PENS AND SETUP

PENS AND SETUP
Here are a few of my first pens. If your just starting out you can see some of the mistakes I've made and can avoid those, you may like some of my ideas. This site has photos of other farms so you may like something you see from them. An example of this might be the Kootte pens. They build them long and narrow. I like this a lot, the birds will move to the back of the pen wile your working in them and they will stay calm,especially if you plant cover for them to hide in.	Golden Pheasant Pen
This pen houses my Goldens. I like this pen but it is too small, 8x8. I intend to lengthen it by 6 feet in the back. That will make it 112 sq feet and it will be rectangular. I like the shade this location provides. That's 12" hard board siding around the bottom. I put that there to keep Raccoons from pulling the Pheasants through the wire.	Silver Pheasant Pen
This pen is 8 x 10 (still too small) It will be lengthened by 4 feet in the back to 10 x 12.	Lady Amherst Pen
This is a photo taken from the inside of the pen and shows the center post that holds up the top netting. I like to use rough cut logs and timber, I think it looks cool and gives the birds a natural feeling. Here I attached the perches to the post with 3" screws. I like this because it keeps the birds from perching near the wire where they are vulnerable to attack by predators at night. A side benefit to using logs is that they are free. I like free.	Temmincks Tragopan Pen
This is a view of the top of my Temmincks pen from the inside. I attach furring strips from the center post to the side walls with 3/4" wide steel strips that I bend to the necessary angle. I use 3/4" long screws so that I don't rip the top netting. I use 1 1/2" screws into the log. All this is to help bear any ice and snow load that might build up before I can get it off. Here in western new York snow happens.	Swinhoe's Pen
Here are a pair of young Swinhoe's Pheasants. I wanted to show you this picture because it is a good example of improvisation. I was given a nice pile of beautiful 1" x 8" pine. I spliced furring strips to this and stapled on 1" poultry netting. The top netting is supported with a pole, like the picture above. This pen is 20' x 10' and is split in the center to make two 10' x 10' pens. I always staple the wire to the inside so that birds don't try to perch there exposing themselves to predator attack.
Impian Pen	Impian Pen
This is the same pen from two different angles. I like this pen a lot but it's a little small for Impians, it's about 14' x 8'. I have a spot picked out where a tree fell over and the roots are out of the ground that I think will be perfect for them, but they are fine for now. I will put Grey Peacock Pheasants here when I get them. This pen is attached to the back of my Karate Dojo so it's close to electricity and Grey Peacock Pheasants need a little heat in the winter. You might notice that this pen has a center pole, the perches are a large vine that I cut out of the woods and screwed to the pole. The birds ignore it and perch on the A-frame. I make the A-frames out of skids that I get free from work, they are covered with rubber backed carpet. Also free... Did I mention that I like free?