Above 1200 Sq/FT Out on Quaker Road

[jblnut]

The little people and I got the SS sink hung up today in the chicken barn. Alyssa was very excited !!

I purchased this 1/4" drive 90 degree adapter probably 5 years ago and have been moving it around wondering when I was going to really ever need it. Well it came in handy today !!

 

[jblnut]

I spent the last week near Lisbon, ND doing low voltage work. We hung a 15u TrippLite wall mount rack and had tons of fun. All in all we ran, terminated and certified 72 data runs. We also got 14 cameras hung and 8 Mesh Access Points. It was a long but productive week.

It took a while to get them all untangled.


I'm using Keystone patch panels for this job for the first time and I'm not sure what I think of them yet but so far so good.


All laced up and rather purrrrrdy.



White jacks are for internet, blue jacks are for cameras and the black jacks are for robot stuff.


The access point on the left will be for internet and the one on the right will be to access the robot data if any of the 60 robot units need to be tested, programmed or repaired.


Sneak peek at the beginnings of a 60 stall GEA ProQ Rotary Parlor.

 

[Finallygotit]

Holy ****!

 

[1949 caddyman]

The rotary parlor looks complicated & expensive!

 

[jblnut]

Holy ****!

The rotary parlor looks complicated & expensive!

Gotta spend money to make money

 

[C_F]

Man, that is a whole lotta wires...and all the same color too! Nice work, it does look very tidy. That country song comes to mind where she says "gonna straighten my stereo wires".

 

[woodfor1]

I love reading about you and the farm life. Please keep it up.How large of an investment is it to set up a barn like that and how many cows dose it take to support that kind of operation.

 

[jblnut]

Man, that is a whole lotta wires...and all the same color too! Nice work, it does look very tidy. That country song comes to mind where she says "gonna straighten my stereo wires".

General Cable GenSpeed 6000 in blue. It's pretty nice cable. We took our time to get it right so it would look nice and be easy to troubleshoot in the future.

I love reading about you and the farm life. Please keep it up.How large of an investment is it to set up a barn like that and how many cows dose it take to support that kind of operation.

This dairy is expanding from 700 milk cows to 1500 milk cows. This parlor will milk 350 cows/hr so it will not be running at capacity. They went with a larger parlor than necessary so they can run three 8hr shifts.
The employees will spend 4ish hours milking and the other 4 hrs taking care of the feeding and the other livestock onsite.

They built a brand new 320'x365' freestall barn will room for 1100 cows under one roof. To say this is a nice place is a major understatement. The cost difference from a conventional rotary parlor to a robotic one isn't bad when you look at the labor savings. There can be 1 person instead of 3 in the parlor. That saves 9,385hrs of labor in ONE YEAR !! A "milking specialist" will make between $12-$16/hr. That will save the dairy $112,000-$150,000 in labor each year.

I do not know what the new freestall barn cost but I know roughly what the milking equipment in the parlor will cost. It is not a small financial investment but it is worth it in the long run. It will be quite the parlor when it's up and running !!

 

[jblnut]

The barn is done .... aside from a few things on my punch list, it is done.


Consider yourself warned .....


Control room wired and cleaned up.


The plumbing is done with a few extra outlets over there for an unknown reason.


The Rotem Computer is up and running. I fired up all 28 heaters yesterday for an hour or so and it warned up to about 60F. There is plenty of heat in here with 2.24 million BTU's of heater.


There is a hose at the end of the water lines so they can be flushed out to be cleaned.


The hoses go through a check valve and into a 1.5" pipe and drain outside. It's a really good idea that they haven't done in the older barns. In the older barns the growers have to hook up a garden hose to each water line and drag it outside to do the same thing.


All the thermostats for the big fans on the south side are located on a hinged panel in the center of the barn.


AND of course Mother Nature threw some snow our way. I shouldn't complain as this is the first time the ol' blade has gotten used this season. One of the last times I used it last year one of the springs came off. It seems to work better as I don't get thrown around as much when it decides to trip so it stays broken !!

 

[Finallygotit]

That is one helluva barn.

I like the warning sign.

 

[C_F]

That is one helluva barn.

I like the warning sign.

Me too, I got a chuckle out of that.

So with the heat turned on inside, when do the go-kart races start?

 

[TurtleValley]

That is one big Garage!

If someone has that big of a heated building out this way, it means they are growing something special inside!

That control room turned out really clean!

 

[jblnut]

That is one helluva barn.

I like the warning sign.

I met my "service rep" today and he also chuckled. I learned more this afternoon about chickens and "how things are" within Gold'N'Plump than I can come close to repeating !!

Me too, I got a chuckle out of that.

So with the heat turned on inside, when do the go-kart races start?

The barn has been set to maintain a cozy 60F so I'd say RIGHT NOW !!!!

That is one big Garage!

If someone has that big of a heated building out this way, it means they are growing something special inside!

That control room turned out really clean!

