2010 Pen Reconstruction Progress 

Back in April a formidable task was undertaken to reconstruct and refurbish a vast number of the flight pens on the farm. The flight pens had sustained heavy structural damage due to a winter storm in December of ’09. A timeline was set and a crew was assembled to complete the task by October 1, 2010. That crew consisted of Nicholas Dembicky, Felipe Casique, Josh Shepherd, and me. That goal has been met and surpassed.

 

Pen #4, which arguably, sustained the most damage, has been completely revamped. Almost every perimeter post has been replaced by round posts and many division fences have received new 4x4 posts. New steel cable has been run across all the pens and new prop posts have been placed. It has also been covered in its entirety in new high strength netting.

 

Pen #12 at Noss Road also received the new netting treatment. The old netting was removed with machetes and steel cable was run across all pens. The new netting was then spread and stretched. The lane and catch pens were also re-netted with high strength green netting.

 

Pen #11 at Noss Road was converted from a counter-weight system to a traditional prop post style system of netting support. The PVC, steel cable, and steel rods that composed the counter weight system were removed. New steel cable was run in its place and prop posts were put in place. Due to the moving parts of the counter weight system, reliability was an issue. The prop post system is proven and effective.

 

Pen #8 has been converted from a pulley system to the traditional prop post system. Along with the removal of the pulley system, the largest pens on the south half of #8 were divided in half to make them more manageable. New division posts were placed and fences were installed. The telephone poles that the pulley system was attached to were also removed.

 

A similar task was performed at the Contract Pen. The largest pens were divided in half with new division fences, again for manageability.

 

Other pens including #5, #6, #7, and various partridge pens have also received work. Many of the pens have received new perimeter and division posts as well as new cable for the netting support.

 

Although the initial project is complete, the reconstruction process is ongoing. We have round posts leftover from the construction of pens at Noss Road so they are being utilized in other areas on the farm that need them.

 

The work that has been done over the last six months has yielded tremendous results, and we will continue to update and refurbish the pens as time and weather allow.