Friday, July 30, 2010

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.

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