Above 1200 Sq/FT Out on Quaker Road

[ford33]

Those 46,000 chickens, when prepared for sale, represent 3 minutes of consumption by Americans!

I wanted to understand the relative numbers of chicken production in JBLnut's operation versus total consumption of chickens in the USA. I am not a farmer and was doing this out of curiosity. The numbers are staggering and JBLnut's operation is an important one in the production of food for Americans. Just adding to the respect I have for farmers in our country.

The numbers:

According to the Purdue University "Food animal education network" webpage, Americans eat 8 billion chickens per year. That's total chickens not lbs of chicken.

Therefore the numbers are:

Chickens consumed per year = 8,000,000,000
Chickens consumed per day = 21,917,808
Chickens consumed per hour = 913,242
Chickens consumed per minute = 15,221

46,000 chickens represents 3 minutes of consumption in the USA.

 

[Olafur]

Interesting and Impressive. Thanks for sharing. Hope you stay warm out on Quaker Road.

 

[C_F]

Those 46,000 chickens, when prepared for sale, represent 3 minutes of consumption by Americans!

I wanted to understand the relative numbers of chicken production in JBLnut's operation versus total consumption of chickens in the USA. I am not a farmer and was doing this out of curiosity. The numbers are staggering and JBLnut's operation is an important one in the production of food for Americans. Just adding to the respect I have for farmers in our country.

The numbers:

According to the Purdue University "Food animal education network" webpage, Americans eat 8 billion chickens per year. That's total chickens not lbs of chicken.

Therefore the numbers are:

Chickens consumed per year = 8,000,000,000
Chickens consumed per day = 21,917,808
Chickens consumed per hour = 913,242
Chickens consumed per minute = 15,221

46,000 chickens represents 3 minutes of consumption in the USA.

Holy ****! I would have never imagined the number being that high.

 

[jblnut]

Those 46,000 chickens, when prepared for sale, represent 3 minutes of consumption by Americans!

I wanted to understand the relative numbers of chicken production in JBLnut's operation versus total consumption of chickens in the USA. I am not a farmer and was doing this out of curiosity. The numbers are staggering and JBLnut's operation is an important one in the production of food for Americans. Just adding to the respect I have for farmers in our country.

The numbers:

According to the Purdue University "Food animal education network" webpage, Americans eat 8 billion chickens per year. That's total chickens not lbs of chicken.

Therefore the numbers are:

Chickens consumed per year = 8,000,000,000
Chickens consumed per day = 21,917,808
Chickens consumed per hour = 913,242
Chickens consumed per minute = 15,221

46,000 chickens represents 3 minutes of consumption in the USA.

I love numbers !!! Since I'll raise 6.5 flocks per year I guess all I have to offer is just shy of 20 minutes of chicken each year

The phrase "Just a drop in the bucket" seems to ring true

 

[jblnut]

Interesting and Impressive. Thanks for sharing. Hope you stay warm out on Quaker Road.

It is currently "only" -9F right now so we're not too bad

Holy ****! I would have never imagined the number being that high.

The average American will eat 2,028 chickens in their lifetime. I can supply 147 people with a lifetime supply of chicken each year. That sounds like I'm contributing more than just 3 minutes of chicken per year

 

[jblnut]

Somehow I missed day 10. Picture them to be a little bigger than the last photo posted but a little smaller than the one below and you'll be all caught up !!

Day 11 - They are 25% as old as they'll ever be ....


The little bastards keep grouping by the temp sensors and causing issues. The computer thinks it's hotter than it actually is so it doesn't run the heaters in that zone until the chickens leave and go bother something else. The sensor will cool off faster than the heaters can heat the area back up and viola, I get a low temp alarm call and have to go check to make sure everything is okay. I don't like alarm calls because of chickens doing stupid **** so it's time to outsmart them !!! We picked up enough baskets to put one in each zone. The sensor will be inside and far away from them being able to bother them


We broke out the copper fittings stash today to try our hand at making a wall mounted sprinkler above the wash sink in the control room.


