At the moment we have 30 outdoor flight pens on our farm. The first six are smaller (50X160 feet) with 20x50 enclosure on the north side to protect younger birds from the weather once they leave brooder barn pens. That helps to protect them from the harsh Manitoba weather early in the season while the birds are transitioning to the outdoors. The larger 24 pens are 100X160 feet with a 15 foot high ceiling at the center. We have room to build another 20 pens to meet increasing demand.
The pens are equipped with automatic waterers which provide a constant source of fresh water, and feeders provide a constant source of nutrition in the pens. Throughout all pens we have strong natural cover. All three of these tools help the birds to grow into healthy, strong flying adults. All pens including barn pens are connected to a lane which we use for transferring birds and with a system of inside gates we create 6 catchpens where the birds are caught for shipping. All the pens are only accessible from this lane which means that two or more doors must be walked through and shut before birds can be accessed. This is done to prevent human error, birds escaping, and keep out predators.
The pens are equipped with automatic waterers which provide a constant source of fresh water, and feeders provide a constant source of nutrition in the pens. Throughout all pens we have strong natural cover. All three of these tools help the birds to grow into healthy, strong flying adults. All pens including barn pens are connected to a lane which we use for transferring birds and with a system of inside gates we create 6 catchpens where the birds are caught for shipping. All the pens are only accessible from this lane which means that two or more doors must be walked through and shut before birds can be accessed. This is done to prevent human error, birds escaping, and keep out predators.
To provide a healthy, strong flying pheasant takes a lot of care and hard work. Besides providing fresh water and specially formulated feed daily, a lot of attention needs to be paid to pen maintenance.
Spring will be here before we know it and it will be time to start preparations for new ground cover!
To make our pens accessible asap in the spring we remove "a little bit of snow" to speed up melting. This side is "only" 1km long.
Rototilling the pens every fall and spring helps to control disease. This dilutes the parasites that may be in the soil and provides new and fresh good cover for our pheasants. Rototilling also helps with proper drainage after heavy rain. This is important because mud can cause the birds’ tail feathers to become dry and brittle if they are left dirty for to long, causing them to break and chip.
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After the earth is turned over we plant either corn, sorghum or millet. In 2016 we managed to find and purchase lambsquarter seeds that will be added to our pens.
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Once our cover is successfully growing, it has to be managed again. Having the correct open space in a flight pen is just as important as having cover. That’s when we do some mowing to keep about 25% of the pen as open space. Pheasants need a place to sun themselves, dry off or dust. Having correct open space allows us to look in the pen and see what is going on and it allows the birds to see where the food and water are. This is especially important the first few days after they leave barn pens.
Younger birds in full grown cover.
In the fall at the end of the season cover in all pens is mowed down so we can start rototilling for the next year.