....location is wexford...

fiestaman

Only thing I can say here is maybe contact collatin estate, that wouldn't be far from bunclody and see will they let you see there set up. Don't mind lads telling you that your mad they don't know you or where you are, do what you want. I seen 2 local lads here rear 250 and it was a big commitment and a lot of work but each to their own. Rathcormac gun club in cork are rearing birds this year and have built a set up, maybe if you can't act them I'd say they would be delighted to inform you.

http://www.rathcormacgunclub.ie

blaser r93

fiestaman wrote: »

Only thing I can say here is maybe contact collatin estate, that wouldn't be far from bunclody and see will they let you see there set up. Don't mind lads telling you that your mad they don't know you or where you are, do what you want. I seen 2 local lads here rear 250 and it was a big commitment and a lot of work but each to their own. Rathcormac gun club in cork are rearing birds this year and have built a set up, maybe if you can't act them I'd say they would be delighted to inform you.

http://www.rathcormacgunclub.ie

ha i could show them the cert on the madness... i just need a bit of info on pens , not having my sanity questioned....thanks for the help fiestaman

djflawless

Pics aren't great but its just general jist of the way I'd build 1.
Galvanise sheets are there with the arrow pointing to them.everything else is kinda self explanatory really

And apologies for crude artwork

landkeeper2

dj with the geatest respect that's not needed, it's a release pen the last thing you want on it is a net /cover the idea is that poults get out of it and gradually find their way around the vicinity the effort required in covering a pen/pens the size of what's required is monumental as well as cost prohibitive

blaser get someone in who knows the game either a keeper or advisor your financial outlay is going to be large both for poults feed and wire posts etc
if you put the pens in the wrong area what you are trying to do won't work or worse you'll loose birds pen siting is crucial as that's the whole basis of releasing birds
i take it from your comments re july that you have someone coming to keeper the birds etc has he seen the ground if his neck is on the line at the end of january then his advice might be the best lol

Glenbulldog

Try the gamekeepers in ardtramen outside castle bridge,or mahers of ballinkeele in ballymurn there might be someone who could help

EPointer=Birdss

You can build a run out of whatever materials you like.
I use an old farm courtyard as a release pen. Works very well. No net needed as you want em to spread.

You need poles & mesh wire & a means to tie them together. No rocket science. Using carpenters would be crazy unless they are free!
Where you've to put in the effort is the fox grids & pop holes etc.

Size wise it's not the min space per bird but rather the max. Unless this is a driven shoot & you want someway healthy birds be thinking acres as opposed to sqm or else they will be pecking & make sludge of the space.

Would you consider phasing those numbers in over a few months?
I.e. 3 batches of 800 or that.

djflawless

I didn't see where he said release pen.I took it as he wanted holding pens
Surely 6 week old poults won't be getting released at that age?

roadsmart

Sure what would they have to write about?

shotie

is this going to be a holding pen,release pen or what? id build a holding/breeding pen like this one.do it in panel sections say 8x7ft or that with chicken wire, you can easy take them down and move them onto clean grass. if this link below works have a look at it i know its not total what your after but gives ya a idea of the way the pens are done hope this link works. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=STpXwWRoS00

Tawny Owl

I may be a bit far for you to travel to but I live in Monasterevin, if you would like to see 2 pens 1 holds 100 birds and 1 holds 200 Birds it will give you a good idea of what is involved, send me a PM if your interested.I hope this will help.

pedroeibar1

Despite all the goodwill being shown to the OP, I have a stromg suspicion that this guy is a dreamer. The info is being dragged out, the acreage miraculously jumps from 360 to 660, he has no idea of cover, density, feed costs, work involved, pen siting, etc. We are talking a €20,000 investment here birds, pens, feed, etc and that is before 'keepers arrive'. If anyone here was to put 20k into a project like this he/she would first shoot at one of the better driven shoots as mentioned earlier. Even before putting money on a horse you'd look at the form.

deeksofdoom

Surely if your going to invest that amount of money in a shoot you'ld want to have thought it out a bit better than posting on boards for advice.

Reality check lad:rolleyes:

cookimonster

I used to do rabbit control on a big estate shoot with birds in the tens of thousands. The various pens where a mixture of entire plantations of trees wired off or free standing pens constructed from frames and mesh. What amazed me was the time and effort put into that set up, with miles of pipes for watering, the internal runs, the cleverly constructed exit / entry points and the use of electric wires to discourage vermin. No wonder the guns paid top dollar for the shoot.