Every dairy farm milkhouse I've been in has rotten nasty faucets that are soldered in place with no easy way to remove them for repair/replacement. I figure a pair of ball valves and some copper will work great for what this will be used for and they should last a LONG time before needing replacement. When they do I'll be able to take the unions apart and repair as needed. I think I'm gonna goooooober a whole bunch of anti-seize on the union threads before final assembly. 3/4" tee will be heading to a small 120v water heater ....


Since I'm a nosy SOB I want to be able to see the computer/controller screen so I hung a camera up. It's still in the proof of concept phase and will get prettied up if it is going to stay. I don't know how much it'll get used so I threw it in quick to make it work. The camera is held up by the 1x2 and the cardboard is acting as a glare shield from the window behind it.

 

[red]

Every dairy farm milkhouse I've been in has rotten nasty faucets that are soldered in place with no easy way to remove them for repair/replacement. I figure a pair of ball valves and some copper will work great for what this will be used for and they should last a LONG time before needing replacement. When they do I'll be able to take the unions apart and repair as needed. I think I'm gonna goooooober a whole bunch of anti-seize on the union threads before final assembly. 3/4" tee will be heading to a small 120v water heater ....

Since I'm a nosy SOB I want to be able to see the computer/controller screen so I hung a camera up. It's still in the proof of concept phase and will get prettied up if it is going to stay. I don't know how much it'll get used so I threw it in quick to make it work. The camera is held up by the 1x2 and the cardboard is acting as a glare shield from the window behind it.

"Since I'm a nosy SOB"
So are we . . . that's why we're constantly looking over your shoulder.

Btw-
They make copper unions which would hold up better especially in a farm environment.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/3-4-in-Copper-Pressure-C-x-C-Union-C633WHD34/204620217

 

[jblnut]

"Since I'm a nosy SOB"
So are we . . . that's why we're constantly looking over your shoulder.

Btw-
They make copper unions which would hold up better especially in a farm environment.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/3-4-in-Copper-Pressure-C-x-C-Union-C633WHD34/204620217

So far the parts used are what I had on hand. I think I'll pick up some copper unions today when we make the monthly grocery run to the big city with the whole family.

 

[Muzzy]

Loving the daily chicken cam.

As far as your camera on a stick, there has to be a better remote monitoring solution than that....
What kind of controller is on there?

 

[jblnut]

Loving the daily chicken cam.

As far as your camera on a stick, there has to be a better remote monitoring solution than that....
What kind of controller is on there?

The controller is a Rotem Platinum Plus. One can purchase the Communicator box, Comm-Box, RS485 box and the software to go with them all to get everything online and fully controllable. The only catch is the whole works runs upwards of $9,000. There is a scale system available for $5,000 that will interface with the Rotem so I can look up how much feed is in each bin at any time. That will be added first because now we have to climb to the top and check them daily and that ***** !!

I'm going to put a slide show video together when they are fully grown to see each days progress

 

[Muzzy]

Yeah, I pulled the book on it over lunch. Too bad its a custom serial interface. Look on the bright side, soon your kids will be old enough to climb the ladders for you!

 

[red]

"That will be added first because now we have to climb to the top and check them daily and that ***** !!"

Wow, that doesn't sound like fun, especially with this weather. Until the budget allows for the system are you keeping a daily log?

This might allow you to cut the inspections in half or thirds on the next group.

 

[jblnut]

Yeah, I pulled the book on it over lunch. Too bad its a custom serial interface. Look on the bright side, soon your kids will be old enough to climb the ladders for you!

It'll happen at some point in time but there are a lot of other things higher on the list right now ...

Wow, that doesn't sound like fun, especially with this weather. Until the budget allows for the system are you keeping a daily log?

This might allow you to cut the inspections in half or thirds on the next group.

We check it daily and have been writing down their daily intake amounts. I put together a spreadsheet to track all kinds of stuff for each flock so I can go back and look what I did and when I did it. Seems like a good ideal.

 

[sublime68charger]

Like the temp guarding baskets!

Wonder when they get bigger will they push that around?
Time will tell I'm sure,

Any way to get a monitor in the feed bins know the feed level instead of climbing them to manual check every day? Beside there $5k option, even a low bin alarm would be nice I would think.
Sight glass outside maybe? Just thinking off the hip?

