Building a Flight Pen - Part 1: Research and Starting the Flight Pen

This blog marks the beginning of a series discussing the creation of the first flight pen at One-Eared Dog Farm. Mike and I had to begin with heavy research and planning when we created One-Eared Dog Farm. There were two major sources that were absolute gems in preparation for the creation of our first flight pen; Macfarlane Pheasants out of Janesville, Wisconsin and “Commercial and Ornamental Game Bird Breeders Handbook”. Macfarlane’s website has a plethora of user-friendly resources including multiple “how to” guides for getting started. The handbook proved a scientific background that Mike and I both enjoyed.

Once we felt confident in the research we completed, we created a game plan for getting started. We worked with the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to create a farm plan, applied for a license to raise game birds with the Department of Natural Resources, and created our business with the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. With the details ironed out, we ordered our first chicks for the spring and building supplies in the fall of 2019. We supported our local Menards for the lumber needed and 3T products for the chicken wire, netting, and aircraft cable. We enjoy saving big money at Menards and 3T has fair prices and great service as well.

We used string and stakes to mark where each post would be in our planned 40’x60’ flight pen (with ten feet between each) and measured from corner to corner to ensure the pen was square. Any differences in the cross-measurement meant that our pen was not properly square. The stakes were moved many, many times as Mike and I are equally perfectionists. With the delivery of twenty 6"x6”x10’ posts, I had one serious workout on my hands (and some blisters as well) as I stubbornly dug all the holes with a manual posthole digger. Each post is buried three feet deep, leaving a foundation for the seven feet above ground. Each hole was dug and measured, the posts were set in and checked for proper depth again, and the soil was firmly tamped around the posts while ensuring all were plumb. The process was manual and meticulous, but also extremely satisfying. Check out our second and third blogs for the remaining details on how we created our first flight pen!