I bought the auto waterer and the feeded. Wow I am so happy. I no longer need to fill waterer up several times a day. The same with the feeder. Excellent share
Me and the wife were just looking at this stuff last night. Now that I have gotten to see it here we are sold! We will be looking into setting up within the next few weeks here. Awesome stuff.
Al, you were talking about the mess the waterer has made in your previous brooders. When I bought my ducklings and goslings, I knew it was going to be really bad if I didn't do something first. I got some small cement mixing trays, and made some simple butt-jointed wood frames to fit snugly over the top of the trays. I covered one side of the frames with hardware cloth, using lath screws to attach them to the frames - water is heavy, and I don't trust just staples! I put the waterers (and feeders) over the grated reservoir, wet bedding just doesn't happen anymore. I've used the grates to sift compost, garden soil, and to act as duck barriers. Right now, I've got potted plants on them to keep the pots out of water puddles. The cement mixers are invaluable for so many tasks around my homestead. See a picture on FB here: facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10209044163279265&set=a.10208864338463757.1073741843.1173274472&type=1&theater
Good morning Al. I could not hear you so well this morning. The new feeder looks great. Great design. I think the birds grow better and faster with fed in front of them at all times. We raised a lot of quail with feeders outside the cage. Our waterer was also from a trough outside the cage. Works well. God bless America. Great information, awesome video.
Nice job Al. We'll try those things on our next batch of eggs we are hatching out..we have successfully hacthed 20 chickens and are looking forward to more..we are in the process of building a chicken tractor as well...Thank you for sharing your ideas. It matters what you do..from our homestead to yours.
Very nice set up Al. We use a bucket type water system for our rabbits, makes it much easier and less time consuming. I mounted the bucket in a permanent location above cages and ran a water hose to it so I could just turn on water and fill.
Got our automatic waterer yesterday Bedding still gets in the water but not as bad and it's so easy to clean you unscrew the top turn the thing upside down and just dumped out the bottom way easier than the other way. Screw it back together flip it over and water goes right back in don't know how we ever lived without it. Lol
Nice setup. My dad made a power box for our heat light. Its a double receptical box with a plug on one side and a dimmer switch on the other and a length of electrical cord comming out to plug it in. He built that 8yrs ago and weve used it every summer for chicks. No more raising and lowering the light up and down on a chain. Just adjust the dimmer nob. Also the 6ft of cord makes it so we dont need an extension cord. I dont know if that idea would help you.
We just built a chicken brooder over the weekend using stuff we had around the house so it's not perfect but thank you so much for that idea it's usable and my automatic water will be here tomorrow thank you so much for sharing can't wait to see the chicky babies use it. Ours is going to be more permanent as we don't need to move it
A way to avoid a water mess is get a paint tray liner the kind you use with a 9 inch roller put hardware cloth on it put waterers on that the water mess is contained and easyer to clean up
I'm definitely getting that waterer. I have a 125gal fish tank with hardware cloth top. I put a heating pad under wood chips for heat at one end. In cold weather I put a blanket over it. The water issues would be solved with this setup.
Brooder is just about set up and looks great! 👍 I like the water fountain. It would certainly make life a lot easier with chicks. It's about time someone created a better brooder lamp protector for the hot bulb. Our brooder lamps have the on/off switch. My birthday is on the 💖14th. Happy early birthday to you! 🎂🎁
Very cool set up. Love the new feeder. Makes a lot of sense the way it is set up. Your bday is day after mine, though I have a lot more years on ya. Great video and thanks. Blessings, Jim
I really like the design of the feeder and waterer. Somebody was using their head! The feeder is a similar concept to the homemade barrel feeders (yes, I made one for my girls) that will hold 50 pounds or more of feed. The one you show is perfect for chicks, single, or just a few birds.
Like your setup a lot. Very convenient to keep the chicks. Maybe a sheet of plastic under the bedding and over the concrete to keep the smell out of the concrete. Come on Spring.
I have a feeder similar to that one. I think I invented the perfect lid for it with two cheap funnels and a piece of all thread. You want the first funnel an inch or so smaller than the inside of the feed storage bin area. You want your second funnel to be two or four inches larger than the top of the bin. The smaller funnel goes inside on bottom small end up. It makes your capacity a little less but not really, it just eliminates the pile left in the middle when it's so low it no longer flows to where chicks can get it. (However, my feeder had straighter walls, your's has that Slope on the outside, that's cool, I like your's better, but funnels will still work, your bottom funnel will just be smaller than mine was). With whatever nuts and washers work best for your particular funnel, stick the all thread through the funnel and bolt it so it points up out of the small funnel - you are also using the small funnel as a stand. Kinda like a mic stand. Put it in place then put the big funnel on as a lid, as you would have the plate, pointy side up, over the all thread. The more this funnel hangs over the more 'eaves' you'll get. It's nice to have them bigger than the feed trough below if you might use it outside someday. Mark the all thread a quarter or half inch longer than you need so you can use a fender washer and wing nut on top. Jam a couple of nuts and or necessary washers inside below the big funnel so that tightening the wing nut isn't lifting the bottom funnel. Use a funnel that is steep enough chicks will slide off. Cheap plastic funnels are fine, and easy to find at a dollar store or HF. P.S. You'll more than likely have to alter the funnels by cutting on the small end some. You don't need a lot of the long tubey part, you're more interested in the cone part, or may have to cut a place to get the all thread to go through.