 

[ford33]

Sublime68charger has an idea. Wireless camera.

Blink Security makes a small exterior grade camera that operates on LIon battery and connects to your wireless network. They have a built in LED light for video or snapshot picture lighting. There is also built in temperature sensor. Pictures are viewable on your cell phone.

The exterior weatherproof camera which operates at 32 degrees or less is black in color. Interior cameras are white housing color.

I used their interior grade cameras in a property I own and they work well. Takes about 30 minutes to setup 3 cameras.

Amazon sells them.

 

[jblnut]

Like the temp guarding baskets!

Wonder when they get bigger will they push that around?
Time will tell I'm sure,

Any way to get a monitor in the feed bins know the feed level instead of climbing them to manual check every day? Beside there $5k option, even a low bin alarm would be nice I would think.
Sight glass outside maybe? Just thinking off the hip?

When they get bigger the baskets will come out. We'll be able to raise the temp sensors above their heads so they leave it alone. When they are little they do not regulate their own body temp so the temp needs to be measured down on the floor where they are.

We've talked about putting in sight glasses but anything mounted in the bin will get dirty and need to be cleaned eventually. I know there is a company that makes a microswitch on a paddle type system that will show a light when the switch is depressed and no light when the feed is below the paddle. I do not know how much that is but I'd have to go in the bins to install them ....

Sublime68charger has an idea. Wireless camera.

Blink Security makes a small exterior grade camera that operates on LIon battery and connects to your wireless network. They have a built in LED light for video or snapshot picture lighting. There is also built in temperature sensor. Pictures are viewable on your cell phone.

The exterior weatherproof camera which operates at 32 degrees or less is black in color. Interior cameras are white housing color.

I used their interior grade cameras in a property I own and they work well. Takes about 30 minutes to setup 3 cameras.

Amazon sells them.

The camera idea is a great one however it would get so dirty so fast I'd be up there cleaning it constantly. I put a camera in one of our grain bins last year and it only took a few hours while we were loading out for it to get so dirty it did no good. The lens was totally covered while the rest of the camera was squeaky clean. There must be some sort of static charge on the lens ...

 

[jblnut]

Day 13


I spun the camera around to get a look at the North half.


We put the mid-barn migration fence back in yesterday. It is to prevent the chickens from being too crowded on each half. There are 52% on the South half and 48% on the North half. The brood side where the baby chicks are delivered is a little larger so we keep more birds on that half.


It is just bonkers how nosy they are !! I sat here on a pail for a few minutes and pretty soon what looked like a wave of chickens came towards me. They all want to peck at my shoes and see what's going on.


We switched the feeders from flood feeding to normal feeding yesterday morning and they had them eaten down by last night. Once they grow and get tall enough to reach in the feeders they get switched.


We got the control room sink faucets plumbed in. I would not hire me as a plumber and I would be fairly angry if I was paying someone to do the work done here. Dad and I spent a few hours putting this mess together but the important thing is that NONE of it leaked when we pressured it up !!!


Cold on the left, hot on the right ... just how it's suppose to be !!


The feeder sale is tomorrow so hopefully I can bring home 40 or so little calves to fill the barn back up !!

 

[C_F]

The little chicks are starting to look like chickens already, pretty amazing how fast they grow. How is the noise level in the building now?

 

[jblnut]

The little chicks are starting to look like chickens already, pretty amazing how fast they grow. How is the noise level in the building now?

Surprisingly it's not bad at all. There is a distinctive click click of them pecking at the water lines though. They really only squak when we are walking around doing chores. I expected it to be louder.

 

[dchance]

Would placing a camera in a glass container help on the feed bins? Maybe isolate any static that is on the lens.

Enjoying following along.

Dwight

 

[jblnut]

Would placing a camera in a glass container help on the feed bins? Maybe isolate any static that is on the lens.

Enjoying following along.

Dwight

It may work but I don't think a camera in the bin is the right approach. The feed truck filled the one bin so full it was literally almost coming out of the top so the camera would get soaked in the feed until the bin started to empty. I don't know how well they do under the feed, in a container or not ......