After creeping my way through your build thread it kinda seems like you're building quite the set of structures out your way

 

[jblnut]

Yesterday we were given a bird arrival date of Jan 30th !!

Let the fun begin !!

 

[dchance]

Looking forward to the date. Would be interesting to see pictures of all the chicks.

Dwight

 

[Finallygotit]

If possible, see if you can grab pictures or video of the unload. For some reason I would find that very interesting.

 

[C_F]

If possible, see if you can grab pictures or video of the unload. For some reason I would find that very interesting.

I bet it will look like a yellow flash flood.

 

[Muzzy]

Nice. Can't wait to see those cluckers in there!

 

[jblnut]

Looking forward to the date. Would be interesting to see pictures of all the chicks.

If possible, see if you can grab pictures or video of the unload. For some reason I would find that very interesting.:

I bet it will look like a yellow flash flood.

Nice. Can't wait to see those cluckers in there!

I plan to snag "a few" pictures at least

I've helped dump chicks at another barn since I was 4-5yrs old but it'll be a whole different kind of fun now because they'll be my chicks to dump now

 

[jblnut]

Time to bring the (very dirty) skid loader in and service it. All new filters, hydraulic, air, oil, fuel and I cleaned the inside out. It needed it.


Left side is partially done, right side is untouched. I ended up pulling the better part of a 5gal pail from each side ... I also didn't notice how bad the seat was getting until I looked at this picture.


Mid way through all the filters. This thing needs a serious cleaning ....


Dad did some ******** exhaust mods to the 884 to make it fit in the chicken coop better. Spoiler alert !! It's still too tall ....


I tore the wood form out of the floor drain in the chicken coop control room and put in this nice chunk of fiberglass grating. This was a scrap leftover from a milking robot install that I snagged figuring I'd "use it one day".


My barn rep brought a whole pile of stuff out yesterday and there was a brand new DeWalt drill in the pile. Neat.


My sister got us a picture framed for Christmas. Seemed like a good place to hang it. I think it looks really nice !!!


I found out the hard way the glow plugs in the ol' work van are needed. They **** the bed last week and I've been having to plug it in when it gets below 30F or it won't start. What a POS. I string the cord through the drivers door handle so I don't forget to unplug the cord .....

 

[jblnut]

The bedding came today for the little chicks. There were three semi loads total. Two loads of cereal oat hulls and one load of sunflower hulls. They were delivered in trailers that had walking floors. I tell you what, that was neat to check out when they were empty !!! One of those things I've heard about and wondered how they work and I got to see one today. I learned something, it was a good day.

Can't really see it here but we put a pair of big square bales to act as a funnel to help guide the shavings into the barn.


Dad pushed them into the barn with his skid loader and I took over and pushed them in and started spreading them around.


The blade actually worked very well to push them in and level them out.


After all the bedding was in the barn we went over it a few times with a PTO powered rake to level it out. It did a very nice job !!


We made some adjustments to some of the water and feed lines and the 884 fit in with plenty room to spare !!


The rake leveled the bedding off and threw the extra to one side.


This is how the sliding doors are sealed up. There is an 18" or so mini wall set in place and bedding gets thrown in the gap between it and the door. It is a really good idea that works very well !!


The whole crew resting for the night

 

[Finallygotit]

Great progress!

 

[C_F]

Wow, three trailer loads! Looks like it all leveled out to be about 4 to 5 inches deep? I assume you will keep that as long as you have chickens in there, then clean it out & put new down next time you get a batch of chicks?

 

[Stellaontap]

Nice job levelling the bedding.....how long did that take?

Eric

 

[ford33]

What is the purpose of the bedding?

Is it one batch of bedding with one group of chickens and then replaced with another bedding batch?

Are the chickens living on the bedding and free to roam around the entire barn?

 

[jblnut]

Great progress!

It was a lot of work but it looks nice now

Wow, three trailer loads! Looks like it all leveled out to be about 4 to 5 inches deep? I assume you will keep that as long as you have chickens in there, then clean it out & put new down next time you get a batch of chicks?

4ish inches deep was the goal. Some places it's a bit less, some a bit more. This bedding will be the base for future flocks to come. Before the next flock comes we will remove the cake layer on top and they will bring two more loads.

Nice job levelling the bedding.....how long did that take?

Eric

First load came at 11:30am and we left the barn around 8pm. Granted this is the first time we've done this. There are a number of ways we've already thought of to speed it up.

What is the purpose of the bedding?

Is it one batch of bedding with one group of chickens and then replaced with another bedding batch?

Are the chickens living on the bedding and free to roam around the entire barn?

The bedding is put down to absorb the waste from the chickens. The bedding will be cleaned and more will be added when this flock leaves. The chickens are living directly on the bedding and are free to roam around as they please. They won't roam far but they can do so at their will.

 

[Stellaontap]

Yeah....it won’t take long until you get it all streamlined.

 

[jblnut]

Yeah....it won’t take long until you get it all streamlined.

We will be another chance to get better at it every 42 days. The barn doesn't totally get cleaned out but we'll get some new shavings before each flock.

