Keeping quail from wasting food.

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

Mine kick it out, then when the chickens free range they clean it up.... seems to work.

 

[emvickrey]

I made a feeder out of an orange juice bottle. I cut the top and folded it back so I could put a piece of flat plastic with 2 holes in it inside and leaned. I used duct tape to keep it in place and I cut 2 hole in the bottle on the side that the plastic leans and leaves an opening. It's like a lean-to inside the bottle and their heads will go in the side that would be the part somebody would store something under the lean-to. Then I flipped the top back over and duck taped it back and I just fill it once a week and I put the top back on. I have it sitting in a small tray that one of those small frozen dinners come in. The feed will fall down in the area they eat it from as they eat it. When it gets low I just give it a little shake to get more to come down. They have almost no waste with this. I plan to make another as soon as this next orange juice bottle is empty. I take pics as I go. It works great. There are 4 quail in the pen that use it. With the other feeders that are used for chicks that you fill the quart jar for I put a tray under them. What I use for that is the bottom of a gallon bucket of ice cream. The round buckets. They are about an inch tall and what they scratch out mostly goes in the tray. I plan to use the orange juice bottles for all my pens eventually.

By emvickrey at 2010-08-14

 

[mhwc56]

hmmm...i liiike it!

 

[Dogfish]

Thanks.

 

[emvickrey]

It works great. Maybe I'll get to making one tonight and posting pics as I go. I"ve been so busy tending to quail I'm exhausted. I'm not done yet either. I still have to scoop poop and clean 3 brooders then transfer the new chicks to them. I can't keep them in the one they're in now too long because they will jump out. I have to put them in the 20 gallon aquariums. I cover the top with an expandable screen, (the kind you use in a window) and I clamp the heat lamp where it goes between the 2 screens, then scoot it close to one side of the aquarium and cover that with a pizza pan then cover it all with a towel. I have to clean them twice a day because they are nasty little buggars.

 

[JJMR794]

I'm Still Liking The Leg Shakle Idea....

Heck You Could Even Tie Them All Togather Like A Chain Gang

 

[mhwc56]

Quote:

 

[_Randall_]

Quote:
The design in this thread works.......... feed waste measurement is not even noticeable https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=271708&p=2

 

[Dogfish]

Thanks Randall. I have most, if not all of those parts on hand.

 

[emvickrey]

I made another of my juice bottle feeder and took pics. They're not pretty but effecient.
First you will need a juice bottle, I use the Simply orange with the handle on the side.
Duct tape
Scissors
Empty gallon milk jug

By emvickrey at 2010-10-22

First you want to cut the top either off or almost off and bend the top to the side so you can ork inside the bottle. I cut it just at the bottom ot the handle.

By emvickrey at 2010-10-22

Now you need to cut 1/2 the milk jug at the middle off. Then cut a section off that, that is 6 1/4" X 5 3/4" and save the other piece for later. This will be your insert.

By emvickrey at 2010-10-22

You need to cut a circle in the middle of the piece you just cut out of the jug and cut 2 circles about 1 1/2 - 2" from the bottom of the juice bottle. ( I cut this one too short so don't go y the 1" I did.) They need to reach in from standing and this one was too short so cut yours up a bit higher.

By emvickrey at 2010-10-22

What I didn't get a pic of is next you need to cut a strip out of the part of the milk jug that is the corner about 1 1/2" wide. Don't know exactly how long but you can trim it away. Now place that strip with the corner under the hole that you cut from the insert and wrap it upwards towards the top of the insert which is the shorter side and then duct tape it in place. cut off any that is1" from the top of the insert. This will keep your insert from collapsing from the weight of the feed.

Time to put in your insert. You want to place it with the bottom away from the holes in the juice bottle and make sure it is the longer side down. The strip you put on it will be with the bent side near the bottom of the bottle. Duct tape the bottom in place. Place the top of the insert on the side with the holes in the juice bottle, which will be the opposite side of the bottom and duct tape that in place. Then go around thewhoe insert with pieces of duct tape and tape it all around.

By emvickrey at 2010-10-22

Then put the top of the bottle back on and duct tape it all around to secure it on good. I leave the cap on.

By emvickrey at 2010-10-22

The bottom tray I use one of those small frozen dinner plastic trays and this one I had to make fit so I used 2 and duct taped them together so they are just a little bigger than the bottom of the bottle.

By emvickrey at 2010-10-22

And this is what it looks like finished. Not pretty but works great. I have nearly no waste. When I fill the bottle I just take the cap off and fill it up and leave the tray so they can roll in what is in there, which is usually nearly nohting, while I fill the bottle. I always have to move them out of the tray so I can set it back in it.

By emvickrey at 2010-10-22

As long as you have a gallon jug from milk or that type of plastic jug and any juice bottle will work just as well, duct tape and scissors. You have a feeder that will reduce your waste to nearly nothing. What they do get out of the bottle lands in the tray and they can't scratch it or roll in it to toss it out of the tray. They can't get in the bottle to poop in the food either. The holes only need to be as big as their head and high up enough they have to reach down to get to it.