Pen construction?

Hobie1026

Hobie1026

Active member
Hi,

Need some advice on pen construction. I'm building a new pen for some pigeons and a few pheasants. The pen at my previous house worked great until the rats managed to dig 6 inches down and under the frame. One night, all birds and fledglings slaughtered. :mad:

This time I'm thinking of nailing chicken wire to the bottom of the 2x4 frame before anchoring it into the ground. I'm not sure if we have rats in the area or not; we up pretty high but I know we have skunks and raccoons.

Would chicken wire work or would I be better off going with hardware cloth? Any other tips on keeping varmints out and the nests and birds safe would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
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Best thing is to pour a footing beneath the ground, I have used concrete, I tried 1 foot, later 3 foot. 1 foot, they will still dig. and you have to intercept with a trap, it works to put a trap with bird feathers in a hole outside the perimeter, angled to the fence, the rotters will be compelled to try that, weasels, raccoons, possums, a badger, fox, even a bobcat. With 3 foot deep they seem to believe it's undefeatable, they quit digging and find a way into the roof or chew the wire to get in. It's a constant maintenance to acheive victory. The ground footings are a little formitable in effort, and cost a good bit to! You might consider a raised floor with double wall wire, the predators will try to get in, If they are located in an open area, where they have to risk opening to get at it, is a practical solution, they can be as long as you have space, and finances to build, use 12' 2x4's upright, and put heavy hardware cloth on both sides. I do it on the side and on top too.
 
Thanks for the advice O&N. I'm putting pens up next spring in an area in an area I unfortunately can't keep an eye on the birds. My dad is going to stop through daily for feeding and pen checks but nevertheless, I have to make sure the pen is as predator proof as possible.
 
I used chicken wire as a wall for the out side flight pen. Then heavy hardware cloth 3' wide, and laid it up the sides a bit. And then bent it so it lays flat on the ground out a couple feet. Stake it down and let the grass grow through it. You can mow over it etc. The critter have always tried to dig under next to the fence. Never out 2' away. 15 years or more of birds and not once have I had something dig in. My shed I used thick sheet aluminum buried in the ground a couple feet as a skirt, with a wooden floor. Ply wood. I still trap what ever comes around. But nothing has gotten in. Just a few owls get some from time to time through the net. If they roost on a post in the wrong place.
 
Electic fence wire three or four inches high around the pen works very well to keep out most critters.
 
Win97 said:
Electic fence wire three or four inches high around the pen works very well to keep out most critters.
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I've considered this. Also seen a green light at the top of the pen to keep the owls away. From what I've heard this works. Anyone have first hand experience with this.:confused:
 
I have worked with electricity to try to fend off critters with gamebirds, chickens, and worse off a sheep! Unless you are vigilent about your fence, I mean super duper vigilent, it will not work for long. I don't know where even electric mesh panels a 2"x4" will work long, to many ways under it. It might work for the neighborhood dogs. Any worthwhile predators will be under the fence within two weeks. As far as a green light goes, we tryed that with sheep, any sheep fencing store will have them, we used a red/green, stop/go flasher. Eventually, the predators forget the light flashers are not bigger badder predators eyes, and resume their mayhem. We had better success with talk radio on all night, ( Rush Limbaugh reprodcasts were great, ironically), Electric works until either the electric fails, ( trust me the predators know, I had raccoons who test the wires, and coyotes who sniff it and go over), or the grass goes up around it, grass grows inexplicablly in the force field of eletric fence, more maintence, or here it gets dry enough a 6' ground rod won't complete the circuit. The real fact is, use a physical deterent, all this hocu-pocus about electric fence as a stand alone, with some less than stellar wire behind, will result in a complete wipeout of your fledging birds, those are the ones you spent money, time, nuturing and feeding until they were ready to do something with, gone in one night, they don't just get one, they kill or traumatize them all. If electrical wire would work, I be a big booster. Electric wire is a physcological deterent, it might be a good choice for an alternative, to other forces of jail cell deterent. The guard dog or a mule, that does eat fowl, and lives near the pen, free range, is a lot better for sleepless night. Physcological deterents are only effect if you can convince a predator that his fear of security is overwhelming his instinct to kill, and his growling stomach. With owls and hawks, using light weight mesh cover works well, if the hit it, it tangles around, it's heck of a way out, but it will not reduce raccoons or possums from the feast. If you use electric fence better have you superman cape on, and ready, all hours of the day and night, with a boom stick finale solution deterent, and a microsopically compunction to clip grass, and test the charge every foot daily, ( I hate that, what if your gone?), or the predators in your neck of the woods are less determined there, than they are here. You need an Alcatraz system instead of the "Hogan's Hero's stalaga #13, Nobody escapes here. Nobody!
 
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Why couldn't he just build it up off the ground with hail screen as the floor for the dropping to go through?
 
duckn66 said:
Why couldn't he just build it up off the ground with hail screen as the floor for the dropping to go through?
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You have to with quail. Or sooner or later we will have the wholesale slaughter from disease. It might take a couple of years, and some producers are lucky, I do not medicate my birds, isolation from the soil is mandatory. Or you could use "new" ground every year. Pheasant are hardier.
 
Thank you for all the responses. I had one elevated pen and it was a pain in the butt getting the birds out of. Granted it was a design flaw on the part of the designer but I prefer to have one I can walk into for cleaning, feeding, and getting the birds.

It's mostly for pigeons. The pheasants that will be in there won't be there long enough to get sick. I don't medicate my birds either (except the chickens but that's another forum). I've played with the idea of adding some Cotournix (sp?) quail but the last (and first and only) bunch of bobwhites I had were suicidal and dreamed up new and creative ways to kill themselves faster than I could remedy the last method they used. I think I need hardier birds.
 
I have never seen cortunix quail fly after about 8 weeks, they become to heavy and can make a short flight, like 10 feet. I realize the fly in Egypt, Here the are meat birds period, don't waste your time. Try a johnny house and get those quail flight time!
 
My biggest predetors have been my neighbors dogs. One killed all eighty of my pheasants that I was saving for my next years breeders. Most were melinistic mutants. My pen was made from a old barn foundation with thee foot high cement wall except for where there were two slidding doors. Over this opening I had 1x2 inch welded wire. It was not good enough to keep out a large determined dog. The other time anothers neighbors dog came into my yard and kill over 60 chickens that I was raising. So electic fence has worked for me but yes like eveything, it takes some mataince and is not perfect but just one thing you can do to help protect your birds.:)
 
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