Management Pens

Small camps linking larger ones

A pen linking two or more game camps is a useful management tool. Typically such a structure would measure anything from 100 x 150 m to 300 x 500 m and be surrounded by a robust 2.4 m fence.   It should be equipped with gates in every corner and should have a water trough. (See diagram of typical layout here) This pen can be useful in the following ways:

Gates in every corner

1) The herd can be secured within the pen on the day before the vet comes, enabling rapid and easy darting from a vehicle.  This is useful if the terrain of the breeding camp is difficult or if you need to dart in a hurry because you need to deliver animals to a buyer on that day. 

2)  An animal which is being ostracised and attacked can be separated from the remainder of the herd by feeding the herd into the pen or by gently pressuring the outcast through the gate, so that a fence separates them from the others.  This is particularly helpful if the vet is not immediately available. 

3)  When the herd needs to be moved from one camp to the next, it is better to feed them into the management pen first, to make sure that all are present.  If a gate between two camps is simply left open, sometimes a single animal can get left behind. The herd moves away from the gate into the new camp so that the straggler can’t find the opening. In a management pen they can’t move off, so the way through is easier to find. If a management pen is not eqipped with gates in every corner, calves can blunder up and down the fence without finding a way out. Their soft young horns are in danger of being injured as they do this.

4)  Quite often the breeding bull can be lured into the pen on his own.  By using interleading camps linked by gates, he can be removed altogether from the breeding area.  This saves the expense and risk of darting him.