Small farm plans any input needed

[Nuchi]

I am a bit new here but I have a big project i want to do the whole thing is going to be a group effort but most things fall on me. Pretty much going in head first the plan is sell my truck(needs to go anyways) for the projects funding.

I want to know how good/bad this all sounds, I came up with it based off much research. The goals was giving them an enriching environment well keeping them safe as there is a lot of predators out here the worst being coyotes and pretty much feral packs of dogs(owned yet kills livestock and bites people yet the city has not acted) that seem to find there ways in fence or not. All that and keep it economical as well.

What I drew up should yield a double pen that holds two sets of 8-12 laying quail, using vertical water with internal plumbing(external insulated source) and mess free food system built into the dividing wall. I don't know if this is good but the majority of materials would be 1 4x8 plywood sheet
1 2x25 Roll of half inch hardware cloth
10 Hinges ( 4 are not needed but I feel the need for a small access hatch for cleaning where they sleep without opening the whole thing wide)
5 Latch/Hasp(2 could be removed for above statement)
72ft 2x4 planks

Basically leaving almost nothing spare it would yield a slightly over 12ft long by 2ft wide by 1ft(plus 1ft for leg height) high, open bottom side by side double pen with simple food and water access separate from housing for safety and ease of access. If this sounds good I would like to give the instructions/drawing/photos I made out on here once I complete it and there is nothing unforeseeable(or someone on here can point something out) wrong with it as I put a lot of effort into it.

The plan for the farm would be make 4 of these double and work up from 4 to 8 dozen quail plus maybe some more(in other pens) for breeding and meat as we plan on donating the vast majority of all the meat to community programs.

My background is mainly in Ecosystems, and what makes them up and would love this to fund my research I am also going to be making what I call a food generator, firstly to supplement there feed maybe even replace it but this move onto making it for human use. Basically it would be a self contained man made ecosystem that over produces edible products but it potentially has many other uses like toxic water purification or desalination(this last one on a logistics standpoint I have yet to determine if its viable for more then a small system).

I thank anyone for reading this as it is a bit long and dry without any pics yet not to mention all the errors I am sure I missed when reading over. I seriously would appreciate any input good or bad.

 

[mdees88]

What exactly do you want our opinion on?

1) Selling your truck to fund this?
2) Design of the cages?
3) The idea of raising quail to generate profit?
4) The idea of donating all the meat to community programs?

Selling a truck to build a quail cage doesn't sound like best idea I've ever heard. I'm sure you have another means of transportation. I have multiple vehicles so in case one breaks I can still get to work while I fix the other one. Looks to me if you use all treated wood it should cost less than $150 to build that cage. But to build 4 more of those cages, plus a brooder, incubator, and grow out cages you could easily have a $1,000 invested.

I'm still not 100% sure what your intentions are. I'm assuming it's making a profit out of raising quail? You say you plan on "donating the vast majority of meat to community programs". That sounds like a very good thing but donating "the vast majority" of something and making profit don't exactly go hand in hand. Who are you going to be selling the quail/eggs to? How much money do people pay for quail and eggs in your area?

If your planning on donating "meat" then I assume you are going to hatch some of your own eggs and raise up baby quail. This means you will need an incubator and a brooder and additional grow out cages. I'm not sure if 1ft high legs are a very good idea. I built my cages 3 1/2 ft off the ground so raccoons and possums could not reach the floor and kill the quail. Plus it is much easier to access everything in the cage having it above my waist. I would definitely incorporate a roll out egg trough into the design so you do not have to go inside the cage to retrieve the eggs. You mention it having an "open bottom"? I'm not sure if this means you will have a wire floor or the birds will live on the ground.

Your primary expense is going to be feed. Quail eat like there's no tomorrow, especially while they're growing. The design of your feeder has EVERYTHING to do with how much profit you make. If they spill half the feed on the ground it cost's you twice as much to raise them. What kind of feed can you get locally? You could possibly offset some of your feed cost by implementing a fodder system where you grow your own fodder.

