Chicken Food Tower

[Phaedra Geiermann]

07.11 Update

Yesterday it rained again heavily, so all the towers are well watered. Two of them are now 80% full, so on the top layer, I planted mixed basil, and then again covered with a thin layer of compost.

The coming week we will again have plenty rain (really a bit too much...), so the good thing is no need to worry about watering. Besides, during the process of piling it up, I added some green materials so some moisture can be kept.

So far seems the girls are curious about their new hang-out areas

 

[Phaedra Geiermann]

07.13 Update

Added some new residents to the food tower: carrot tops and some garlic cloves. I am curious how carrot tops will grow in this environment, as usually they grow very well in ordinary pots or raised beds.

The carrot tops I planted in early spring already offer now some very pretty flowers

An interesting gardening experiment!

Even the 3-week old baby chick is interested in it

 

[N F C]

07.13 Update

Added some new residents to the food tower: carrot tops and some garlic cloves. I am curious how carrot tops will grow in this environment, as usually they grow very well in ordinary pots or raised beds.

View attachment 2758450

The carrot tops I planted in early spring already offer now some very pretty flowers
View attachment 2758458
An interesting gardening experiment!
View attachment 2758456
Even the 3-week old baby chick is interested in it
View attachment 2758462

The carrot flowers are pretty. On the last picture, is that a roost between the towers for your chickens?

 

[Phaedra Geiermann]

The carrot flowers are pretty. On the last picture, is that a roost between the towers for your chickens?

Yes, it's wooden part of an old broom (i guess) left by the previous owner, I used it for supporting some climbing plants originally. Here it finds a new purpose.

 

[aart]

Couple things I wonder.
Will the compost be too 'hot' for things to root well.
Will the chickens eat any growth before it really starts to grow much?

 

[perkolator]

Very cool. I've seen similar idea from EdibleAcres on YouTube, where he's doing this composting with chickens thing - that was the first time I saw someone intentionally putting seeds/grains in the compost piles, for the chickens

 

[Phaedra Geiermann]

Couple things I wonder.
Will the compost be too 'hot' for things to root well.
Will the chickens eat any growth before it really starts to grow much?

Will the compost be too 'hot' for things to root well ---> i guess no, such cold compost/open struture can barely hold the heat, this is the first reason, and second, there are not too many "green materials" inside, so there won't be too much heat from bacteria activities (as the heat is a byproduct from bacteria decomposting). The last reason is the strucutre itself is not too compact, another factor which won't cause temperature-related trouble for veggies to grow.

Will the chickens eat any growth before it really starts to grow much --> I believe yes, so the lower part of the tower I only use grass seed. Veggies seed or parts that can be propagated located only on upper part of the tower. If they stand on the roost they will be able to reach anyway. But well, eventually that's for them

 

[Phaedra Geiermann]

Very cool. I've seen similar idea from EdibleAcres on YouTube, where he's doing this composting with chickens thing - that was the first time I saw someone intentionally putting seeds/grains in the compost piles, for the chickens

Yes, i also use similar method for trying so called "chicken composting", but my major compost method is still the hot compost. So i only throw some but not too much veggies, grass clipping, fruit peel (exclude any citrus) for them to have fun.

Earlier I saw some gardeners who tried to plan potatoes from the compost pile, most of them are open structure. If the cold compost pile can support potato, such a bushy plant, other much smaller leafy green should be also possible, as their roots need much smaller space.

This year I planted a lot of salat greens for our hens, from April till now I harvested about 20kg and at least half went to them. But I planted them in the raised beds in different parts in the garden. As i want to build another covered area in their run for them in rainy days, i thought, well, it's not bad to collect rain water, plant something from the mixture of their poo, soil and whatever they scratched and left on the ground - their own self-sufficient home.

I can't let them stay freely in the garden all day due to some constraints I have, but I want to make their run into a chicken-friendly playground - food, fun, water. This is just the beginning

 

[Phaedra Geiermann]

07.15 Quick update as there is no internet signal and electricity, we are outside now.

I guess it works as quite a lot are germinated now.

 

[N F C]

07.15 Quick update as there is no internet signal and electricity, we are outside now.

I guess it works as quite a lot are germinated now.

View attachment 2760873

That's a promising start!