Ozzy Fudd Posted December 2, 2009 Report Share Posted December 2, 2009 (edited) just wondering really, me and mate have been talking (well, he's been talking, ive been listening) about building a small pheasant pen at his house. theres about 100 acres of land, set in a bit of a valley, with a river running down one side, steep hill on the other. about half of the land is a water meadow, very boggy. were not talking about much, maybe releasing 20 to 30 pheasants a year for, only for 3 of us (me, him and his dad). not too worried about foxes, his dad's out most nights with the .223, and there 3 chicken farms within 3 miles of the house, so foxes are kept well in check, but firstly, how difficult is it to rear pheasants? and secondly, how easy is it to keep them in the one area? and any idea of the rough cost? just looking an idea failing that were going to dig out the river and make a duck pond Edited December 2, 2009 by babbyc1000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tweedledee Posted December 2, 2009 Report Share Posted December 2, 2009 sadly you are n`t allowed to dig out a river.doe will be on to you big time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libs Posted December 2, 2009 Report Share Posted December 2, 2009 I was told by a keeper that its like releasing a bag of wind, but one that cost you an awful lot of money and time. Good luck if you do get something going though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Fudd Posted December 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2009 eh, we werent digging out the river, we were merely digging a drainage ditch in the field near to the river, and it, eh, filled up so i take it pheasants are not that easy then? sorry for asking daft questions, the only real contact ive had with them is when they used to escape from an estate near where i lived and would wander round our fields Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadkill Posted December 2, 2009 Report Share Posted December 2, 2009 there not that hard , but you do have to have a bit of time but other than that quite easy to be honest , Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackbart Posted December 2, 2009 Report Share Posted December 2, 2009 If it is marsh/bog land,just dig a hole anywhere and it will fill up with water.As for the birds just pen them for a while then release them and see what happens ! It isnt going to break the bank if you are only talking 30 birds.Stick some feeders out and they already have water to hand and you may get lucky and some will hang around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Fudd Posted December 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2009 cheers, i think the general idea had been he'll do all the work if i buy the pheasants and the feed for them, so we'll see ps cant dig out the boggy ground, its used for sheep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happychappy246 Posted December 2, 2009 Report Share Posted December 2, 2009 on that sort of scale it should be easy to rear them depending on what age you get the pheasants , if they are chicks or 2-3 weeks old you might want to get a thew more as they are prone to finding some way to kill themselves but other than that they are straight forward . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollie Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 We get the poults at about 6-8 weeks old and put them in a pen with a net roof to hold them initially. When they are released we have plenty of feeders stocked with wheat and this should hold them. Have you much natural cover on the land? There is only 3 in our syndicate and we release 70ish birds a year, but even this involves a lot of time. They need fed every day, snares need checked and odd jobs need done. Why don't you do both and dig a pond aswell (maybe release some duck aswell). Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markm Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 You don't need to be a brain surgeon but it takes time (loads of it), even if its 50 - 50,000!!! 1. Buy poults. Around £3 - 4, around 7 weeks. 2. Buy grower pellets (approx 1 tonne per 300 birds) 3. Clean water (lots of) 4. Grit, I find poultry grit to be good 5. Get them used to 1 type of feeder, I find springs the best. 6. Provide shelter in and around the outside of the pen (old tin roofing, low at an angle to allow the rain to run off) 7. Roll a couple of bales of straw around the pen and in the pen (although some people dont agree with inside for disease) 8. Worm when you first get them and if needed just before they start to escape, if wing clipped approx 3 weeks, if not as soon as you put them in the pen. Either in food (expensive) or water (cheaper - PM if you want to know what to use) 9. Watch for disease on a daily basis, any probs get an ill one to a vet quick if you cant id what is wrong 10. Loads of feeders around the pens to keep them hanging around (wheat, good stuff without stones and straw and get them used to it early) 12. When you want them to spead about feed away from pen 13. Prepare for death, lots of it cos it will happen, that is the only thing you can be g'teed, disease, cars, dogs, birds, you, each other, foxes, badgers, stotes, rats, mink, cats, fences - you name it, it kills em!!!!! Oh and if you can afford it, electric fence units as they will help prevent some of the above Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPT1 Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 eh, we werent digging out the river, we were merely digging a drainage ditch in the field near to the river, and it, eh, filled up so i take it pheasants are not that easy then? sorry for asking daft questions, the only real contact ive had with them is when they used to escape from an estate near where i lived and would wander round our fields Yours will do exactly the same, but in your neibours fields Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Fudd Posted December 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 thanks everyone, giving me plenty to think about Yours will do exactly the same, but in your neibours fields i know, but were hoping the layout of the land should help us a good bit (but we'll see ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benelli montefeltro Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 why the hell even bother with the hassle! they offer no sport them things! give me a pigeon anyday. them things half time want to run along the ground for flipsake! but then again i guess its seen as fashionable isnt it! oh i was out ther and got a few pheasants, wat a load of ****. how could guys who know the sport that pigeons provide resort to shooting them things! i have never shot one in my life and never will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Fudd Posted December 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 (edited) why the hell even bother with the hassle! they offer no sport them things! give me a pigeon anyday. them things half time want to run along the ground for flipsake! but then again i guess its seen as fashionable isnt it! oh i was out ther and got a few pheasants, wat a load of ****. how could guys who know the sport that pigeons provide resort to shooting them things! i have never shot one in my life and never will ok im going to say three things to you, and thats the end of it 1 - youre a troll, so **** off 2 - im not doing it for sport, im doing it for food, if i want sport ill go out after crows 3 - as i wear camo and use mossberg pump actions (since i got rid of my **** montefeltro) i can in no way be considered fashionable oh and one final point, rabbits run along the ground too you muppit, does that mean we cant shoot them cos its not sporting?? Edited December 3, 2009 by babbyc1000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benelli montefeltro Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 ive got just one reply for you babby, you are without doubt a moron who should not be permitted to hold a firearms licence, stick to them crows mate, oh and i love my montefeltro! your the type of guy who would blow a pheasant out of a tree with your pump gun arent you? oh yeah, now thats sport!