I use the same jar w screw base for food. However, I took a wire clothes hanger and duct tape to make a hanger for it. My chicks are in a modified dog crate. So the food and water hang from the top of the crate. I use shredded paper for their bedding. And I deep layer for a week (clean out on the weekend).
Have you considered heat plates they are much safer than lamps and they allow the chicks to learn day/night and act much like a brooding hen. I really l ike this design. Id rather see the electrical through a side hole in the wood rather than a hole in the wire but that's just me. I like the bell waterers I think you might have a small problem of the chicks getting too large for the brooder (and deep litter) before they will be feathered enough to not need the additional heat. I also think you may need a support bar to raise the lamp higher after a couple of weeks it looks like it might be able to be high enough. The radiant ceramic bulbs would work better for that if that is your plan you might think about mentioning it. Chicks will still manage to poop in that feeder they manage to poop everywhere. Overall I really like this design and might adopt one this year.
If it doesnt keep it out (they are crafty when it comes to making a mess) my favorite thing to use since my friend showed me is an ordinary rabbit waterer for brooders. Works for quail, chickens, my ducklings used it even though I put in water they were in with chicks. They just sat in their water kicked it out then drank out of the rabbit waterer after they muckied theirs up lol. So this year I plan on using that for just the brooders since it was so much better. They leak a little but not as bad as typical poultry waterers. Hopefully that works great I havent gotten to the end yet but if it doesnt keep those in mind they are cheap and versatile.
Run a piece of baling wire through the vent holes at the top of the clamp-lamp to make a sling and then attach a chain and it's just like your other one.
Nice watering system. I think putting the brooder next to a wall so the bucket is against a wall would keep Figaro from knocking the bucket off. He may paw at that hex key and get the chain to fail, I think I'd use something more secure, like maybe a carabiner or bolt with nut. If there is a weakness Figaro will find it.
That's a great set of brooder accessories and should help the task of maintaining the hatchlings be more a part of the daily chores than a constant focus. It's also just nice having shiny new accessories! Could Figaro perhaps paw the hex key loose from the chain and cause the heat lamp to fall? I'd perhaps peg the key to the mesh? 🐥🐈🐤
Wow, I see a double duty possibility there. If I am able to get my chicks I can use that water setup THEN use it on my Larry Hall type rain gutter garden setup. I have them all set up to do the automatic water thing but haven't made the bucket (or Barrel) to hook to it yet.
I wire my lamp chain to the mesh for safety. I'm sure the cat could claw that Allen key out without too much trouble. Just my 2 cents :) Thanks for the vid. BTW, we raise Quail.
An idea put a floor on the bottom of your brooder and put wheels on it for mobility and you can move it and store it wen done with it. And it my brooder a lot easier to move and store wen I’m done with it
I was wondering if that stove is capable of running a heated floor system. If so in the future if you ever want to finish the basement you could install that if you make rooms. Heating the basement this way inadvertently heats the upstairs
Great brooder setup Al !!! You have great ideas... I'm sure a lot of homesteaders will purchase this new style feeder and waterer. Thanks for sharing. Do you lay a plastic sheet or tarp on the floor before you put the wood shavings in the brooder? How thick should the shavings be at first? How many chicks will your brooder hold? :)
I really like the new waterer system, wonder if it would work for larger birds also, I didn’t see a larger version on their website. I was thinking this would be easier for my wife and son to water our birds and they wouldn’t have to go into the pens
Why did you remove the hanging chain from the water container? Figaro jumped up 4 seconds after you said his name! :) Can't wait to see how this new system works out for you.
You may need to put a cover on the light switch. Figaro may figure out how to turn out the light. Don't want to loose any chicks, because you have a curious puddy cat.
Your "feeder" with the jar on top is actually a waterer, that's why it doesn't work well for food. The small waterer that you showed is used for quail chicks (tiny itsy bitsy things) :)
Nice set up!! Great ideas to think about. Our roo chicks for meat will be hatched on feb27 too. Too bad we 'll be eating 'em that share your bday haha.
Ok I went in to order my kit with extra water and feeders cause I will be ordering 115 chicks tried to give your code lumnah and it stated not valid? Might want to bring to their attn if your loosing out I will wait to complete my order if I have code wrong 😁
It has been a wail how did that waterer work out for you? The way i fixed are feeder problem with the chicks was i built well basicly a long and tall rabbit feeder.
Love the new waterer and feeder! I'm not sure if you mentioned it (I may have missed it) are you going to line the bottom with something for easier cleanup?
These waterers are out of stock. So sad! I should have bought sooner. 😭 I’m going to make one of these brooders for my chicks next year. Love the design. No new layers this year, I’m trying out quail instead.
Hmmm I dont like the simple allen wrench because if the kitty see's the chain as a toy it could work free and then you have a fire.. I would use a scew/nut combo totally eliminates any risk of the allen wrench freely slipping out.
Put the chicken box on a tarp or something that there wast won’t permeate so when they are big enough all smell will go it will get in that concrete and stay
Which automatic waterer comes with the bucket? Really interested in buying this we have some Silkie chickens in our basement that can't go outside yet. Would love to get them this watering system!
My chicks like that waterer but they won't eat out of that turbo feeder. I put the bottom from the waterer that you don't like on top the turbo feeder so they cant sit in the food (it fits good) but I have to feed them with another feeder that the will eat out of.
no floor? .. put some cardboard down or something before you put the shavings down.. you might be better off putting the chicks in the outdoor kitchen and avoid the cat
