Maybe one of the most cleanest brooder design....

[AuQuail]

A prototype of my design has been completed today yay

Though to share with all.

It is a well insulated Brooder Box, with ease of cleaning and poop management!
The pictures below explain a lot of it.

Thermostat, to control 2 x HEAT ceramic bulbs. (75w)
1 X led bulb
7 days Timer for Led light. ( to simulate day and night if brooder is kept in dark shed)
Exhaust Fans on either side for ventilation, with manual switch and thermostat (eg...summer when temp hits 30 degrees....fan on!)

Material: 14mm Foam board Sheets
Length : 1390mm
Depth: 612mm
Height: 600mm

This can hold 40-50 baby quails for 3-4 weeks comfortably.

The beauty is the POOP system! all poop falls down below and is collected in a neat manner.
The mesh is 5mm x 5mm this ensure their little feet are not hurt from day 1.

Extra set of poop tray is included for a minimum mess, this way u can slide a clean set in when you take out the dirty ones. There is no overspill of poop out of the tray as there is an overhang around the perimeter of all the tray.

The mesh floor is totally removable for cleaning. ( slides out)

Foam board is 100% water proof and will not get damaged by water.

Let us know what you think of this, and if there can be any improvements!

 

[birdmandan]

you are clearly more handy with construction than i am. Good stuff. Post some pics of the brooder in action once you add the chicks.

 

[DuckPro]

Very clever!

 

[AuQuail]

Thanks.

 

[pennyJo1960]

would love more photos looks very nice

 

[Binki]

Oh wow very neat!! I love it

Not too keen on keeping animals on wire, however this mesh looks a lot less stressful for their feet. Have you used it before or trying it out?

Three things I may change is putting some soft netting a few inches below the top - once baby quail get a few feathers they enjoy spontaneously flushing and it sometimes turns into a group thing - with the mesh, they will bounce back down instead of hitting the hard ceiling

Second thing is I would change the white light to a red light - whenever I would shine a bright light on my chicks, even in the incubator, they can see every bit of fluff on each other and tend to think toes are worms, so they start pecking at each other, sometimes the shiny eyes look good enough to peck :O

In case there's a wound that's red/shiny, the red light should prevent cannabilism because they love pecking at red things

They sleep a lot and it keeps them calmer to have a red light as opposed to a white light for the first few weeks, I find anyways

Not sure how many chicks you're hatching but you may want a SUPER GOOD divider (they are insane at getting past dividers, trust me!!) so they will stay near their food, water and light because sometimes new chicks tend to wander and get lost in big brooders and then remove it after a few days once they fill out the brooder more.

Oh and another thing myself and a few other people find it beneficial for the birds to have something soft they can huddle against underneath the heat lamp, like a stuffed animal or something.

Without something to shove against (looking for momma), the babies tend to push against each other constantly, reducing their rest, creating restless cuddle piles

 

[AuQuail]

Here is a video intro on the brooder after much revision.

 

[dpenning]

Fantastic! Very well thought out and displayed.

 

[AuQuail]

Thanks for your feedback, this was a long time in the works project. and turned out better than i expected.

 

[lomine]

Wow. That's fancy.