Animal Compounds, Pens & Quarantine Areas
Runs and compounds that hose down and never rot
Animal housing is wet, dirty and chewed. PolyBrick® walls wash clean, cannot rot or harbour damp, and take apart when you need to move or reconfigure a compound.
Why PolyBrick works here
Anything containing animals takes punishment that garden structures do not. It gets wet daily, it gets soiled, it gets leaned on, scratched, rubbed and chewed, and it needs cleaning down regularly.
Timber absorbs all of that. It soaks up urine and washing water, stays damp in the shaded low courses where it matters most, and once it starts to soften it becomes both a structural problem and a place bacteria and other biohazardous organisms live. Treated timber puts preservative in reach of animals that chew.
PolyBrick is non-absorbent. It does not take up moisture, so it does not soften, rot or harbour damp in the base courses, and it hoses down to a clean surface rather than staying permanently grubby. The material is inert, so there is nothing applied to it that can be chewed off.
Because there are no fixings, a compound can also be reconfigured. Runs get extended, pens get subdivided, a quarantine area gets built and taken down again, and the blocks move to the next job rather than being cut up.
Where this works well
- Poultry and duck runs
- Rabbit and guinea pig compounds
- Dog runs and kennel surrounds
- Pig arks and pig pen walls
- Goat and sheep pens
- Feed store and hay store walls
- Isolation and quarantine pens
- Rescue and rehoming facilities
At a glance
| Assembly | Push-fit interlock. No tools, mortar or fixings |
| Cleaning | Non-absorbent surface. Hoses and washes down; does not soak up soiling |
| Reconfigurable | Pens can be extended, subdivided or dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere |
| Contact | Inert. Nothing applied to the surface to be chewed or licked off |
| Weather | UV stabilised. Does not rot, rust, warp or go brittle |
| Material | 100% recycled polypropylene, made in the UK |
| Compression | Tested to 150 tonnes/m² under fixed static load |
| Service life | 25 years under warranty |
What the walls can and cannot do
Worth being clear, because animal containment is not somewhere to be vague.
PolyBrick walls form the solid part of a compound: the base courses, the low walls, the dividers, the surrounds. They give you a clean, washable, rot-proof structure at the level where timber fails first.
They are not a complete containment system on their own. Anything that climbs, jumps, flies or digs needs the rest of the specification: mesh above the wall, a roof or netting over the top, and a dig-proof perimeter below ground for anything that burrows or any predator that does.
Think of the blockwork as the part of the compound that stays clean and never rots, with mesh, roofing and a buried perimeter doing the containment work above and below it. Where you are containing or protecting a specific species, follow the guidance for that animal on height, mesh gauge, dig depth and space per animal.
Designing for cleaning
The single biggest practical difference between a compound that stays hygienic and one that does not is whether it can actually be cleaned out easily.
Build with a fall so water runs to one place and out, rather than pooling in a corner. Keep internal corners as open as you can, because tight corners collect soiled bedding and are the hardest thing to muck out properly. Where a wall meets a hard floor, make the junction something a brush can get into.
Build sections that lift out where you need access, in the same way as a compost bay front. Being able to open a wall rather than working through a small gate makes a considerable difference to how thoroughly a pen actually gets cleaned.
How it goes together
- Set out the compound and check the ground. Level, firm and free-draining is what you want, and a wet corner will be the problem area forever if you build over it.
- Decide the floor before the walls. Bare earth, hard standing, or a stabilised gravel base each change how the compound cleans and drains, and it is far easier to prepare now.
- Prepare the ground for the first course: excavate to firm ground, compact, and screed level. Everything above follows this course.
- Where anything digs or where predators are a risk, put the dig-proof perimeter in at this stage. Retrofitting it later means taking the walls apart.
- Lay the first course and check level in both directions along the whole run.
- Build up in courses, staggering the joints between courses. Where you want removable access, build those sections as loose courses that lift out.
- Fix mesh, panels or roofing to whatever framework the design calls for, and make sure the junction between the blockwork and everything above it has no gaps at the level animals can reach.
- Cap the top course for a clean finish and an edge that is comfortable to handle.
Choosing the floor
The floor decides how much work the compound is, day to day.
Bare earth suits poultry and pigs that are meant to root and dust bathe, but it poaches in winter and cannot be disinfected.
Hard standing cleans and disinfects thoroughly, which is what you want for a quarantine pen or a kennel, but it needs a fall and a drain or the washing water has nowhere to go.
