You must live in an area that gets less snow than we get... Fortunately, most of our snow is dry powder which doesn't cause problems. However, when we got 16 inches (about 40.6 cm) of heavy wet snow I had some flight netting come down and the sides of the pen collapsed in. I use poultry wire on my pens now, but some folks indicated that if a bird flies up into it they could get hurt or even break their necks. Do you find this to be a concern?Hello Frosty,
yes I have some experiences. I don’t know how much snow you get in winter time but my aviaries were still ok when I had 20 cm snow on top. If I had that much on top I were shake it down to avoid an overload.
Over the whole area I made steel crossing with 3x3 m and on all cross points were a pillar. In between the crossings a tensioned steel wire were supporting the covering. For covering I used a 50x50 mm wire mesh. But you can also use a net. But to remove the snow in winter it is easier with a wire mash and it is also more save for the peas because they cannot be cached up. If you are living in an area with a lot of snow I would recommend to make the steel crossing a little bit closer 2.5x2.5 m. When you look on the picture in post 27 (of Pfauenfreund in this thread) he has a similar design. On the picture you can see the steel crossing. On his web page he has a detailed description of his design (follow this link http://www.pfauenfarm.de/Home-English/The-Peafowl/Husbandry-PM/Aviary-PM/aviary-pm.html).
After you read his instruction and you still have some questions, don’t hesitate to contact me again.
Regards
PeaChecker