Brood-o-tron 9000 (pic heavy) [Updated 3/5/14]

[falconertomt]

I am building a brooder for my quail, and in my usual fashion am going overboard. The design is simple enough, but I am adding 2" insulation foam board to the walls and ceiling, the reason being this will eventually live in my shop, (which can get cold in the winter and hot in the summer) and I want to be able to maintain a constant temperature.
The liveable area inside is 34"x32" and it will be 12" tall. I will have a cool daylight lamp inside, and a heat source (haven't decided what yet). The heat source will be thermostat controlled, and there will be a fan system also set up to blow cooler air into the brooder if it gets too hot.
I am also using this as a test run for a hydro-ponics poop management system. Ideally the poop will get washed down the drain, and out into grow beds. These beds will then filter the water which will get pumped back up and run down the poop tray again.

Materials: Mostly scrap wood lying around, pink 2" foam insulation (also lying around), 1/2" hardware cloth, 2"x2"x8', 1"x2"x8', 1/8" acrylic panel (for the door), Drawer Pull (also lying around), Mt. Dew (in copious quantities), bad music (also in copious quantities). Random screws, finish nails, and staples.

Completed: Walls, Floor, Door.
To Be Completed: Roof/ceiling, Heating/Cooling, Poop Collection


Here are the photos so far.

(I should be beaten for the poor pic quality)


Exterior Walls and Floor in Place




Exterior Walls with Insulation


and a foot................................................^


Door Cut Out



Door Installed



Interior Walls Finished

 

[tadaen sylverma]

Friend of mine does aquaponics with tilapia. Great results although things are more naturally broken down by the full time immersion in the water. Might need something or some way to partially breakdown the poop before it goes into the grow beds? Break it up real fine and such. May be to hot for the plants fresh from the birds + it is more solid so it won't flow like I think you are hoping. Idea definitely has merit and I am now investigating it myself. Think a few kinks yet to work out though.

That brooder puts anything I have or am capable of to shame though. Well done thus far.

 

[falconertomt]

Yeah, the heat of the poop is something I am trying to work out. If it is, I will probably use the water system still, and then just flush it out into my compost area.

 

[dc3085]

Nice job. For heat you might want to check out incubator warehouse for heating elements. I make incubators pretty often and i order all my parts from there or GQF.

As far as fertilizer goes quail poo can be pretty hot, but sounds like worst case you can just compost it.

 

[falconertomt]

I finally got some time to work on the brooder. The top is finished, and just needs to be attached. I am waiting for climate control before I attache the top. Here are a couple more pics, the first is the setup, there will be two brooders in the stack, I have build the outer section of the 2nd one, and stacked them up. The white pipe is the water input. The 2nd Photo is the watering system (form the inside) should be enough the little ones can drink, but not big enough for them to drown. Cleaning is just running a long bottle brush down the pipe and flushing it.

Poop management system has been designed, I am waiting for materials, and then it will get the install.