Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[micstrachan]

We have been discussing just that. Her words were I can say whatever I want she is going to do what she wants to do. I'm trying to limit her to 1 coffee cup a day of meal worms. She doesn't care. I'm trying to convince her it is not good for them but it is not going well.

Bob, would it help if you told her your online chicken friend Michelle had not one, but TWO chickens die from fatty liver hemorrhage confirmed by necropsy at UC Davis?

 

[micstrachan]

I have a mix of evergreen and deciduous and I try to go with natives where possible.
Let me see if I remember:
- Three native Sweetbay Magnolias - not evergreen but hold on to their leaves a long time (transplanted from another spot where the deer were snacking on them too vigorously)
- 1 weeping hemlock - evergreen and creates a big spread they can hide under
- 3 honey berries - but they were very tiny bareroots and I don't know if they survived the drought followed by the cold - not evergreen but BERRIES!!
- Multiple butterfly bushes (well they planted themselves from seeds elsewhere). They are not evergreen but they create such a tangle of branches that I think they provide some protection anyway
- 1 evergreen viburnum

I am going to walk around and see if I can take some cuttings of other things I already have so I can keep evolving the chicken jungle!

I have two butterfly bushes and I can’t wait for them to get big enough for the chickens to hide under. They are beautiful, thrive here, and the deer don’t seem to eat them!

 

[micstrachan]

Pictures on line of the breed show big combs and wattles. Bernie however is rather modest in that department.
Bernie does what Bernie does!

View attachment 3390606View attachment 3390607

She’s adorable!

 

[featherhead007]

You be careful with what you're binging on young man

They mentioned hamburgs!

 

[bgmathteach]

I have a mix of evergreen and deciduous and I try to go with natives where possible.
Let me see if I remember:
- Three native Sweetbay Magnolias - not evergreen but hold on to their leaves a long time (transplanted from another spot where the deer were snacking on them too vigorously)
- 1 weeping hemlock - evergreen and creates a big spread they can hide under
- 3 honey berries - but they were very tiny bareroots and I don't know if they survived the drought followed by the cold - not evergreen but BERRIES!!
- Multiple butterfly bushes (well they planted themselves from seeds elsewhere). They are not evergreen but they create such a tangle of branches that I think they provide some protection anyway
- 1 evergreen viburnum

I am going to walk around and see if I can take some cuttings of other things I already have so I can keep evolving the chicken jungle!

Oooh, honey berries, I hadn't thought of them!

Mountain Laurel is native to here...and I probably wouldn't plant it except that it needs to be moved from where it is, and both them and Rhodies (also a transplant)do make very good cover - even in the winter.

Service berries and chokeberries are native to my area.

Hmmmm, weeping hemlock - I will have to look that up. I like hemlocks in general, anyways. It would be too big for what I want here, but I just might plant one somewhere else....they are GREAT winter 'shelter' (and deep shade in summer!)

Edit: The rhodie and Mt. Laurel will be on the OUTSIDE of the fencing, for the wild birds to use, and as such will still provide some shade in the afternoons for the chickens, and a bit of a wind break, as wind comes from 1 of 2 directions...and that will block the wind from the south-west/road direction.

 

[RoyalChick]

I have two butterfly bushes and I can’t wait for them to get big enough for the chickens to hide under. They are beautiful, thrive here, and the deer don’t seem ti was them!

They grow really fast and are considered invasive (they reseed very easily). It only takes one season for them to become pretty substantial. I am going to prune mine in the chicken area to encourage even more lateral branching - there is one lateral that after only one season is almost substantial enough to be a perch. I think I will try layering some branches of a nearby forsythia and move them into the chicken area once they establish themselves.

 

[lightm]

Happy Birthday! That looks like a wonderful way to spend the day.

Thanks. That was a wonderful day, but it was more than half a month ago.

 

[micstrachan]

You know, RC, if Bernadette ends up never laying, perhaps what caused her mobility issues as a chick also damaged her reproductive system. As someone who has had a few chickens die from reproductive issues, I think not ever laying could be a health asset in disguise. Of course, she could also just be a late bloomer.

 

[bgmathteach]

I have two butterfly bushes and I can’t wait for them to get big enough for the chickens to hide under. They are beautiful, thrive here, and the deer don’t seem ti was them!

Our butterfly bushes die back to within a few inches of the ground each year. So, while the root system does grow, and it gets a bit bigger each year, it will never get really big. And with the winters being cold, but no lasting snow cover for insulation, I am afraid we will lose them one of these years. Snow provides a very nice insulating blanket against the real bitter cold days, but we have a lot of freezing rains, sleet, and only a little snow that hasn't stuck around the past couple of years. While it has been warmer overall, we still get those really cold snaps (for here) of below zero F for a few days to a week at a time. I, too, like butterfly bushes. Maybe I should try 1 or 2 of these there as well.

 

[RoyalChick]

Oooh, honey berries, I hadn't thought of them!

Mountain Laurel is native to here...and I probably wouldn't plant it except that it needs to be moved from where it is, and both them and Rhodies (also a transplant)do make very good cover - even in the winter.

Service berries and chokeberries are native to my area.

Hmmmm, weeping hemlock - I will have to look that up. I like hemlocks in general, anyways. It would be too big for what I want here, but I just might plant one somewhere else....they are GREAT winter 'shelter' (and deep shade in summer!)

This hemlock is bigger than mine is and taller than my variety will become - but in shape it is similar. In my mind it is an almost perfect chicken tree!
Here is the link as it is a copyright picture: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Img_tsuga_canadensis_sargentii_1891.jpg

Shrubbery tax: