Growing fodder for chickens

[pawtraitart]

Front of shelving package.




Rear of shelving package.




One of the shelves before drilling.




Same shelf after drilling.




Frontal view of rack.




A little different angle.




Another front view.




A corner angle to see the front to rear bracing.




Opposite angle with one shelf partially slid into place.




Front view with all shelves in place.




Side view with all shelves in place.





Rear view with shelves in place.

NOTES:
Rear has 1x3's aligned with bottom of side 1x2's to keep shelf from sliding out the back.
Rear 1x3's have 2 screws on each end of each board, to help with bracing side to side, notice there is no diagonal brace on front or rear.
Most important: Due to using cheap, light weight 1x2's and 1x3's from lowes ALL holes in 1x's MUST BE PRE DRILLED to keep woof from splitting out.

List of materials.
2 - shelf systems @ 14.97 each
2 - 2x2's @ 1.99 ea
5 - 1x2 @ 0.97 ea
3 - 1x3 @ 1.47 ea
screws 1-5/8" long
4 - storage containers
1 for dipping the shelves into
2 for drainage when shelves come out of sub merging
1 for rack to sit in to catch any remaining drainage


Estimated total for this set up $100.00 most expense coming from storage containers.
Will build another come spring time.
Right now I have chickens in too different locations. When they finally get all together then I think I will need 2 trays per day.

Love it!!!!

 

[Oakieridge]

Front of shelving package.




Rear of shelving package.




One of the shelves before drilling.




Same shelf after drilling.




Frontal view of rack.




A little different angle.




Another front view.




A corner angle to see the front to rear bracing.




Opposite angle with one shelf partially slid into place.




Front view with all shelves in place.




Side view with all shelves in place.





Rear view with shelves in place.

NOTES:
Rear has 1x3's aligned with bottom of side 1x2's to keep shelf from sliding out the back.
Rear 1x3's have 2 screws on each end of each board, to help with bracing side to side, notice there is no diagonal brace on front or rear.
Most important: Due to using cheap, light weight 1x2's and 1x3's from lowes ALL holes in 1x's MUST BE PRE DRILLED to keep woof from splitting out.

List of materials.
2 - shelf systems @ 14.97 each
2 - 2x2's @ 1.99 ea
5 - 1x2 @ 0.97 ea
3 - 1x3 @ 1.47 ea
screws 1-5/8" long
4 - storage containers 
1 for dipping the shelves into
2 for drainage when shelves come out of sub merging
1 for rack to sit in to catch any remaining drainage


Estimated total for this set up $100.00 most expense coming from storage containers.
Will build another come spring time.
Right now I have chickens in too different locations. When they finally get all together then I think I will need 2 trays per day.

Oh what a wonderful idea!!!!! We may take your idea lol. We are getting a bit tired of taking the shelves apart. I feed out four shelves each day for 200 birds plus they get layer pellets as a added little "just in case".

 

[Lacy Blues]

If I recall correctly, you mentioned that you didn't like the fact that all the trays had to drain through every other tray. Correct? Doesn't this set up do the same thing? I like it, I just wonder if they still all drain through the others or do you pull them out to rinse?

 

[Talbott Poultry]

If I recall correctly, you mentioned that you didn't like the fact that all the trays had to drain through every other tray. Correct? Doesn't this set up do the same thing? I like it, I just wonder if they still all drain through the others or do you pull them out to rinse?

They are are all pulled out and sub merged into a water pan.
Then pulled out and set on top of another pan to drain.
After a couple of minutes most of the water is gone.
When reinserted there will still be a small amount of drainage but not much.

I only water once a day and they seem to work better that way for me.
The room they are in runs between 60* and 65*.

What I meant was that I did not like watering all the trays from the top down.
I was not sure the lower ones were getting enough water.

 

[Talbott Poultry]

Oh what a wonderful idea!!!!! We may take your idea lol. We are getting a bit tired of taking the shelves apart. I feed out four shelves each day for 200 birds plus they get layer pellets as a added little "just in case".

Taking them apart was a pain and I was not sure that the lower ones were getting enough water.

Feel free to use this and modify to suit your own needs.
Lord knows there are better designers out there.

Just make sure to post pics so we can see the improvements.

I am feeding about 140 , right now it is more of a treat than a feed supplement.

 

[groverlvchx]

Wow this setup looks GREAT! I'm not feeding enough chickens to justify it but hope to have a large enough flock within a year and this setup looks the best so far. I agree, the trickle-down method isn't adequate. Right now my small stackers get taken apart. I needed a way to do that on a larger scale and you've provided it! Thank you so much.

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

ooooohhh..... great idea! Hmm... wonder if I can get my handyman hubby to build that one for me. It would beat the fire out of continually growing them in my window sill.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Frontal view of rack.
....
Opposite angle with one shelf partially slid into place.




Front view with all shelves in place.

This reminds me of these: http://www.webstaurantstore.com/end-load-bun-pan-rack-unassembled/109RACKECON.html

A less handy person could use a rolling restaurant rack (bun rack in the link above) and use full-sized food prep pans (come in plastic and metal) as the trays. It would be easy to sanitize a metal rack.

 

[velacreations]

what size did you drill those holes?

 

[Talbott Poultry]

what size did you drill those holes?

1/8 inch but that would also depend on what kind of see you are using.

Right now I am using wheat.
But I do know that some seed could be smaller and fall through the drainage holes.