What is the general layouts of your pens..... Sizes shapes how they connect etc.... Is two one and a half acre pens and a three acre pen enough to get startedor would you use six acres differently and I don't mean yeah plant pumpkins and get out now lol. I have found this place awesome thank you all so much. Hope to get a good thread going here..... Open lots tree's in lots lean to etc... I will be visiting those who invite me at some point I'm in south West Ohio so Ohio Kentucky Indiana ......
Pens????
- Thread starter Memory Lane Farms
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Joined Oct 2009
3,165 Posts | 1+
upstate ny
Go back in the old fourms and you will see where this has been talked about many times! There is some good info on pen and handling areas in there!!
Joined Apr 2009
624 Posts | 0+
Clinton, PA
I have read all post I could find from advanced search. There just isn't a lot of details. So that's why I asked.... I saw a post where there runs were 150'x500' etc.. I'm just looking for details how many deer in how much space I would think more does in a acre than bucks what do you guys do?
Memory lane
Welcome to the idea of deer farming. There are lots of different ways to lay out a farm it just depends on your lay of the land. Im In southern Indiana and give tons of farm tours.Im a small operation with 28 head . If you get this way i would love to show you my layout. Jim
Welcome to the idea of deer farming. There are lots of different ways to lay out a farm it just depends on your lay of the land. Im In southern Indiana and give tons of farm tours.Im a small operation with 28 head . If you get this way i would love to show you my layout. Jim
Well I have my first official visit to a functioning Deer farm scheduled R Double T Whitetails in Springfield Oh. Have ta say a special thanks to them.... Also only about an hour away!!!!
Yes... we feel your pain. We actually visited a working farm yesterday. Only one of two who replied to my many request to visit their set ~ up. But we got a lot of information and made a connection so we feel better about the lack of response. We will be getting back with Tom and going to visit other farms as he volunteered to take us. We feel fortunate that he was available to share his wisdom before we jumped in with both feet. We would have definitely not lasted long because we were way off in what we thought we should be doing! lol. Good luck!
110x300 foot pens work for us but most cant go out and build 8 pens at once so if you have to do as we did and build one pen and expand always keep a open mind to what you next step is and were your handling system will be set up to work your deer if thats the way your going to go and how your going to connect your pens.
Mem Lane, you visiting farms will be the most beneficial thing you can do to learn about pen layout. Visit as many as you can to learn the most. RTT will be a great place to start. Barry has nice pens and really cares about his deer.
cloudycr said:
Now in an area of that size what is the average number of deer you keep in there. That seems a little small to me but at that size I could essentially have ten pens.
It's not small if you manage it right.........no pen is to small with in reason......if you manage it right...don't let anyone tell you that.......if there is no grass...yes there is a problem.......if they are walking in mud...yes there is a problem......make the pens bigger or limit the amount of deer per pen....pretty simple if you ask me.....
I try and build my pens about 150x320 That way three rolls does does the first pen and then 2 rolls does each add on. That size pen allows me to watch all my deer easy and if I need to dart one I can get it done with out cause a lot of trouble.
Yep Tom this is pretty much the same thing I did........I visited a lot of farms and this is what made the most sense.........in order to take the best care of your animals the right pen size is essential......
Absolutely elated... Just returned from R double T Whitetails With a nice visit with Barry!!! Amazing what he's doing there... We are all in for sure what a nice setup he has definitely the beginning of a long relationship!!
Most pens have gates that lead into alley's but it is also great to have gates that go from pen to pen. If you just want to move them to the next pen it is alot easier.
After I built my first 4 pens I feel like I messed up. I wish I had an alleyway with pens on each side. I think its a good idea to have gates between the pens too. I also have gates at each end of the pen. Sometimes its kinda nice to have. I also put a small walk door in the middle of all my gates. Then you dont have to open the big gate every time you want to walk through.
few people offer the deer shade. then they cry about the heat of summer and the problems that arise. Plan shade trees , maybe you won;t have their problems. When I google earth and look at most farms there is no trees. Should be trees in every pen.
Joined May 2009
2,369 Posts | 0+
Chillicothe, Missouri
Trees are nice but they also bring problems with them,Limbs on fence,bird roost, predator perch................Good shelters are just as big of a plus!