Chickens in Permaculture

[donrae]

Is it weird I clicked on the picture of poop to enlarge it

I'm not near the level I'd like to be. Right now we're just trying to manage the manure from the horses. But I'm so impressed what happens to a pile of mostly manure when you simply heap it and let it set for a year or so. My pile is so much smaller, and besides all the fist sized river rock we wound up with, it's beautiful looking compost.

I want to try to figure a way to incorporate my chickens into my garden this year, probably utilizing tractors. My property is long and narrow, so the garden is too far from the house for good predator management. The dog focuses mostly on the house and barn area, he only goes to the garden if I go, for the most part.

 

[lazy gardener]

Rachel, I don't know if this would work for you. It sounds like you would need to take your chickens to the tractor for the day, then return them to the coop for the night. The chicks I hatched this year (2 bators full, and one broody hatch) were all tractor and cat carrier trained. They were used to the cat carrier, since it was lined with hay, and made a nice safe resting spot for them. So, when ever I wanted to move them, I put down the cat carrier, and herded them into it. Then... it was super easy to carry them to where they needed to be. When the littles got too big for the cat carrier, training them to the tractor was pretty much a done deal, b/c they spent every day in the tractor. In the morning, when I let them out of the coop, the babies got fed first, and they knew that their feed would magically appear in the tractor. So, they'd RUN from the coop to the tractor. All I had to do was block the door enough to keep the big girls from going in. At night, reverse the procedure. They were in a hurry to get back to the coop, and their waiting cat carrier nest, so they'd race back to the coop at dusk. Of course, I had to time this evening pilgrimage to be late enough that they didn't want to take a field trip instead. But, I think you should be able to train your girls to go to the garden tractor, if they are hungry enough and know that the treats will be there for them.

 

[donrae]

Thanks LG. I like that idea.

I'm thinking to raise meaties in the garden, and make the tractor predator proof. Of course, my being out in the garden more will increase the dog's presence out there, hopefully deterring predators.

I'm really wanting to get a few batches of CX done next year. Reading the difference between pastured meat and conventional fed meat with regards to Omega 3s is kind of scary. I'm going to try to pasture my layers, also. I don't have tons of space (1 acre total), but it can be managed better than we have been.

 

[shortgrass]

Could you get the cattle to consume dolomitic limestone crushed into lime?

I'm afraid that might be way too much calcium and not enough mag...

The mineral they're getting right now is 13% magnesium... Dolomitic lime doesn't have enough to be useful with that much calcium, although it's a great idea to try to find a cheaper (ahem lol) supplement than the one they get right now.

We have to get the excess copper out if the soil and it seems thecgrasses cause the problems; where legumes can add magnesium in forage for feed they don't pull copper from the soil, and we need the copper to bind with something...

I had wondered about using the DL in the soil, but that might offset the calcium in the soil

Argh. We've done this mineral thing with the wheatfields and copper problem since I was a kid; my folks never tried to do anything other than supplement; I think I now know why

 

[shortgrass]

I should post some pics of my garden for you @donrae... Lol I kept them out if it while there was veg for me, but right now they've got it pretty much leveled; they even ate my parsley and sage, hungry girls

I've got a spot that I've barricaded from DH and his tiller lol, so I'm doing a BTE spot next year, I guess. It started out a permaculture thing and now I'm just doing whatever the garden wants to without seeding or watering... Permaculture, BTE, I don't know the difference to be honest lol

Either way, the chickens job is to go out there and scratch and poop and knock seeds out of all those carrot, radish, and beets I let go to seed, and they've kicked peppers and tomatoes around the area; its going to be an awesome little chunk of veg without needing weeded or watered or fertilized

I hope lol


I'm going to have problems keeping 40 big birds out of my garden next spring, I just know it lol


PS, are you looking for more omega 3 or less, Donrae? I have some if this on hand and am overseeding their run with it this spring, excited to get them some new delicious munchies...
http://www.groworganic.com/omega-3-chicken-forage-blend-irrigated.html

 

[centrarchid]

No cattle breeds with ability to tolerate high copper intakes?

 

[aart]

What is BTE?

 

[shortgrass]

What is BTE?

That would be Back To Eden gardening method...
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/06/21/back-to-eden-organic-gardening.aspx

@lazy gardener was who first mentioned the term to me; I had no idea what it meant but its evidently what I'm actually trying to do, I suppose

 

[shortgrass]

No cattle breeds with ability to tolerate high copper intakes?

Not as far as I know, but I haven't researched different BREEDS... These are my moms' breeding legacy lol; she's very particular they stay red (uniformity, the calves sell better when they're red, don't ask lol), so we work mostly with red Angus and Limousine, a bit of Saler in them... I doubt I can get a different breed in there and keep her breeding stock the way she designed it...

But its worth looking into for sure

 

[centrarchid]

Your situation is ripe for development of a landrace tolerant of high copper intake.