 

[Ajustable]

Great idea using the rake as a leveling tool.

 

[jblnut]

Great idea using the rake as a leveling tool.

It actually worked very well. We used a piece of expanded metal to further level them out. Also worked very well.

 

[jblnut]

Today was setup/testing day. We lowered the feeders and water lines so we could make sure everything was correct and that the water lines weren't leaking.

This feeder is in "feed" mode.

They ALL needed to be changed to "flood" mode when the chicks are little. As they are right now, there are holes that allow the feed to come out and flow down the white plastic parts. This allows much more feed in the feed tray so the smaller chicks can get to it easier. It wasn't too bad to change them. It took dad and I less than 20 minutes to do the whole barn.

The part that did **** was all the feeders needed to be lowered one. This took a while and was not fun !!!

We got the feed tubes cut to length and the hopper installed.

The curtain that divides the barn in half was dropped today. It is lowered when the north side of the barn isn't being used to save on heating costs.

 

[jblnut]

The work van went in on Friday to get the glo-plugs replaced. I guess they broke three of them off in the head so I got a loaner Jeep to use in place of it. 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee. It looks great in the shed next to the Niner

It is in deceptively good shape too for having 380,000 miles !!! I took it to Menards today to get some lumber and foam.

We made a haul today !! Six sheets of 1/2" BCX, 20 1x4x8's and three sheets of 3/4" foam.

The six winter cross vent fans in the chicken coop had ridiculously cheap and flimsy insulated fabric covers inside the barn and we decided to put proper insulated doors in place instead.

 

[jblnut]

Yesterday we got the feeding system turned on and checked over. We needed to take about 15 pails out to fill large feed flats that aren't filled by the water lines. Pics of that farther down ...


These small trays are filled with feed to give the small birds an easier time accessing the feed.


There are 15 of these large feed flats in the brood side of the barn. The "brood" side is where the birds come first. There are more heaters, more feeders and more temp sensors in this half to get the little birds off on the right foot !!


We also put down 100 of these small water trays to help them out when they first arrive.


Dad and I sealed up the curtains over the large summer fans as well. This is something that will need to be changed. It takes an incredibly large amount of time to do this !!!

 

[jblnut]

At 8:30am this morning I became a chicken farmer. The little chicks are delivered in a heated trailer right from the hatchery.


The Moffett fork truck brings the birds in and sets them throughout the barn. The black PVC drain tile you see is used to keep them from running under the pallet and getting driven over by the Moffett. They come in bread trays and there is 100 in each tray.



The birds are placed one tray at a time between a water line and a feed line.


The little chicks seemed to find the water trays rather quickly. We refilled them about 45 minutes after we had all 46,000 chicks placed.


They found the water lines fairly quickly as well.



For the most part the chicks eat out of the extra trays we put between the actual feeders. They are too little to be able to get into the feeders yet.


Here they are swarming one of the feed flats.


Miss Lily was drawing in the feed trying to get them to come play


They sure do spread out fast !!

 

[ford33]

Interesting to see. I wonder what 46,000 chicks sounds like in that barn. Is it deafening?

 

[jblnut]

Interesting to see. I wonder what 46,000 chicks sounds like in that barn. Is it deafening?

There is a fair bit of chirping but it's mostly the click click click of them pecking at the water drops. I shut the lights off by mistake and they all got really loud as if to say "WTF Happened to the light ??" I turned them back on right quick and they quieted down.

Just like most creatures (humans included) when they have everything they need they are content, happy, and relatively quiet. You can easily hold a conversation in the barn without being loud at all.

 

[Terrick down Under]

I had never thought about this part of the food chain at the scale you are doing. Simply very interesting!!!

 

[mudcat]

I absolutely love this thread. Thank you for taking the time to take us along with you. I grew up a farm kid and really and appreciate what you do.

 

[Finallygotit]

WOW! Although the little guys getting dumped out of those trays probably found that to be a bit rude.



This is going to be interesting to follow as those little guys grow.

 

[ambenz]

All I can say is you and your family are "AMAZING!"
No words of thanks can convey my feelings on what a gift you give to all who benefit from the bounty you are providing humanity.
Living in a metropolitan area, it is easy to shrug off going to the store and buying a whole chicken for 99 cents a pound or so.
That fact, and the monetary expense and risk your family takes to provide that bounty with a small payday (maybe 40 cents a head after expense?) really hits home the fact you have to have several buildings of continuous rotating stock to keep a steady income, year round. So when does a chicken farmer have the chance to go to the beach for a deserved vacation? Not too often.

On a different note: those milking carousals are really cool.
I built robots to pull parts out of mold machines, set up and installed building automation for HVAC and did a lot of service work out in the field, so I know the components needed to run and service such a contraption.
I hate to see that whole machine break down, program loss, or the building destroyed from bad weather!!!!
What does one person do with 1500 angry cows who are use to being milked at a certain time every day????
Can a milking herd go without being milked? I am guessing no....
...What is the back up plan?