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Fudd Posted December 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 ive got just one reply for you babby, you are without doubt a moron who should not be permitted to hold a firearms licence, stick to them crows mate, oh and i love my montefeltro! your the type of guy who would blow a pheasant out of a tree with your pump gun arent you? oh yeah, now thats sport!! actually i would, what has sport got to do with food?! you seem quite transfixed with this notion of sport, well i dont shoot for sport. i shoot for the pot and for pest control purposes. yeah, i enjoy it, but personally i see "sport" as a very lame excuse for killing an animal... anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davie mac Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 babby,your a bad bad man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benelli montefeltro Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 babby i would just say you have alienated a hell of alot of people by admitting you would blow a pheasant out of a tree. yes i accept that it offers you your best chance cos your a **** shot, but cumon, thats not what pot hunting is all about!! your a thug, thats best way i could describe you! oh and have you heard of tescos?? or are you on the rook stew tonite you moron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Fudd Posted December 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 (edited) babby i would just say you have alienated a hell of alot of people by admitting you would blow a pheasant out of a tree. yes i accept that it offers you your best chance cos your a **** shot, but cumon, thats not what pot hunting is all about!! your a thug, thats best way i could describe you! oh and have you heard of tescos?? or are you on the rook stew tonite you moron nope, i dont eat crows, theyre pest control. as for being a **** shot, well, maybe i am, maybe im not, but the way i see it i owe my quarry the cleanest kill possible - if that means making the choice between a 100% chance kill of a bird sitting in a tree, compared to a 90% chance on one thats moving then ill go for the 100% one, seems quite simple to me or are you one of these people who only take "sporting" shots, ie, more difficult shots that test your skill, and therefore increases the chances of only wounding the quarry, thus showing it very little respect?? maybe you should take a look at yourself mate... oh and if again, in future, you come totally unarmed to a battle of wits, resorting to petty insults is not the way to win.... :lol: Edited December 3, 2009 by babbyc1000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benelli montefeltro Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 babby you shoot sitting birds with a shotgun..... enough said realy. there is hundreds of shooters who wouldnt dream of shooting something sitting with a shotgun, when your decoying do you let the flock of pigeons land? what satisfaction is there out of that, maybe its for small minds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paddy Galore! Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 Benelli montefeltro, are you doing this on purpose? this is the second time i've come across you bad mouthing other members in less than a week. have a word with yourself and calm down please. some people are genuinely interested in this, if you are so anti then may i suggest you don't read anymore threads, at least that way you won't get so wound up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libs Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 nope, i dont eat crows, theyre pest control. as for being a **** shot, well, maybe i am, maybe im not, but the way i see it i owe my quarry the cleanest kill possible - if that means making the choice between a 100% chance kill of a bird sitting in a tree, compared to a 90% chance on one thats moving then ill go for the 100% one, seems quite simple to me or are you one of these people who only take "sporting" shots, ie, more difficult shots that test your skill, and therefore increases the chances of only wounding the quarry, thus showing it very little respect?? maybe you should take a look at yourself mate... oh and if again, in future, you come totally unarmed to a battle of wits, resorting to petty insults is not the way to win.... :lol: Responding to a troll or not, you can't shoot pheasants roosting, its just not cricket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Fudd Posted December 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 babby you shoot sitting birds with a shotgun..... enough said realy. there is hundreds of shooters who wouldnt dream of shooting something sitting with a shotgun, when your decoying do you let the flock of pigeons land? what satisfaction is there out of that, maybe its for small minds no, i let them get close enough so ive got as sure a shot as i can get, however any that have landed in the past have been shot on the ground. Benelli montefeltro, are you doing this on purpose? this is the second time i've come across you bad mouthing other members in less than a week. have a word with yourself and calm down please. some people are genuinely interested in this, if you are so anti then may i suggest you don't read anymore threads, at least that way you won't get so wound up. he's a troll, ignore him Responding to a troll or not, you can't shoot pheasants roosting, its just not cricket. whats cricket got to do with getting dinner?! perhaps we shouldnt keep cows in fields and send them to abbatoirs, its hardly giving them a sporting chance now is it? hey maybe lots of people disagree, i dont care, but the most important thing to me, either for pest control shooting or shooting for food, is ensuring that i get as clean a kill as possible. i DO NOT like injuring and causing suffering to animals/birds, so if that means shooting something in a tree... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benelli montefeltro Posted December 3, 2009 Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 thankyou libs, show this guy what he does is totally wrong, regardless if he thinks its fairer cos he will kill it. or even then he prob wounds them!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Fudd Posted December 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2009 thankyou libs, show this guy what he does is totally wrong, regardless if he thinks its fairer cos he will kill it. or even then he prob wounds them!!! insults again, you never learn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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