The Trap Nesting Thread

[cjwaldon]

I'm in on the trap nesting, soon as I get some built. I bought a sheet of plywood. That's as far as I've gotten so far . . .

 

[ck-newbe]

Take your time, don't hurry. It took me 10yrs to successfully trap nest just one chicken.
Quote:

 

[MANOZ]

lights in the morning makes total sense.......thanks for pointing that out

cjwaldon--welcome aboard, you can jump in with pics at any time

ck-newbe-----how did it take you 10 years to successfully trap nest 1 chicken?

if my project would not have worked in the first month i would have abandoned the whole idea!!! lol

 

[MANOZ]

in his service-----the boxes are basically built to hold a milkcrate inside.they have facing like a normal house door,the facing stops the door from swinging outward thus releasing the bird. we have adapted the belgian style door because of its easy to build functions. doors are hinged to swing inward.when the bird steps in the box it brushes up against the door thus causing the door the close. i used tongue and groove but i have made the plywood ones too. for thinner plywood you may need 1x1 strips along the inside the give you something to nail or screw onto. thicker plywood works better because you will not need the 1x1 strips. hope this helps and please come back and join us!!

 

[In His Service]

I will still be here watching, even if you don't hear from me, lol. I have so many projects that I cant start anything new until spring, but that gives me all winter to plan (here that means 6 months

)

 

[MANOZ]

the primary focus has been on the traps because it seems to truly be a lost art. its a very easy way to get really scientific if one desires to do so. this method only improves my ability to raise poultry. as more and more people get some boxes made we can revive this craft.its the best thing ever. if you read some of the books i posted,you will find,many breeds layed less than 100 when their owners started trap nesting them. this puts birds well into the gamefowl range of laying. many breeds came from other breeds that layed less.all sorts of crosses were made but the trap nest was the heart of the operation. they first used orange crates to construct these nests.

chris09-----they used orange crates back then.....we use plastic milk crates today! does that classify as'' modern ''????

the way i see it many breeds went in 2 directions, the gamefowl road and the dual purpose road. both yielded new types of birds one for its smaller size wildness/fighting abilities and one for its larger docile/tameness size which also included an improved egg laying rate. it is unclear if trap nesting took off down the gamefowl road.one would tend to think it didnt because gamefowl still lay a low number of eggs per year, but it did take off down the other road. they had what was called experiment stations funded by the government where these trap nesting operations took place. different states had them. they did indeed improve on the egg laying ability of poultry and it was done by way of trap nesting.perhaps the most beneficial thing for a chicken farmer since the invention of the chicken coop.

i know who i'm gonna breed from, i know who is gonna be a thanksgiving gumbo, i got an exact number of eggs per bird for the whole flock, bar-b-q-ers are all identified as well, working on timing the fryers and broilers because i just realized that its not like store baught chicken. fryers and broilers were culled at different ages, and i thought a chicken was just a chicken......lol..i will be adding feeding topics as winter comes in and i'm indoors more. the thread will eventually become a whole guide to raising and trap nesting your birds.

i live in these modern times like everyone else but the old school had more class

i believe they had more fun too

so if you are reading this post today!! how about building a trap nest? you can give it to your birds for a x-mas gift

 

[galanie]

Milk crates vs Orange crates.. LOL!

I just want to thank you Manoz for all the information you're putting in this thread. Someday it probably should be indexed and stickied, In my opinion. When you posted this the first time, I was in the throes to trying to figure out how to have only one rooster, different breeds, and still know whether it was an Orp that laid a certain egg or not. Then bingo, there was my answer.

 

[MANOZ]

you are welcome galanie and thank you as well.your input has been very helpful,....you SOUTHERN BELLE WITH POWER TOOLS

BY THE WAY, HOW'S THAT LOG LOOKING

PLEASE GIVE YOUR TAKE ON TRAP NESTING THUS FAR!

 

[galanie]

Log is looking darn empty with only 1 or 2 hash marks on it per day! Two most days, one some days. I just wish they'd lay, darn it! One of them is more than 8 months old and never an egg, and her vent is dry with pubic bones really close together still. I'm thinking she'll just be a Diva all her life LOL.

 

[cjwaldon]

I've been threatening to cull the whole lot of them because I'm only getting a few eggs daily from 26 hens. I keep reminding myself that they are molting after all. I keep reminding myself that the shorter days are impacting them as well. If only I had my trap nests I would know which ones are still laying anyways. Then tonight DH found a possum in one of the nest boxes. Well maybe these girls aren't performing so poorly after all! So, anyone trap something other than a hen in their trap nest?