1 year chicken owner, new to BYC

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StarrChicks

StarrChicks

Chirping
Joined
Jan 15, 2019
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Location
Staples, TX
Hello fellow chicken owners! I have had my girls for almost a full year now and couldn't be happier with them. I started with 6 chicks that were between 6 and 7 days old and all have survived. We were given another hen at the beginning of this month due to neighbors moving. It took about 2 weeks to get the old ladies to accept our new Chicka but now they're all like best friends. I have used BYC in the past year to teach me almost everything I needed to know about raising backyard chicks but I've never posted anything until now. My husband and I along with our 4 kids, 1 dog and 7 hens will be moving by May to our own little piece of heaven and I had a few questions I couldn't find answers to online. When we move we are going to try a semi off grid life. We're going to start a little garden for veggies, we're hooking up a grey water system from our showers, sinks, and washing machine, and trying out an incinerating toilet. The toilet is my favorite thing! The thought of never having to scrub a toilet is just amazing lol and the fact that all of our waste will be turned into ash is mind blowing! Here is where my question lies... can those ashes be used for composte in the garden? Could they be added into a dust bath for the girls? Currently I use wood ash mixed with some DE and that would still be what I use in the future thanks to my new place having a wood burning fireplace. I just wondered would it be safe to use since it IS human waste??? Anyone have any thoughts on this? Should I just dump it in the trash or attempt using it for some kind of good?

Also, any thoughts of semi off grid living would be helpful. This is a huge adventure for myself and my family. We are originally from just outside of DC and moved to a very small town in Texas almost 3 years ago. However, this town is not small enough for us anymore hence the reason we are moving again. I really want this to be a success so I can show my kids that life is more then just cell phones, social media, and video games.

Thanks for reading my rambling thoughts! Hope I get some good advice from y'all soon.
 

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:welcome
I am not off grid at all. I wish. Maybe one day.
I'm sure you will find off grid individuals around here though. Peek through the forums and articles.
I do garden, but I don't put any kind of ash in my compost. Incinerating toilet... sounds like the hot seat. :lau That could be a lot of ash over a year. I'm sure it has a use though. Hope you find some creative use for it.
 
StarrChicks said:
@BReeder! Thnx for the advice. And yes it is going to be a big change using the incinerating toilet lol I wish I would have recorder the conversation I had with the kids about this
Click to expand...
Was it like this, "shut the lid before you flush or you will light your butt on fire!" :gig
 
I can't answer your waste ash questions but as for gray water use in the garden, you'll have to judiciously choose what soaps, shampoos, etc. that you use since that will all go into the garden as well.
This may give you some ideas.
https://greywateraction.org/greywater-reuse/
 

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