Pheasant Release Pen..

[EoinGalway]

Lads,

A few of us are going to get 30-40 poults this year and try our hand a rearing them what I was hoping was some of ye could help me with is rough plans for a rearing pen?

 

Rough size required for that amount of birds?

Shelter\ Cover

Amount of feed \ variety ?

 

The predator protection\control is fine, from traps to electric fences .

 

All advice welcome!!

 

Cheers

Eoin

[Highlander]

30 or 40 I wouldn't bother :yp: with pheasants abilities to find ways to die you'll be lucky to have any left to shoot come season time If there's a few of you get a couple of hundred and you might raise enough to make it worth while.

[Browning]

I totally agree with Highlander, if you're going to go to the trouble then you may as well make it worthwhile.

 

You need to take into account the expense of building a release pen, buying the poults, feed hoppers and drinkers, poult pellets, worming solution, wheat etc etc.

 

You also need to take into account your land...is it good for holding the birds ? Do you have any natural covers? Will the farmer put in some cover strips for you?

 

If you estimate a 35% return being a good return, that means for your 40 birds released you will shoot 14.

(Unless you have shoots neighbouring your land that you can 'entice' birds from). Is it really worth the effort for 14 pheasants?

 

If you have the opportunity maybe it would be better getting more pals together and forming a small syndicate,

that way you could have a larger pot of cash to play with and make it more worthwhile.

[Teal]

Hi Eoin- don't wish to be a party pooper but 30-40 poults will literally disappear, if you can beg borrow or steal the equipment you will get a lot more for your money with dayolds, although this may be more time consuming than time will allow.

 

In answer to your question the pen doesn't have to be much size at all, although it is definitely worth building a bigger pen than necessary so that if you wish to put a few more down in future years you don't have to start again. You will need a couple of fox grids, and you want to peg down wire on the outside for about 1 foot out from the pen. Set electric fence about 1 metre away from the edge of pen.

 

For shelter some corrugated tin propped up on legs will be sufficient. You'll want to start them on growers pellets and slowly them onto wheat or wheat maize mix.

 

Otherwise you could always consider picking up some exlayers from a gamefarm, as you will find these are cheaper than poults and are probably more capable of survival, they may be more likely to walk though.

[EoinGalway]

In ireland are shooting districts are broken down by church parishes. So land is not a problem we have several large areas . Up to this year we normally buy in full adult birds (100-200), hold them in small release pens for a week or so and then release. we have a very health population already but it only takes one bad winter to thin the heard!

 

But problem is these birds are bought in the east of the country and are gathered up form shoots, most don't make the first few weeks after being released due to the completely different environment in the west of Ireland when I'm based and thats even with plenty of feeders out and about..

 

After years of tagging with little or no return some of the older member have finally copped on that this is a waist of money and have finally agreed to try the rearing route.

 

Now if we were to go with say 100-150 .. what size pen would you be talking..whats the survival ratio? (given birds will be 8-10 weeks old when we take delivery)

 

Cost is not really an issue between membership funds and fund raising. I would rather spend it right on construction of a decent pen that can hold adequate numbers

 

Cheers

Eoin

[scolopax]

Generally bigger is better when it comes to pheasant pens. My pen seems large but is only about 25m x 20m. I've released 100 and 130 into this pen for the last two seasons with no problems. But my pen is full of cover, nettles, bracken, brambles and elder so the birds can avoid each other. If there was very little ground cover the same sized pen might struggle to hold 50 birds before feather pecking and disease became a serious issue.

 

Also the GCT have done research that poults released that proves, all other things being equal, that birds in crowded pens tends to disperse more and further than birds turned out into less crowded pens.

[Ferretboy111]

I believe its like a meter of fence perimeter per bird, so in a 20*20m fence you can hold 80 birds.

 

so for 100 id build a 25*25m pen, or a few smaller ones to spread out the birds, you shouldnt get many die from 100, only if you dont keep up with the vermin control and allow them to get a disease, afew of mine got gape but that was in there later stages and so they got through it.

 

Building permanent release pens as ive found out, is very costly, there is no point in bodging it all with crappy netting or posts. Everything nearly needs to be bought new so the pen will last.

 

Electric fences arent conpulsary and cost £100's aswell. ive just pegged the wire a foot on the floor and put barbed wire around the bottom, havent had any problems with foxes yet. One reason why you could be loosing birds is because you havent got a permanent release pen they can have safety at night in, as until they start to roost they tend to be vunerable.

 

30-40 birds is sort of a waste of time however you will get good returns if you put 40 odd in an area with abit of maize and keeper them well, but only look to do one drive the whole day.

 

i have 3 pens, put 120 birds down=40 in each and have had a return of 81 pheasants this year with around 20+ still about. And im a student who does it part time but as the full time keeper.

:yp:

Alex