Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Aussie-Chookmum]

So i will just start out with, most of yall arent ready for this

@Kris5902 you might be

150 meat maker hatching eggs enormous by the usual standard

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Then he had someone back out so, do i want 600 pickling eggs?

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AnyBody want pickled eggs? I still have 2 left after the 2 doz jars of em i did in july and aug

He also gave me some of the special pickling seasoning blend he makes And i always wish id brought more money

Well I feel completely gobsmacked!

 

[Ribh]

Have you tried making raised and covered garden beds inside the run?

These are my 3 best "tyre gardens". I fill it with soil right up to the rim when planting grass, a bit less for herbs, and cover them in rigid 20mm galvanized mesh. It prevents them digging or pulling out the roots.

V This is mint, purple sage and basil. There is flat leaved parsley in there too but the girls love that and it gets pecked right back.
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V This is oregano, curly parsley and flat leaved parsley again. I think there is coriander and marjoram too but they are struggling.
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V mixed grasses
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Not yet. I have it in mind when I can get my hands on some old tires. I remember you sharing this before. It is such a great idea.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

Not yet. I have it in mind when I can get my hands on some old tires. I remember you sharing this before. It is such a great idea.

It doesn't have to be tyres. If there is any left over wood perhaps the man could nail a frame together. Of course, it will rot faster than a tyre .

The trick I've found is using the rigid wire mesh that doesn't bend under their weight and making sure the holes are small enough that they can't disturb the soil and pull up roots and seeds.

Edit: Perhaps some of your farm type neighbours have a tyre or two lying around that they want to get rid of? Maybe a big truck or tractor tyre?!

 

[LCG Chicken Coop]

It doesn't have to be tyres. If there is any left over wood perhaps the man could nail a frame together. Of course, it will rot faster than a tyre .

The trick I've found is using the rigid wire mesh that doesn't bend under their weight and making sure the holes are small enough that they can't disturb the soil and pull up roots and seeds.

Edit: Perhaps some of your farm type neighbours have a tyre or two lying around that they want to get rid of? Maybe a big truck or tractor tyre?!

Those are incredible! For anyone in the city, a great resource for discarded auto tires is the local tire dealer. They always have discards bound for the dump; they are often willing to give them away as long as they aren’t going to go back into a car.

 

[Shadrach]

Chickens are smart & need stimulation but one of the things I have found difficult in a small backyard run, is stopping them killing their entertainment! The ficus, which all the chickens adore, used to spread out low to the ground providing cover & shade & everyone used to squash in under there. However they like to eat the leaves so now the ficus is struggling to stay alive. My fence hoppers have killed one passionfruit off but the other is starting to spread over the coop roof where hopefully it will not only provide shade but entertainment when the fruit starts dangling. I'm going to try a choko @ the other end. They took out all my herbs ~ which I had hoped would grow big enough they could eat what grew through the wire but nope ~ they hop the fence just to clean them up I am lucky to have some really big trees that the man is willing to build around just to keep my chickens happy.

It's a problem with limited space. Most people start by clearing the land they intend to put the run and coop on. I saw some people do exactly this on the other side of the village here. They ripped out a few substantial bushes, a couple of small trees and tore all the grass and weeds out.

It's a big run too; it must be 10 metres x 5 metres.
Some plants here seem to survive the best of the chicken gardening endeavors, large Thyme and Rosemary bushes for example, privit and laurel type hedges and of course, most trees and saplings. Of course, the ideal is to securely fence the outer perimeter of the plot of land, much as one might do if trying to contain a dog. The best chicken keeping situations I've seen do something like this. My elder sister keeps chickens and has for twenty something years. The chickens have the back garden to roam in, a bit over a quarter of an acre. She fences the chickens out of the areas she grows veg and flowers in, rather than fence the chickens in an area.

 

[Shadrach]

I would think counting would be a good skill for a flock animal - checking everyone got home safe, that sort of thing.

Exactly. It's about being able to identify the other flock members and more importantly where those flock members are in the hierarchy.

 

[Shadrach]

Do you not collect eggs for yourself, then?

Not really. I steal what I need and give some to the main house.
A lot of eggs get thrown out because of my keeping arrangements. I encourage the hens to sit by leaving their egg stashes alone. After three or four days of sitting I know their egg laying cycle has switched off. This means that for the next two or three weeks they won't lay eggs and that gives them a rest at peak laying cycle. Very broadly, the less eggs a hen lays the longer she lives; this is very roughly.
Once the eggs have been sat on for a few days they've developed too much for most people to want to eat....a bit strange given people eat chicken. These eggs get broken and left for the wildlife who aren't as fussy.
A proportion of the eggs I don't find at all, or don't find in time to make them edible.
Another factor is if one keeps stealing their eggs (remember they have unlimited choice of where they lay) they go and lay somewhere else. This means more nest hunting, not so much for the eggs but to keep the hens safer. A version of this is what happens in feral flocks, their nests get raided and eggs get stolen by other creatures but in general only humans take them all and keep taking them.

 

[MaryJanet]

Have you tried making raised and covered garden beds inside the run?

These are my 3 best "tyre gardens". I fill it with soil right up to the rim when planting grass, a bit less for herbs, and cover them in rigid 20mm galvanized mesh. It prevents them digging or pulling out the roots.

V This is mint, purple sage and basil. There is flat leaved parsley in there too but the girls love that and it gets pecked right back.
View attachment 2005879


V This is oregano, curly parsley and flat leaved parsley again. I think there is coriander and marjoram too but they are struggling.
View attachment 2005880


V mixed grasses
View attachment 2005882

So clever. Love this. Next time I get new tyres, I'll keep the old ones.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

So clever. Love this. Next time I get new tyres, I'll keep the old ones.

My mechanic, who has been doing my tyres too for over 20 years, is happy for me to come and take what I want from his discard pile. I like the big ones with a narrow profile and wide centre.

 

[BY Bob]

I feel like I get to visit you when I see your videos Bob!

That's very sweet. I'm try to share as much as I can so you understand my flocks life. I am glad it is working a little.