That Quail Place Forum
Raising Gamebirds => Build It Yourself => Topic started by: Taproot on June 17, 2010, 04:46:59 PM
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I've been working on this for some time now. I'm sure you all know, carpentry work, by yourself, well......sucks! But it's finally done! Automatic watering system on well water. Four brooders with trapdoors for direct release into the growout pens. All with custom hopper feeders that I scratched out on paper and had built.
j2
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh47/taproot_01/100_0302.jpg)
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh47/taproot_01/100_0303.jpg)
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh47/taproot_01/100_0296.jpg)
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh47/taproot_01/100_0297.jpg)
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh47/taproot_01/100_0298.jpg)
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh47/taproot_01/100_0299.jpg)
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh47/taproot_01/100_0300.jpg)
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh47/taproot_01/100_0301.jpg)
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very nice im soon going to build something much like this what are the dimensions ?
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very nice im soon going to build something much like this what are the dimensions ?
The brooders are 4'x4' and the growout pens are 4'x8'. The hopper feeders have made my life much, MUCH, MUCH, easier. c50
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Hey man you did a job to be proud of and it looks like its pretty much labor free on the feed and water.. s98
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I always build by myself....so I have no idea what it's like with help :grin:
Last two pictures - looks like the hoppers are set away from the wall 1.5 inches. Young Quail can fit in this size. If there is a space there, you'll want to block that off.
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I'm planning to block it off today. Keeps slipping my mind. I've already lost several back there. :x
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Awesome job, Jeff. s98................... How do you like those drink cups? You gottem on a gravity system, or on a live water system with a pressure reducing valve?
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They are excellent. They work better than I thought they would, to be honest. They are on well water, w/ regulator. I was gonna do a rain barrel, but no matter what I tried, starting with a bucket, I couldn't seem to keep sediment out of it.
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They are excellent. They work better than I thought they would, to be honest. They are on well water, w/ regulator. I was gonna do a rain barrel, but no matter what I tried, starting with a bucket, I couldn't seem to keep sediment out of it.
I can offer some suggestions on that.
- Five gallon bucket
- Spigot/adapter to connect it to your storage tank
- Gravel
- Sand
- Fine mesh landscape fabric
Water from the roof goes into your five gallon bucket. From their it passes through a rough screen filter made from mosquito netting or some such. Next it goes through a large bag made of the landscape fabric and filled with sand. This is held up from blocking the spigot by the larger gravel in the bottom of the bucket. From there, it goes to the large 55 gallon storage tank, which is fairly well sealed to prevent stuff from coming in any other way. Tap for your gravity system from the bottom of that tank as per usual.
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Appears that you've done quite a bit of work.
s98
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Looks like you done a great job on these. I have some questions, though, if you don't mind. I'm limited on space and I'm wondering how many bob's you can get in the grow out pens? I'm also wondering if you collect eggs from your own hens or do purchase them? I have tried this season with bobs without much success and I need a different plan. Thanks for any help you can give.
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Looks like you done a great job on these. I have some questions, though, if you don't mind. I'm limited on space and I'm wondering how many bob's you can get in the grow out pens? I'm also wondering if you collect eggs from your own hens or do purchase them? I have tried this season with bobs without much success and I need a different plan. Thanks for any help you can give.
I keep between 75-125 in the brooder/growout pens (each), but I'm strictly Pharaohs, for meat only. You'd probably want more space for Bobs. Not to sound like a veal farmer, but I don't want them to exercise too much and fatten up for me. I brood for 4 weeks and grow them out for 4 weeks in these pens. At full capacity, around 800-1000 birds from age 1 day- 8 weeks old.
As far as eggs, we have a seperate breeder pen. We set every Friday. We incubate weekday eggs (125 +/-) and pickle weekend eggs. I'm thinking of going to setting every 2 weeks. So we'll save eggs for 10 days and set as opposed to 5.
I am extremely pleased with the setup i've come up with. Labor is down to nothing but checking on them and hauling feed bags about once every 2 weeks. The only thing I would do different is I would have the whole thing on a concrete foundation. Heavy rains and the occasional water leak has made for some pretty messy/unhealthy situations. If we expand or build again, it'll be on concrete. Hope this helps.
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ty2 Thank you it does help!