New Feeder Design

One of the problems with starting over, is reinventing the wheel.  Every time I stop raising quail and then start again, I tend to go through a process whereby I look for a solution to everything that didn't work out to my liking the previous time.  This round of quail raising has been no different.  I tend to invent things as I need them.  This time the feeder was the center of attention.

Wasting feed is a favorite past-time of quail.  If you aren't fighting them, you will have substantial waste on the floor and that equates to dollars! The most important hint I have ever received on raising quail came from an associate in Maine that runs CM Gamebird Farm.  He told me to place a piece of 1/2 x 1" cage wire in the trough the length of the trough.  It sits on top of the feed and has the feed is eaten it rides down with the feed - always sitting on top.  It gives the quail a 1/2 x 1" slot on any space in the mesh which is plenty for them to eat from but not enough for them to shake their heads in and spread the feed all over the floor.  I can't tell you how much money I've saved in feed by doing this.  The man at CM Gamebird Farms saved me a bundle.

Well, the issue this time is not enough feeder space.  I should've made my grow out pen with 3 slots for gutter feeders, but I didn't.  I only put one 36" trough in and it turns out that it wasn't enough.  I ended up putting 2 of the quail chick feeders from GQF in the cages - which work great when the birds are up to two weeks old - but after that, the older birds stick their heads in the tough area and waste feed.  I'm broke so seeing feed on the floor drives me crazy.

I went into invention mode again.  I needed to solve two problems.  One - I wanted to have a greater quantity of feed available at all times and I needed to have a feeder that would also hold my 1/2 x 1" screen in it.  So I went to work and here's what I came up with:

It's not a great picture, but you can see the bottom area and if you enlarge it, you can see the 1/2 x 1" screen sitting at the bottom.  This feeder is made out of 1x12 and 1/2 plywood.  The plywood is inside, mounted at an angle to keep the feed moving toward the trough (I'll do a video on it as I am going to build one more.).  The wire around the feed area is 1x2 that I cut out of the top of the cage to make room for the feeder.  I happened to perfectly as a border to keep the quail from walking in the feed.  The slots are big enough for the birds to feed and the border keeps them off the trough.  After 2 days in action, it is working GREAT.

Like I said, I will be putting a video together showing how I made it and what materials are needed.  I usually don't get it right the first time, but praise God, it happened this time!

Blessings,

Wally