How do y'all set up your breeding pens?

DH has started marking off space for the breeding pens. He has not sectioned them off. I plan on putting my trio of RP in one and putting 2 Narragansett hens with a Blue Slate Tom, and a Bourbon Red Hen with a RP tom. What do I need in terms of space? Do I need a roost? What about nesting boxes? As far as space I have a 20 ft ceiling in the barn and somewhere around 8ft x 4 ft stalls. I can go bigger if I need to but that is how he put the t posts in the ground.

on a side note, I sure wish I had a Narragansett tom, a blue slate hen or two and a Bourbon Red Tom. I lost too many poults and did not end up with pairs of everything.

I look forward to see what others have to say.

Kuntrygirl, do you use breeding pens? I'm also wondering how long they need to be together for pure eggs, or the mix I've set up. A week a month

Yes, I do. I like to set them up at least a month ahead of time.

WOW WOW WOW, I love your pens!!! My concept is the same but I have the pens in a 20 x 40 pole building. I can't tell how big you have yours sectioned off but I think mine are too small. That's ok because I can adjust the size because all we have is 4 t posts set so far. Love the roosts. I can't tell exactly but do you have the nest in the ground under the roosts?

r4eboxer said:

WOW WOW WOW, I love your pens!!! My concept is the same but I have the pens in a 20 x 40 pole building. I can't tell how big you have yours sectioned off but I think mine are too small. That's ok because I can adjust the size because all we have is 4 t posts set so far. Love the roosts. I can't tell exactly but do you have the nest in the ground under the roosts?

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Thanks. BUT... (drum roll)...........Mine are too small as well. if I had to do it all over again, I would make a few changes.

#1. Make the entrance as tall as I am. I am 5'7", so the entrance would be at least a 6 foot entrance. I HATE HATE HATE having to duck down to get in and out.
#2. I would make the single compartments a little wider AND longer (extending toward the back). Each individual stall is 5'x6'. That is NOT big enough for me. However, I think it is if you just have a hen and rooster. I guess I'm thinking about my own reasons for wanting it bigger.

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Other features that I will mention.......
1. I have portable roosts. I can take the roosts out and put them back in.
2. I also have portable nesting boxes. I can pick them up, take them anywhere, drop them off, use them and when I'm done, I pick them up and take them out or I can leave it where I want it. (SEE PIC BELOW).


My hen has the option to go in the nesting box or lay eggs on the ground. It's up to her but I do provide a nesting box.

VERY nice nesting box. I did a search on turkey breeding pens I and saw where someone was using saw horses. I may use that Idea. I'm going to redo the pen sizes. I've got the barn split in two with a square hay bale wind barrier that I can easily move to get more room. My geese use half the barn and I"m going to use the other half for the turkeys and two breeds of chicks. I'm comfortable with the size of the pen for the chickens but the turkeys are so much bigger. I'm going to do 4 pens in half the barn. I can go pretty high, 20 ft but will most likely only go about 8 ft up. I want a walkway in the middle with 2 pens on each side. I'll try to get some pics when I start and finish.

I know what you mean about ducking. I have to duck getting into the chicken run. I've got the netting too low and it skims my head as I go about chores. If it's raining I come out of there with a mop head from all the water on the net.

kuntrygirl, how many birds do you have in each pen?

r4eboxer said:

VERY nice nesting box. I did a search on turkey breeding pens I and saw where someone was using saw horses. I may use that Idea. I'm going to redo the pen sizes. I've got the barn split in two with a square hay bale wind barrier that I can easily move to get more room. My geese use half the barn and I"m going to use the other half for the turkeys and two breeds of chicks. I'm comfortable with the size of the pen for the chickens but the turkeys are so much bigger. I'm going to do 4 pens in half the barn. I can go pretty high, 20 ft but will most likely only go about 8 ft up. I want a walkway in the middle with 2 pens on each side. I'll try to get some pics when I start and finish.

I know what you mean about ducking. I have to duck getting into the chicken run. I've got the netting too low and it skims my head as I go about chores. If it's raining I come out of there with a mop head from all the water on the net.

 

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Thanks

I'm loving your idea of the turkey breeding pens. Man, that's gonna be SWEET !!!!!!!! I can't wait to see how it turns out. Please do take pics throughout your process. You may want to have pics so that you can enter any future contest for breeding pens. :/ I'm thinking yours is gonna be NICE !!!

Great idea to do the saw horse nesting boxes for the turkeys. I like that!

I have absolutely zero experience in this subject but I was thinking some soft lights, put on the best of Barry White and chill a bottle of Chardonnay would be a good start. Or does Merlot go better with chicken?