The Trap Nesting Thread

[ki4got]

Quote:
ROFL... you misunderstand... i don't have the money for the wood for the boxes. the power tools aren't his, they're MINE! so building isn't an issue.

I still need to build more coops and pens first, the boxes can wait until i actually have the birds to use them.

for now i'm just enjoying my bantams. it sure isn't for the eggs, takes about a doz to make a decent sized omlette. they're TEENY! and yesterday's the first day i've gotten 3, so you can imagine how long it takes to gather enough for a meal. LOL

 

[ki4got]

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lol not quite that good, it snaps a pic every 10 seconds but is aimed to see both nests at once, and also who sits where on the perches at night... someone's camping out in the nest box and making a mess of it so that was the primary reason for the cam. it's got infrared night vision to peek at them when they sleep too.

 

[MANOZ]

ki4got-------a lady with power tools...................................AWESOME!!!
thanks for entertaining the thread
one sheet of plywood 1/2inch or 3/4 inch would cover two boxes,for future references

 

[MANOZ]

i told ms pearl that,.......that was to much information
guess i know which side of the egg comes out first

 

[MANOZ]

ki4got------i peeped at your byc page,wow u are a very impressive person.......i've read that u have a dominique roo! please tell me you will breed him. i have noticed that dominique and barred rock are considered the same breed but from looking at them they dont look the same to me. may be just my artist eye paying attention to detail,but the barred rock has a yellow tint to the feathers down the neck. the dominique breed doesnt have that tint and their barring seems thinner. i favor the dominique so if u ever breed that roo i'd like to buy some fertilized eggs.

 

[MANOZ]

ki4got------i couldnt help but notice where u said u studied on your byc page, your page said u went to u-maine at orono.now i'm wondering if the information i'm reading right now comes from the same place, in the book high egg production by individual hens,pens,and flocks page 103 mentions maine agriculture college at orono as being one of the places trap nesting started by a prof. gowell. if it is........ then this is indeed a small world........lol

http://books.google.com/books?id=GS...d=0CCkQ6AEwADgo#v=onepage&q=trap nest&f=false

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
ok not sure where you saw dominique roo... i used to have a dominique hen back about 15 years ago. (updated my page with breeds to go with the group pic of what i currently have).

and no, dominique and barred rock are 2 separate breeds with standards of their own. the dominique is a lighter bird with rose comb, the rock a much square-er larger frame with single comb.

I considered going with the dominique instead of the dorking, but wanted a larger frame bird to work with for meat purposes... that's not to say I won't get more down the road, but for now I'll try to stick with 1 breed until I get hubby used to the idea of hatching lots of chicks. LOL

you'd think he'd figure it out, to produce enough meat to feed ourselves and the dogs (they eat raw) I need to butcher between 120-150 birds for a years' supply... (not all at once fortunately, but I'll need abot 10+ per month) that means incubating even more eggs, and culling to improve the stock, so now i'm trying to figure out a 'schedule' and plan coops accordingly.

i am planning ahead tho for the trap nests, posted on freecycle last week and i'm picking up about a dozen milk crates on tuesday. 8)

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
yes, I think that book was written before the college was admitted to the university of maine system... they have a very good animal sci/ag department. if you google 'bob hawse poultry' you'll find a number of references to and by him over the years, he was the director of the dept and my advisor while i was there.

 

[galanie]

See, that's another thing I love about BYC. I get to NOT be the only lady with power tools here! Really, it's not that rare. I keep telling people that and since I'm the only one they know with them, they think none of us can so much as handle a screwdriver. I keep telling those guys that it's just their ladies are smarter. They bat their eyes and hubby does it. My problem is, I enjoy doing this stuff!

MANOZ, how did you decide how tall exactly to make the hinged part, other than trial and error? I'm trying to decide that now. I have some good sized birds and some regular sized ones. Trying to decide what height for a "one size fits both" situation. My larger hens are like 7 pounds while my smaller ones are more like 4 pounds. Right now I know exactly who is laying which eggs (usually - sometimes it's a toss-up) but I have some new ones about to lay and before long I won't know for sure who laid what.

 

[MANOZ]

ki4got-----i stand corrected on the rooster,sorry about that

galanie------a lady withpower tools is very rare here in the south,these southern bells will not get their hands dirty....lol.......wait a minute you are from texas, i may have to retract my southern bell statement ......lol now about the boxes.......well it was alot of trial and error. i think i went through like 20 doors.at first i made different sizes just to see which one would work.once i found that i tried to improve on bits i thought would make them better. i have the same problem due to different breeds and body types.i have one bird an australorp but she is on the small side,she gets into all of the boxes without touching the door.the way i managed to fix this was make them all the same 5 -5 1/2 bottom piece of door,depending on where u place the nail u can lower the door a little bit,but then i added a scrap piece of board 1/2 thick and maybe 10 inches long. it just sits on the floor of the box in the inside maybe 2 inches from front.what happens is it acts as a step.i noticed that some of my birds didnt step on the front bottom lip to enter,some stepped completely over the lip,[the lip is to keep door from swinging outside the box] so i elevated the floor so to speak.so far it has worked.if u look at the pics of my barred rock where she's sticking her head in the box,u can see its a close fit,from the back of the neck at shoulders and the bottom underneath the breast.this is what u look for.dont give to much room because the barred rock in the pic is actually in the box,just her tail causes the door to move. i have others that the doors touch but they all touch somewhere between the tail and back of the neck.extremely different body sizes will not work,u may need to adjust for the smaller birds.when they first started using them they were more cautious than now.at first they were not used to the doors but now they push through just like they try to push through 2x4 wire.they no longer try to slip in without touching anything.

i think they actually like the privacy of these boxes. some will get in them and take a nap then lay.

see the gowell box with the circle and wire trigger,this type should work for all size birds, prof.gowell designed 2 boxes the one explained and one he didnt explain.i built the one he didnt explain in his book.the one with the upright arm,both of these would work for small and large birds,

hope this helps, let me know how it goes

the pivot point of the wire trigger is at the top,wire moves side to side, the book states that a tack was put on the bottom of door,this tack sat on top of the wire.when the bird pushes through the circle this moves the wire which lets the door drop.