Pheasant pen

[Aspen Forest]

I'm curintly in the proces of planing out my pheasant pen . I want it to be 15 ft long by 8 ft wide and 8 ft tall. I was wondering if any of you could give me some tips and maybe some photos of your pens. What supplies you used would also be nice.
Thanks

 

[Tony K T]

Why not 16'lx8wx8h?It would save a little bit of cutting.I build a 16x16 and split down the middle,but I put a pitched roof so the peak is 10'h.







Then I build another 16x16 7'10"from the 1st one and join them together.So for every 4 pens built you get 5 8x16s.Perches are at 8',so the pitch covers them from drafts.Covered with meatl roofing and snow(what little we have this year)slides right off.All but 1 door are on the inside which will eliminate escapes.I have bungie cords that pull the doors shut,so no forgetting to shut the door behind you,they also have a roller catch(the kind they use on screen doors)so when it shuts,the catch holds it shut.
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[Aspen Forest]

I didn't even think of the boards being 16 to begin with. Thanks!
What kind of foliage and ground cover (like soil) do you use?

 

[Tony K T]

I had live aboratives in there but they died after 4 months as it is so dry in there.I put xmas trees in leaning into a corner somewhat hiding a barrel I have on the ground that some use to nest in.The base is a washed sand about 5"deep.I have a 4x4 squareand 8" deep with loam that I am planning on putting a screen over it and planting grass seed.I may put more loam so it will bring the grass closer to the top so I can leave the screen on and they can eat whatever grows thru it.
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[Aspen Forest]

Is this the type of sand to use? http://t.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-40-lb-White-Play-Sand-40105130/100350187?keyword=washed+sand
I live in the New Jersey pine barrens so our soil is already sandy
If I put some plants in there with them, or would they wind up eating to much of it?

 

[Tony K T]

It's washed sand from a landscaping place.It was 22.00 a yard and it took 8 yards to do a16'wx32'lx5"deep.It would cost you a mint to buy bags to cover your area.If the plants are big they would eat some and probably roost on the top of it.
In N.H.,Tony.

 

[ronistropicals]

are there any plants poisonious to the pheasant. I like your pen, its almost what i had in mind but i want to try with 1/2 roofed with tin and 1/2 with chicken wire. i wanted mine 8' sides with a higer peak to grow plants inside for them and irrigation in the pen,
thinking about geo zoysia sod for floor, still mulling over that though

 

[MinxFox]

I raise peafowl and from my experience with them, I have found that the birds instinctually know what they can and cannot eat. Several of the plants I grow in their pen are poisonous and I have had those plants in there for several years without issue. I am not sure what kind of pheasant you are looking into though. I would try and find photos of landscaped pheasant pens for ideas. A very great aviary plant is bamboo, but make sure you get the clumping variety. Since your username has tropicals in it, I figure you are into tropical plants. The bamboo definitely gives off a tropical feel since it is green all year round and provides leaf litter for the birds to scratch through. The bamboo also grows fast enough that you will soon have nice shade for your birds. Another unique aviary plant that looks tropical is the fatsia japonica. I have 3 of those in my aviary and I love them. Grass in at least one area of the pen is good too. Cast Iron plants are nice, but they may be picky if not grown in the shade or partial shade. There are other plants you can try out. My trick is to keep the plant potted inside the pen for a few days or longer and monitor if the birds start to destroy it or not. Normally they will take a few test pecks and that is okay. You will know when they will destroy something. This is just for peafowl though, as I think small pheasants are much better with planted pens. The more space you give the birds, the less likely the plants will get totally destroyed and the bigger the plant, the better chances it has. You can surround a young plant with small wire to keep it safe from the birds until it is big enough to survive them. If I can have plants in an aviary with 7 adult peafowl, I am sure you can have plants with little pheasants as long as you take care of the plants and choose good plants. Hope this helps as far as plants go!

 

[ronistropicals]

oh wow, i love the aviary pics, I had wanted peacocks until i heard how they scream. i wouldnt want to scare the neighbors lol.
I didn't realize anyone was this far south raising peafowl
Roni

 

[MinxFox]

Thanks! I asked the neighbors first before getting them. I have to keep my peafowl at my Grandma's because she has less neighbors and more land. Originally I think I was going to keep them here at home, but we are more surrounded by people and some people have negative opinions about peafowl such as they don't like the noise they make and they think they are a pest. My Grandma's neighbor was excited for me to get peafowl. It helps that we know the neighbors really well. It definitely helps to inform the neighbors of what a peacock sounds like, so that they don't think someone is crying for help when they first hear your peacock call. Also, it really helps to let them know that peacocks only make their loud calls in the spring and summer time which is when breeding season takes place. The rest of the year they are very quiet. The more peacocks you have the louder it can be, so if you just kept one peacock it probably wouldn't be that annoying to neighbors. I bough 2 peahens from a peafowl breeder that was in a neighborhood with houses all right next to them and they didn't seem to have issues, but it all depends on the neighbors. I personally love the noise the males make.

It does help to live out in the country if you want peafowl. I am hoping that once I am out of college and get a good job one day I will hopefully be able to move out more into the country and be surrounded by other people who enjoy raising various animals.

There are lots of people in Florida that raise peafowl and other birds. The Florida Avian Conservancy has peafowl as well as other unique birds. Another wonderful Florida peafowl breeder is Rocking BAB Ranch. They have over 100 peafowl so they are a big peafowl breeder.