Gun Dog Forum

Just finished the house and plan to use farmtek nipples attached to an ajustable hight board and attached to hose leading to a 10-15 gal. container outside the house, Has anyone done this and how did it turn out, any pic's would be helpfull. How high should the nipples be above the floor and how many birds will one nipple surve.

Thanks Tom.

That's a good looking johnny house.

My training partner and I did pretty much what you're talking about. We used a 30 gallon plastic barrel that I bought online. I paid to have a spigot installed. We attached onto that and fed it down to a pretty elaborate PVC rig for a *bunch* of pigeons, chukar and ducks to water from.

One thing that we did do was put a deal on it so that we could drain it easily in winter so that the pipe wouldn't burst.

I have about 4 nipples set at differant heights in mine, that way I can put young birds in there and they can still get water. I have a 5 gallon bucket that is fed by the gutter on the roof. So I only really have to check water levels in the summer time. With those nipples the birds use very little water. The nipples are screwed into holes in a 1" pvc pipe, the pipe is hooked up to a 3/8" plastic hose which runs to the 5 gallon bucket. I have the same setup in my pigeon coop.

I'm using a very similar johnny house and I have one nipple in a pvc tube to water my birds. I have 30 quail right now. You look like you have a nice set up. Good luck.

would you mind posting pictures of the inside of that?

looks really good, simple and easy to build. I wouldn't mind building a few of those.

Another pic.

I don't mean to hi-jack the thread but I thought I would add some pics of my johnny house that is very similar to yours. It may be helpful to others who are looking for information. I did paint my jh since taking these pics.

I have a ramp that leads up to the funnel. It will fold up and cover the hole at night. I suggest having a way to cover the recall funnel so a weasel or something doesn't get in and take out your quail. I learned that lesson the hard way.
open

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feed and water tubes. I since made the hole smaller for the feed tube because too much food came out.

view of release door


I made two releases of birds this year but I did not run the dogs on them yet. I like to let them return a few times before working the birds. I started out with 30 quail and I now have 31 in the pen. One little bird must have survived the winter and came back.

Just bought 10 nipples on ebay for $10.50 and there are pic's of the nipples in 3/4" pvc running horizontal. I will add a ramp/door to keeep out critters.
My quail wast so much food when i use the 15 lbs chick feeders even thou I raise the hight of the feeder too about neck hieght. I will try to make it harder for them to get too the food. Thanks for the pic's.

Will chucker return to a johning house like qual?

I have never tried chuker but I have heard that they will recall. They need to have a bigger funnel and I think lion country supply sells them.

Here is the cheapest I have found the water nipples get some use your imagination.

They are wonderful! Easy to use and no fouled water ever!!!
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/45988 ... PPLES.html

Well I got the nipples and installed them in a 3/4 pvc pipe and am having a problem with geting a good seal between nipple and pvc. The instructions call to drill a 11/32 hole, well that drill bit is hard to find so I used 5/16 and sealed with pipe sealant. I have leaks. I got a good seal attaching 3/4 npt/1/2barb to the bucket, used pvc cement. I may try the better nipples on ebay. Here are some pic's. What have others used to get a good seal, on the bucket to barb i used pvc glue and it sealed great. There is a heavy duty red nipple on ebay, has anyone used them and how did you make the seal.

Tom

I think I will take the 6 nipples out and clean them up, remove all pipe sealant and try either pvc cement or silicone sealant. With time I think I can get this right.

I have the farmtek screw in nipples they work great. You have to use the bit they say to use (to drill the holes) and i found with the threaded nipples to wrap the threads with teflon tape to keep them from leaking. Also if the nipple does not hang strait down the nipples will leak. Nice Johny House its also similar to mine!

i took a 2 gallon double walled chicken fount and installed the nipples in the bottom of the metal fount and could not get the nipples to stop leaking so i used 100% silicone to seal around the nipples and it lasted the winter without leaks (have not used this since the winter)

1" pvc pipe i think works the best

I haven't had any issues with the farmtek push-in nipples. I think that I used a different bit size, although I cannot remember which size now....

If you have a pen with different bird sizes in it I have found that if you mount the one end higher than the other and slant it, it works great.

Ditto on the drain/cleanout for colder weather.

chicken19590 See you have clear hose. I had problem with algae growing very fast in my hoses. Switched to black and don't seem to have that problem anymore.

Also sloped my PVC pipe with nipples so younger birds can easily drink from lower end and bigger quail or even chuckars can drink from higher end.

Found that the handles on the buckets will break off when exposed to sunlight during the year. Either wrap wire around and hang with that, or build a platform under the buckets.

In cold areas and even in north TX the hose and PVC pipe will freeze and break. What I have found to not break as easily is to put nipples directly on the bottom of the buckets. The bucket may freeze, but once it thaws just a little the birds will have some water to drink. This does mean that you haft to go inside to fill the water. Unless you switch bucket and PVC for appropriate seasons.

Just a few things I had to change in my houses over the years.

Scott

I will put black tape over the hose and am in the process of redesigning the storage tank so that it will hold about 15 gals of water. I will only use this system when there is no freezing temps.

Mine is identical in design to yours, although a fair amount older. I use a Gillis watering system hooked to a hose for water, there is a hydrant not far away.

Two suggestions. One is to put medium sized rocks under the edge of the johnny house, where there is a gap between the johnny house and the ground. It looks like you have a wire mesh floor (which is what I have). Some predators will try to dig under the johnny house, and then will take the birds feet off through the wire mesh. The rocks help to prevent that.

The other is to build a small shelter over the ramp and hole into the johnny house funnel. When the quail are first figuring out how to get into the funnel, they will spend some time outside in the open and hawks will get them. Give them a shelter over that area and they will stay inside it until they figure out how to get in.

Anybody try a black bucket during the winter? Or, try a bucket de-icer meant for horses? Curious if those 2 have worked. if so, I may try this winter.

Justin

On the 5 gal. bucket to PVC pipe and hose. I saw on another site how to use tire valve stems to get a leak proof seal for the hose to fit over. Just remember to take out the valve stem inside. this allows a free flowing sealed outlet to slip hose over. Works very good. I think I used a 1/2" drill to make hole then pulled stem through hole and into place.

this is really good thread. i hope the designs and pics keep coming. Thanks

Pictuers are way to large and I can't see the house at all. If you sized them down they would fit better. As for the jug outside, good idea but durning the warm months make sure it's shaded and ventilated good enough to keep the water from forming algee.

putting a shot of clorine in the water will help too . i do it with my pigeons and quail. a cap full to 4-5 gallon

Sorry about this question in advance, and I don't mean to hijack a thread, but what exactly is a johnny house used for? For pen raised birds? are they allowed to come and go as they please? Sorry again, I am kinda new at this.

Last summer I got 30 quail for my johnny house and today I let them out of the JH so I can get it cleaned up for this summer. Plus I was just about out of food for them. I had 22 quail left in the pen plus one more that has been hanging around outside for the past 6 weeks or so for a total of 23 birds remaining. I had 5 die in the pen in August and 2 more that most likely became part of the food chain. I think the 5 that died broke their necks when a mower went by. It was nice to hear the birds calling in the field before I left. Here is a short video of some of the flying out of the JH.


I'll have to try and keep an eye on them to see how long they last.

No Cl needed if no light gets to water system never had algae once. And I live in the deep south. Just don't let any light get to water system .