Are they going to be kept indoors or outdoors? Where are you from and what kind of temperatures do see. The vertical chicken nipples freeze up from what I learned doing my research (even if the water supply is heated). The horizontal chicken nipple waterers do not, from what I've read.

Would like to see some pics of your design. Good luck...

Matt

 

[Nuchi]

I know what I put is a bit disjointed and unclear I thank you for bearing with me despite that. Also I know this is not much better, but I will try to cover everything as best I can. Yes the truck is a redundant vehicle as well as it needs to go because living in Cali its a commercial vehicle subject to higher fees and as its not in use. I literally cant afford to keep it even if I wanted.

3 and a 1/2 ft instead of 1ft off ground is the kind recommendations I am looking for as well as bouncing some of the ideas around for input. and yes hardware cloth bottoms.
Sorry for the confusion I meant horizontal water I say opposites some times and it can be a bit rough on us all lol.

The idea is the money is mainly from eggs as there about $3 a dozen on average around here for farmers markets plus or minus a little. The egg layers when retired go to community as well as for every X(needs working out) earned from donations we will raise and donate the meat in the name of the donors.

In summer it maxes out at 120F and winter at the dead of night it gets to 16F at the low but quickly returns to 50-60F for the day but most years there is very little to none of that especially in resent years. Typical weather of the Mojave CA.

There is also a plethora of feed stores where I live.

Again I am sorry for how badly I put this stuff together, some times I don't feel very articulate. I will try to do you guys more justice when I have some more time.

 

[JoeQ]

I Would second the fact that a foot off the ground seems very odd for a couple reasons, its like ringing a dinner bell for predators, and two, who wants to bend over to maintain the enclosure!! Not me!! I also don't see how donating a large majority of meat can turn a profit. Unless you have people knocking down your door for eggs I feel your plans may need some adjusting. You will also need more than a few dozen birds to sell eggs at the rate your hoping to, which is another expense. Best of luck but respectfully I feel there are several things to be worked out before I would start. Again, BEST OF LUCK TO YOU!!

 

[mdees88]

You need to watch every video on this guy's channel from start to finish. You can see how his business has grown over time and he does a lot of cost breakdowns.

About the only way I could see turning a consistent profit is getting hooked up a restaurant that buys eggs from you. Everything else is going to be hit or miss on selling eggs (good weeks/bad weeks).

 

[Nuchi]

I know there is a lot of info I leave out, I kinda have a problem with if I don't hold back it quickly turns into a short book. I hope that does not get to be to much of a problem with my constant to much or to little info.

The height was for mobility if I where to add wheels or something of that effect but I do not want to be asking for extra problems on predator protection. I was thinking a simple electric fence as the footprint of it plus room for access and expansion would be quite cost effective. I could also add remote motion alarm and remote audio(I figure I know what calls mean as well as what equipment being tampered with sounds like) for about $40-50 on the side. There is much much on my mind on the subject of predator prevention and protection.

I was hopping to be able to find a restaurant as I know it would be much more steady. As for the meat I will consider that if it comes to it as the law allows us to raise much more for this then for eggs as they fall under the 4 months or how ever long it takes to ween which ever is longer law in my county. Cash flow needed is very low after upkeep $150 a month is all that is needed but hoping for $500-700(with 8 dozen or the 99 limit on layers) on good months and grow from there. Is this not realistic or should I consider meat off the bat to keep it in the green.

The truck was more of a nest egg for this we have 4 vehicles 2 of them work the other two not so much. My truck falls under the not so much category lol. So in an emergency there is other working vehicles which my truck is not sadly.

Well I am sure I will end up getting some more info from these videos as I have not watched them yet, Thank you very much for them it means a lot.

 

[Nuchi]

That is some good videos mostly just visualization of stuff in the few books I have as well as have read on here over the past couple of years. I thought there would be more of a number crunch but it did glance over that at least. I would like to do more environment enrichment then that personally. Thanks again for the link!