A stabilised gravel base sits between the two: firm and free-draining underfoot, no standing mud, and it copes with a hosing without turning to slurry. It is often the best answer for a run that is in constant use, and it stops the perimeter of the compound becoming the muddiest part of the holding.
Quarantine and isolation pens
An isolation pen has a different job from a permanent run: it needs to be thoroughly cleanable, genuinely separate, and often temporary.
Non-absorbent walls matter more here than anywhere. A surface that soaks up soiling cannot be properly disinfected, and porous, cracked or splintered materials give organisms somewhere to sit through a clean-down. Blockwork that washes to a clean surface is a considerably better starting point.
The dismantling advantage matters too. A quarantine pen can be built when it is needed, broken down and cleaned block by block afterwards, and stored flat until the next time, rather than standing unused and deteriorating.
Biosecurity is a whole protocol rather than a building material, so follow the guidance that applies to your species and situation on separation distances, movement, equipment and clean-down. The structure is one part of it.
Get it right first time
The one thing worth knowing: sort the drainage before you build anything.
Almost every unpleasant animal compound is unpleasant for the same reason: water has nowhere to go. Rain, washing down and soiling all end up in the same low corner, and once that corner is permanently wet it stays that way, whatever the walls are made of.
Set the falls, decide where the water leaves, and make sure the floor works before the first course goes down. It is a morning's thought and it determines whether cleaning the compound takes ten minutes or an hour, every single week, for the next twenty years.
Ask our engineer
Questions about compound layouts, floors, drainage or reconfigurable pens? Ask below, or get in touch directly.
Common Questions
Why use plastic blocks rather than timber for animal pens?
Timber absorbs urine and washing water, stays damp in the low courses where it matters most, and once it softens it becomes both a structural problem and a place organisms live. Treated timber also puts preservative in reach of animals that chew.
PolyBrick is non-absorbent, so it does not soften, rot or harbour damp, and it hoses down to a clean surface. The material is inert, with nothing applied to the surface to be chewed off.
Will PolyBrick walls contain animals on their own?
No, and it is important to be clear about that. The blockwork forms the solid part of a compound: base courses, low walls, dividers and surrounds.
Anything that climbs, jumps, flies or digs needs the rest of the specification, meaning mesh above the wall, a roof or netting over the top, and a dig-proof perimeter below ground. Follow the guidance for your species on height, mesh gauge, dig depth and space per animal.
Can the walls be disinfected?
The surface is non-absorbent, so it washes to a clean surface rather than soaking up soiling, which is what a porous or splintered material does. That makes it a considerably better starting point for a clean-down than timber.
Biosecurity is a whole protocol rather than a material, so follow the guidance that applies to your species and situation.
What floor should an animal compound have?
Bare earth suits poultry and pigs meant to root and dust bathe, but it poaches in winter and cannot be disinfected. Hard standing cleans thoroughly, which suits quarantine pens and kennels, but needs a fall and a drain.
A stabilised gravel base sits between the two: firm and free-draining, no standing mud, and it copes with hosing without turning to slurry.
Can a pen be taken apart and moved?
Yes. There are no fixings or mortar, so compounds can be extended, subdivided, dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere. That suits rotation, temporary quarantine areas, and any setup that changes as stock numbers do.
Blocks from a pen you no longer need go into the next project rather than being cut up.
How do you stop predators or animals digging under?
With a dig-proof perimeter below ground, installed before the walls go up. Retrofitting it later means taking the walls apart, so decide at the setting-out stage whether you need it.
Follow the guidance for the species you are containing or excluding on how deep and how far out that perimeter needs to run.
How do I make the compound easy to clean?
Build with a fall so water runs to one place and out rather than pooling in a corner, keep internal corners as open as you can, and make the junction between wall and floor something a brush can get into.
Build sections that lift out where you need access, since opening a wall is considerably more thorough than working through a small gate.
Is it suitable for a quarantine or isolation pen?
It suits the application well. Non-absorbent walls wash to a clean surface, where porous, cracked or splintered materials give organisms somewhere to sit through a clean-down.
The pen can also be built when needed, broken down and cleaned block by block afterwards, and stored flat until next time rather than standing unused and deteriorating.
Will animals chew or damage the blocks?
The material is a solid, UV stabilised recycled polypropylene with nothing applied to the surface, so there is no coating or preservative to come off.
It does not soften with moisture the way timber does, which is what usually makes chewing and rubbing damage progressive rather than superficial.
