FLORIDA!!!!!ALWAYS SUNNY SIDE UP!!!

[BeachyChicken]

Thank you so much for all the great advise and pics! I'm an animal lover and it always makes me excitedly nervous when I add new animals. I'm terrified that I'll do something wrong and inadvertently hurt them...so I'm reading and asking questions and reading some more! I can't wait to get started but I want to make sure that I do all that I can to start them off right!

 

[cmom]

Thank you so much for all the great advise and pics! I'm an animal lover and it always makes me excitedly nervous when I add new animals. I'm terrified that I'll do something wrong and inadvertently hurt them...so I'm reading and asking questions and reading some more! I can't wait to get started but I want to make sure that I do all that I can to start them off right!

I'm sure you will do fine. I would start off with a small flock. My first go around with chickens was about 50 years ago but things changed in our lives that the birds had to go. We did have another go at it and got 6 pullets to start with and as time went on added more and more and even had different breeds at different times. Now I show my birds at poultry shows. We started with one coop and are now up to 10 coops. It has been many years in the process. Good luck and have fun...

 

[Mio0605]

What are you able to grow - if anything - to feed your flock? I'm a newbie to chickens and to Florida (West Pasco County - like 2 miles from the Gulf). Adjusting to sand instead of soil is one thing. Then add the unending sunlight (very very little shade in our yard) and heat, plus the fact that the chickens will eat anything they can get to... I know I need to fence off an area that they can't get to so anything will have a chance.

Stupid question #1: Do you plant seeds directly in the sand, or do you need to add at least some top soil? This is really foreign to me, coming from Maryland all my life where I dealt with clay - like the polar opposite of sand!

Any thoughts welcome!

 

[delder2009]

What are you able to grow - if anything - to feed your flock? I'm a newbie to chickens and to Florida (West Pasco County - like 2 miles from the Gulf). Adjusting to sand instead of soil is one thing. Then add the unending sunlight (very very little shade in our yard) and heat, plus the fact that the chickens will eat anything they can get to... I know I need to fence off an area that they can't get to so anything will have a chance.

Stupid question #1: Do you plant seeds directly in the sand, or do you need to add at least some top soil? This is really foreign to me, coming from Maryland all my life where I dealt with clay - like the polar opposite of sand!

Any thoughts welcome!

I have found that starting in palnters with a good soil first. I have a koi pond that I have water lettuce that i give them. And i use the muck from the filter to water and fertilize with along with the goodies the chicken's leave. One thing I have found is you can't go by the dates on the packages on when to plant. I'm still learning

 

[BeachyChicken]

I'm new to chickens but I have been gardening in south florida for years now...you'll definitely need to do something to your sandy soil. Add as much organic matter as possible, aged horse manure, compost etc. Also pick your varieties carefully and as someone else mentioned do not go by the seed packet dates. University of Florida extension has a good website with cultivars and planting dates that I've used as a reference in the past. It looks different than the last time I used it but I think this is the link:
http://solutionsforyourlife.ifas.ufl.edu/lawn_and_garden/calendar/

The growing season is basically flipped as compared with up north...summers where I am not much grows but wintertime is action packed and you can grow just about anything! Good luck!!

 

[cmom]

I agree with the other posts. We live in North Central Florida. We garden in the winter. It's just too hot in the summer months. We do get an occasional frost/freeze but have covers for our garden beds. We compost grass clippings, chicken poop, leaves. We also have a chipper shredder we put on the back of our tractor and the chips also goes into the compost. We harvest some of the seed from the plants we grow. Many seeds are good for 2 and 3 years. Here are a few pictures.






















We only cover beds with plants that can't handle a frost/freeze.

 

[Mio0605]

So I'm out of sync with planting times... I should have started as soon as "winter" was passed, at latest. Good to know.

You can use the chicken manure as fertilizer? I thought I read somewhere that it was too... something... acidic or something?

And we also have a koi pond. So when I washed out the filters earlier today, that grey water would be good for plants?

Thanks!

 

[AthenaT]

What are you able to grow - if anything - to feed your flock? I'm a newbie to chickens and to Florida (West Pasco County - like 2 miles from the Gulf). Adjusting to sand instead of soil is one thing. Then add the unending sunlight (very very little shade in our yard) and heat, plus the fact that the chickens will eat anything they can get to... I know I need to fence off an area that they can't get to so anything will have a chance.

Stupid question #1: Do you plant seeds directly in the sand, or do you need to add at least some top soil? This is really foreign to me, coming from Maryland all my life where I dealt with clay - like the polar opposite of sand!

Any thoughts welcome!

Mio0605 I am in Port Richey also...get ready to "stealth chicken" because Pasco and Port Richey do not allow poultry so a good 8 foot privacy fence and good neighbors are a utmost need. I planted patches of Elephant ears for my small flock to provide shade (and a few well placed patio umbrellas)...they dont eat them. Fence off any garden beds you are growing for food or they will eat all of the plants.Make sure you clip one wing of each hen to help prevent flight.... My coop has a solid back and 1/2 sides with hardware cloth along the 2 1/2 sides and 1 full sides and bottom with a 2 part hinged solid roof...it is a bit harder to get the hens in and out but built like fort knox...my "krewe" free range from early morning to just before dusk, with 2 neighborhood cats and my 2 small dogs keeping watch when I am not in the yard . I feed fermented layers mash with table scraps, and mealworms I raise for them I also have a sprinkler I run whenever it is very hot in the elephant ear plantings to make cool spots for them. There is no real smell of bug problems for the neighbors to notice however the closest to my left has heard the "egg song" a few times. It is my intention to grow fodder in trays once I find racks and trays and a way to keep them out until I want to bring down a tray. I have found deep bedding to work best in my coop in keeping any smells down and saving my back as it only needs to be mucked out every 4 to 6 months (and the bedding can be placed directly on a raised garden bed to be planted in 2 or 3 months time) NO ROOSTERS so you would be best off to buy pullets....there is a man who advertises "true Organic Hens" on Craigslist and I have found his birds to be very healthy and worth the $25 each he charges...you would spend as much on feed and equipment to raise chicks to point of lay and have to deal with rehoming or culling any roos.. I will be happy to answer any questions I can

 

[delder2009]

So I'm out of sync with planting times... I should have started as soon as "winter" was passed, at latest. Good to know. Yes the gray water is good along with the muck from the filters. I run a bog for my filter so all I have to do is back flush. For my pond I only run 1pump no uv or anything. The pump sits about a foot of the bottom and goes to the bog and then to a stream back to the pond. The bog has umbrella palms, iris, and hyasin. The stream and pond has hyasin and water lettuce. The fish waste feeds all the plants and the plants clean the water. When I back flush I just disconnect the hoes from the pump and direct it to my garden. Sorry my spelling may be off on some of the plant names

You can use the chicken manure as fertilizer? I thought I read somewhere that it was too... something... acidic or something?

And we also have a koi pond. So when I washed out the filters earlier today, that grey water would be good for plants?

Thanks!

 

[delder2009]

Sorry that whent in the middle of your text. And chicken poo is good for your plants. It is high in nitrogen. Nitrogen is hot and will brun the plants if not enough water is given. I do smaller amounts more often. But that is me

So I'm out of sync with planting times... I should have started as soon as "winter" was passed, at latest. Good to know.

You can use the chicken manure as fertilizer? I thought I read somewhere that it was too... something... acidic or something?

And we also have a koi pond. So when I washed out the filters earlier today, that grey water would be good for plants?

Thanks!