 

[Bassfishing54]

Binmaster or a micro switch with a diaphragm both will work. Not sure of he model, but the binmaster gives you and indication when it is almost full. Only had these a few years before retiring and they worked well. The micro switch diaphragm only tells you when it is at that point. Works well when the same product is going in the bin, such as a dry feed or supplement. Used these on wet bin and feed bins when I was still farming and the only problem was a micro switch would fail occassionally or the diaphragm rubber got old and stiff after several years and needed to be replaced.

 

[Dividing Creek]

Havent been in a poultry barn since the 70's. Technology and best practices have come a long, long, way.
Is there an ideal temp to keep the barn @ where the chickens feed the most but are also least stressed ? That much space must be using incredible amounts of propane to keep heated ?

 

[jblnut]

Binmaster or a micro switch with a diaphragm both will work. Not sure of he model, but the binmaster gives you and indication when it is almost full. Only had these a few years before retiring and they worked well. The micro switch diaphragm only tells you when it is at that point. Works well when the same product is going in the bin, such as a dry feed or supplement. Used these on wet bin and feed bins when I was still farming and the only problem was a micro switch would fail occassionally or the diaphragm rubber got old and stiff after several years and needed to be replaced.

I've talked to a few dairy guys that have BinMaster systems and they love them. I don't need to know the exact weight of the feed in the bin, literally just a full, middle and an almost empty would be plenty good for me. I'm going to look into the BinMaster as well. It'd be ideal to have a display in the control room or something shiny sticking out the sides of the bins for a visual indicator.

Havent been in a poultry barn since the 70's. Technology and best practices have come a long, long, way.
Is there an ideal temp to keep the barn @ where the chickens feed the most but are also least stressed ? That much space must be using incredible amounts of propane to keep heated ?

The barn is 93F when the chicks are delivered and gradually gets lowered to just shy of 70F at day 42. I've been told it'll go through about 5,000gal per flock when it's cold out. Seems like a lot but we'll go through 7,000gal per week when we're drying corn in the fall

 

[jblnut]

Day 16 - The lighting has been slowly adjusted down to .5 footcandles in the barn so it looks sort of dark. Your eyes adjust once you're in there for a while but it doesn't make for a very clear photo.


We put the other two sets of migration fences in today. These are made of what looks like plastic cardboard and go under the feed and water lines. They keep the chickens from running from one end of the barn to the other. No need to run around and cause trouble !!


Yesterday we purchased 35 steers weighing 605lbs average. They're heavier than I wanted but my Dad was sitting next to the guy that owned them at the sale and he was talking about how nice they are and how good they'd look in our barn and Dad fell for it. That guy is also a lifelong family friend of ours and also happens to be the owner of Leedstone where I work off the farm. They are great calves but I had to shell out more $$$$$ to buy them because they weigh more and cattle are sold by the pound.


When they are born their calf raiser puts their birthday on their ear tags. I think there might be one in here with my birthday on it because I remember taking a picture of him on my/his birthday on their farm last fall


When we vaccinate them on Saturday I'm going to write the numbers down and see if he's in there. It'd be kind of neat. Here he is about 12hrs old.

 

[brit vet]

I was reading thinking how neat is that, the same birthday and guess what? 23rd August is mine too !

Great thread

 

[ford33]

The chicks have grown quite a bit.

Good luck with the new steers.

 

[PLOWJEEP]

Would you be able to do something as simple as an hour meter on the motor that runs the auger, bringing feed into the barn from the bin. If you knew how much feed the auger moved in x amount of time. It seems like it would be simple math as to how many hours the auger would have to run, to empty the bin. Thanks for sharing , Brian

 

[jblnut]

I was reading thinking how neat is that, the same birthday and guess what? 23rd August is mine too !

Great thread

Thanks for following along !!! I'm having fun sharing what goes on in the world of things I'm involved and grateful that so many think it's even a little interesting as well

The chicks have grown quite a bit.

Good luck with the new steers.

