Pop holes

Rigsetter

Member
Got the job of fitting new pop holes in 3 of our pheasant pens on our DIY shoot. I had not done this before so did some research on line and rather than mess about making them myself I found some great ones at about £30 each at Solwayfeeders and my Shoot Captain authorised the purchse so I bought them and fitted them a couple of weeks ago. Fingers crossed for the season and that I installed them correctly!!!
 
Have just had a look at those from Solway Feeders. Only problem I see is that the fox grid is not set back into the pen from the wire. Reason for this is that when birds walk into butterfly they are looking across the fox grid, particularly if there are several of them and seem to have difficulty in seeing a way through the grid and into the tunnel. If the fox grid is set back about a foot into the pen then the birds can turn into the tunnel and align their body before meeting with the grid making a much easier entry for them. The mesh around the inside of the pen to stop birds walking out is a good idea. I usually use sticks to reduce their opportunity for this. Otherwise these seem a good buy or plagiarism opportunity.
 
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wow , 30 quid each , some lenths of re bar and 1" chicken wire a hog ring pliers and 10 minutes will have a pop hole assembled i'm in the wrong job lol
 
yes they look pretty good
take care over your popholes.
YOU HAVE TO WATCH AND SEE THAT THEY ARE WORKING
first make sure the birds inside cannot get OUT
otherwise you can loose the lot in a half hour.
I prefer a ski jump inside, they can walk up and hop over the wire

Next make sure your lead- ins direct the birds into the popholes.
pheasants are really stupid they will sooner try to force their way through the
chicken wire rather than go through the tunnel.

when the birds fly out walk them quietly round the pen to make sure the pop holes are working.
I prefer a one way system walking round the pen , either clock wise or anti clockwise.
Once they get use to it they will be ok.
In the first few weeks every poult you walk back in is worth £3.50 to you

you can make your own out of threaded rod with a gap set at 3.5 inches
 
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The less complicated the better pheasants are thick as shi% I get standard pop holes from Collins nets and make the inner and outer funnels from weld mesh ( 2" squares ) so it's all galvo and dead easy the ones with fingers to stop escape from inside out only need a twig and they foul up .
another thing I see on many pens is a pop hole every flippin 3 miles of pen I put plenty in

Norma
 
The less complicated the better pheasants are thick as shi% I get standard pop holes from Collins nets and make the inner and outer funnels from weld mesh ( 2" squares ) so it's all galvo and dead easy the ones with fingers to stop escape from inside out only need a twig and they foul up.

So what design of funnel do you have on the inside?
 
Weld mesh sides same height as the grid with the top square bent over and the bottom squares cut to leave spikes pushed into the soil at an angle to leave a 4/5" gapfor the birds to re enter . then a weld mesh roof fixed with net staples or cable ties if you haven't got the staple tool .ill see if I can put some pics up
norma
 
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