Growing Chickens, Guilds and Nest Boxes.

Growing Chickens

Our chickens continue to grown putting on a little bit more weight every day.  We are still more than a month away from getting eggs.  We are starting to let them out to wander in the back yard.  I have enjoyed watching them weed the garden (not really go for the veggies just grass and weeds).  They clearly like hanging out by the compost the best because they find more worms and bugs there.

They are also much more experienced with our dog, Obie, and cat, Ralph.  Obie kind of watches over them.  When he is laying down next to us on a quiet evening, the chickens come over to us and pick unseen things out of his fur until he gets up and moves.  Ralph has had thoughts of getting a chick from the time they were inside in their brooder and he was able to watch them grow.  They are very big by comparison and his dreams of getting one vanished in front of my eyes.  He came out back and was sort of stalking one of the chickens.  I was getting ready to grab him when the chicken turned around, walked over to him and given him a significant peck right between the eyes.  That was it, Ralph ran for the door asking to go inside.  From that moment forward, he hasn't even looked at them.  He won't go out when the chickens are out.

We have hawks that are of concern and as a result, we do not let them just hang out on their own.  I have seen a hawk fly by, see me, and leave.  That was enough for me to plan a better roof for the outside pen.



What the Heck is a Guild?

We are using some ideas borrowed from a kind of farming/landscaping practice called "permaculture" in our backyard.  If you remember, I ripped out a Viburnum to build the coop.  I left one in place and since then we have planted a variety of native plants in and around the drip line of the remaining tree.  In our case we planted Spiderwort, Thistle, and Ramps (native leeks).  This community of plants working in harmony with the shrub is called a guild.  There are more of these communities coming was we plant Cherry, Apple and Pear Trees to complete the permanent additions to our yard/farm.


This area is our chickens' favorite place.  Under the Viburnum behind the ramps and spiderwort.  Shady, cool, buggy.  Perfect.  Wish we'd planned it that way.  They are cute in it, I think the plants benefit from the scratching of the earth and the bug removal.  I think the plants suffer from being stepped on periodically but not enough to discourage the chickens.


Nest Boxes

I am simply announcing here and now - more than a month before they are due to start laying.  The nest boxes, two of them, are nearly complete way before they are needed.  This is a victory for me.  Figured I'd just say so.

Garden imps and the 87 pound rabbit.

It has been too long and I am sorry.  My life became a whirlwind of unexpected proportion all of a sudden.  Now, with a couple days of quieter time, I have a moment to write.

Garden Imps:

Our garden has taken off.  I have harvested more peas,  lettuce and strawberries than ever before.  I am currently trying to keep up with the kale, cucumbers ans zucchini. Breads, soups, and kale crisps. 

Each time I walk about the back door there is a chirp or squeak and a trail of moving plants in this garden.  Some significant numbers of strawberries and cucumbers have been eaten but not enough to really make me upset.  

I was finally able to identify the imp by noting the holes in the sand under our chicken coop and patio pavers...5 stripe chipmunks.  Now, that left me with a question:  who is eating the strawberries and cucumbers? They were getting eaten whole.  I've seen a rabbit or two and thought it I had a solution that question too.

The 87 Pound Rabbit

Our home is set up so that the bedroom windows look out onto the garden.  I am usually the first one up and I have a routine.  I check out the back window on the gardens and the chickens and see that all is well in the morning sun.  I like the peacefulness of the space we have back there.  I feed the dog, make some coffee and let the dog out and sit down to my morning emails. Nice, quiet, peaceful before the day gets going.

It happened that walking the dog a week or so ago, I got badly stung by hornets - never saw the nest, 3 maybe 4 stings on my hand.  It blew up to be the shape of a latex glove used as a balloon and caused nights to be uncomfortable.  All of this is relevant because I was not the first up in the morning.  I woke up to hearing my partner in the kitchen letting the dog out and getting something for breakfast.

I went to the window and saw with my own eyes who has been taking the cucumbers and strawberries.  Its Obie our dog.  I watched as he walked over to the garden, poked his nose under leaf after leaf, take that one, and this one, oh, that one is good too.  87 pounds of rabbit.

He likes kale stems, strawberries (they're done now) and cucumbers.  We have to watch him because he really likes the cucumbers and he's sneaky.

Next post: growing chickens, plant guilds and nest boxes.