These chickens are getting huge. I guess if you do the math they should be 2.5% bigger every day so it makes sense that they look bigger. My brain is getting mushy from all the things we need to do each few days. Good thing I'm taking notes !! Give me 20 years or so and I'll have this chicken farming thing down

Would you be able to do something as simple as an hour meter on the motor that runs the auger, bringing feed into the barn from the bin. If you knew how much feed the auger moved in x amount of time. It seems like it would be simple math as to how many hours the auger would have to run, to empty the bin. Thanks for sharing , Brian

That is a simple and cheap idea. I spoke with the feed mill manager yesterday and he said one of the drivers fell off a bin ladder last week and got busted up pretty good. This is exactly what I am looking to avoid for myself as well. He also said that they will not be going on the ladders for any reason anymore which ***** for me. If the covers get frozen shut for whatever reason I'll have to drop what I am doing and go open them or risk running out of feed if I can't get there before the feed truck leaves. Doesn't sound like much fun. I think a scale system will be the easiest for myself and the truck drivers to know at a glance what is in there without having to climb the bin and bang on the sides. I just don't want to spend the $5k to make it happen though

 

[Toothaker]

(snip...) I think a scale system will be the easiest for myself and the truck drivers to know at a glance what is in there without having to climb the bin and bang on the sides. I just don't want to spend the $5k to make it happen though

Mike, I really enjoy following along. Not a farmer, never lived on a farm. I have a lot of relatives who are farmers and my dad grew up on a farm, so this is very interesting and educational.

I searched for grain bin monitoring equipment, and more than one seems to work on the principle of depth monitoring - a weighted bob is lowered from the top of the bin, and when it hits the grain it knows where the top of the grain is. You could duplicate that with a rope, a couple of pulleys and a weighted bob and do the same manually. The rope would reach to the ground beside the bin. You could calibrate it manually - put a mark on the rope when the bin is empty, another mark when the bin is full. It would be as accurate as you wanted it to be.

 

[jblnut]

Mike, I really enjoy following along. Not a farmer, never lived on a farm. I have a lot of relatives who are farmers and my dad grew up on a farm, so this is very interesting and educational.

I searched for grain bin monitoring equipment, and more than one seems to work on the principle of depth monitoring - a weighted bob is lowered from the top of the bin, and when it hits the grain it knows where the top of the grain is. You could duplicate that with a rope, a couple of pulleys and a weighted bob and do the same manually. The rope would reach to the ground beside the bin. You could calibrate it manually - put a mark on the rope when the bin is empty, another mark when the bin is full. It would be as accurate as you wanted it to be.

Thanks for following along Mick !! If you (or anyone else) have specific questions about how we do stuff or want to see something you've "heard about on a farm" please let me know and I'll do what I can to answer and show you everything I can !!

The great ideas keep coming in. That would be a very simple way to monitor what is in there while being very inexpensive. That being said, there has been some murmurs of cost sharing a scale system for all the barns in the system. I'm going to wait until that decision is made before I go and homebrew something together

 

[jblnut]

Good morning chicken barn.


Good morning little boy stuck in my entertainment stand


Dad and I are running low on wood for this year and have very little cut and stacked for next year so out we go. It'll be the first time I put the wood directly into the metal cages after cutting it. The idea is to handle it as few times by hand as possible.


One full tote. The chunks to be split will be put in the dump trailer and brought home today. We'll come back another day with the skid loader and trailer to bring them home. Literally every tree in this picture can get cut down for firewood. They have grown up in a drainage ditch and need to go so we can clean the ditch out sometime. Also, we've been talking about putting an irrigation system on this land and the trees will also be in the way for that.


Alyssa helped with chores tonight. She was being VERY pokey walking around so I had her sit in the Poultry Hawk instead and ride around. She had a blast !!


This guy was walking back and forth on the wooden divider as if he owned the place. I told him how it was and he melted back into the crowd.


I learned how to do the chicken dance from this guy tonight.


This feed hopper inside the barn was constantly running empty so I moved where the supply spout mounts so it'll fill up more. It's been working well so far but I need to get an extension ring on this hopper in case the spout decides to wander around and drop feed on the ground.


When the electricians wired up my Farm Alarm box they wired the computer, feed system and the barn high temp alarm into the same input on the Farm Alarm itself. They were all wired into the controller input so pretty much anything other than water pressure and a generator alert would sound the same when the alarm called. This seemed silly because the feed system causes issues often and it is nice to know what the alarm is for before you get there. When the feeding system shuts down the chickens have enough feed for 3-6 hrs depending on their age so no need to rush out there. I rewired things a few days back and it got its first test today.


