Johnny House

[JMoss]

Hey does any body have any plans for a Johnny House and if so do they really work? Haven't ever tried one yet but looking forward to trying one out this spring let me know the good bad and ugly? Thanks!!

[PointingGunDogs]

This is one that we have used with some success. It is similar to what Dave Walker uses. Just a simple box with a recall funnel on one side. You can build your own funnel but we got this one from GunDogSupply. One end is closed in for shelter and the other end is open. A door on the top for food/water changes. Doors on either end for releasing. We built it using 2x2 fir and 1/2" plywood. It is pretty easy to move around. Phantom Kennels sells plans for a much bigger johnny house unit. But we like ours to be portable since we change training grounds fairly often.

The biggest lesson we learned is in the conditioning of the quail the first week or two before you start training on them. It takes them several days to get the hang of the recall. The first few days we just opened the door and let some of them walk out a few feet, then we left them alone. Extend the range each day until they are flushing far with good recall rates (95%+). Then you are ready to train with them. Be sure to leave them a couple hours of daylight in the evening to have time to get back to the recall pen.

[Crestonegsp]

We use Johnny Houses made from blue plastic barrels. Using 1/3 of the end you build them with a funnel, feeders and water tubes like other houses. The feeder and water tubes are made with large PVC, cover the feed tube with a cap keeps food dry and leave the water open and it collects its own water supply. You attach a rope to the top and pull them up into a tree when working dogs. This keeps dogs from running to the houses and also pulling them up after the birds recall keeps them safe from predators. We have 4 houses spaced along our training grounds holding 8 to 10 birds each. A pro out west uses them and they work very well.

[BoJack]

The other picture posted and the barrel mentioned are Recall Pens(the one pictured is a nice setup though).A Johnny house allows the birds to fly up and down and keeps them Flight Conditioned.BirdS will fly Up to light and sun and back down to feed and covey up.Didn't use any plans with the one shown.I just used my own design and measurements 4 x 4 x 6.Double wire bottom and funnel door to keep predators out.Holds 24 quail comfortably.

[PointingGunDogs]

Thanks for the pics and the clarification on a Johnny House vs. Recall Pen. I really like your design and it seems like it would work great. I wish I owned some land where I could build something more permanent like that. I have a barn where I raise the birds and keep them flight conditioned, then move 10-12 to the recall pen for 3-4 weeks at a time for training. Then restock when we shoot them all or the numbers dwindle. Since we train on leased ground, we have to be able to move the recall pen easily when the farmer want to cut the alfalfa and bail it 3-4 times a year. Also, I like to change training grounds because the dogs seem to figure out the cover and where the birds will be instead of hunting for them.

I would love to see some pics of the barrel method also, sounds interesting.

Any other pics of your recall pens or Johnny houses.

[jimbo&rooster]

Ok.... so I am planning to do a little habitat work over the next several months which has the potential to turn into 100+ acres in the next year. my main reason is to have birds to train on and to eventually be able to potentially take some birds off of. am I right to assume that a Johnny house is essentially a coop where released birds can be put, and can then come and go as they please to get food and water untill they get the hang of being in the world?
Jim

[sh0rthair]

We use Johnny Houses made from blue plastic barrels. Using 1/3 of the end you build them with a funnel, feeders and water tubes like other houses. The feeder and water tubes are made with large PVC, cover the feed tube with a cap keeps food dry and leave the water open and it collects its own water supply. You attach a rope to the top and pull them up into a tree when working dogs. This keeps dogs from running to the houses and also pulling them up after the birds recall keeps them safe from predators. We have 4 houses spaced along our training grounds holding 8 to 10 birds each. A pro out west uses them and they work very well.

Dan,

Could you post a picture of these?

Thanks,
Jeff Wallace