Everything was wired into one input. Seemed silly so I broke them apart with a piece of Cat5e.


There is a timer inside this box (on top of the red light) that kicks the supply auger out if it runs longer than the timer will allow. There are two reasons for this. 1. If the bin is empty there is no reason to keep running and an alert needs to be sent to me so I come open another bin. 2. If something goes wrong inside the barn and feed is getting dumped on the floor the timer will prevent the auger from emptying the entire bin in the barn. I've heard of it happening on older barns before they put the timers in and it makes an incredible mess !!


Tonight the alarm was caused by a chunk of wet feed getting stuck around the ball in the bottom of the feed tanks. These balls are suppose to rub on the auger and jump around when the auger is running to help prevent blockages. It'd be nice if they worked that way though. From what I've heard from other growers they cause nothing but problems so I took them out.


They are in the bottom of the hoppers behind this cleanout access ....


There is one under each feed tank.

 

[1949 caddyman]

The birds are starting to look like chickens, what day is it?

 

[C_F]

I noticed in the shot of Alyssa in the Poultry Hawk, that the chicks seem to run for their lives as it looms overhead, is that the case?

Also, most of your snow sure disappeared fast!

 

[Dividing Creek]

whats the science behind the reduction in amount of light inside ?

 

[jblnut]

The birds are starting to look like chickens, what day is it?

It is day 19 today. Tuesday they'll be halfway !!

I noticed in the shot of Alyssa in the Poultry Hawk, that the chicks seem to run for their lives as it looms overhead, is that the case?

Also, most of your snow sure disappeared fast!

They seem to scatter in a hurry when the Poultry Hawk goes by. Not sure why but they do it when I wave a rake or something over them as well. It's actually quite handy because the Hawk rides right next to a feed line on each side of the barn and chases the chickens away from the feeders. We can easily see if there are any dead chickens or problems with the feeders at a glance.

We're suppose to get some more snow tomorrow but I think only a few inches. I brought out the skid loader blade once to push snow around but really wouldn't have had to so far. I don't think we've gotten 6" total so far this winter.

whats the science behind the reduction in amount of light inside ?

The chickens are less active. They don't try flying around causing problems nearly as much. Plus, if they aren't running around and burning off calories they are making juicer, better tasting chicken

 

[sgfarm]

Looking for my daily chick pic and had to go all the back to page 5 to find it. Hope everything is going well.

Did you find your birthday steer?

Mike

 

[ford33]

Those chicks grew fast.
What, if any, medical test are done on chickens before taken to slaughter?

Also curious about what chicken feathers are used for once the birds are cleaned?

 

[jblnut]

Looking for my daily chick pic and had to go all the back to page 5 to find it. Hope everything is going well.

Did you find your birthday steer?

Mike

Things have been insanely busy around here the last few days. We got some snow that required clearing the last two nights and it's been late when I got in the house so it was shower and sleep and repeat the last couple days !!

It does not appear the birthday steer in in the pens but we haven't run them through the chute yet.

Those chicks grew fast.
What, if any, medical test are done on chickens before taken to slaughter?

Also curious about what chicken feathers are used for once the birds are cleaned?

There are no antibiotics given to the chickens so I'm pretty sure the only tests done are to make sure they're not carrying any diseases but I'm not 100% sure on that. I can and will find out in about 20 days.

I have no idea what the feathers are used for. I'll ask because I'm wondering now too !!

 

[jblnut]

Day 22 - They are looking more like chicken fingers than chicken nuggets !!

There is always one idiot in the crowd

I've been trying to figure out a good way to filter all the **** (literally) out of the sink so it doesn't plug my drain pipe under my floor drain. I had a garbage can with a small hole in the bottom and a moment of genius struck. Use it to filter the water !!

The chickens have drank over 22,000 gallons of water in the last 12 days. Crazy !!

Today I'm headed back to Lisbon, ND to finish up the networking stuff in the parlor area at the 60 Stall Robotic Rotary we're installing. It's looking like it'll be milking cows in a little over 3 weeks !!