Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[rural mouse]

Both of these are on my list, plus a few others (choke cherry & service berry are native to here) and high bush blueberry. But, those are for a hedgerow - my next project, probably next year...gotta work on MY living quarters, too...roof still isn't fixed from tree falling on it last Aug/sept

There was someone on here who has a siberian pea hedgerow...they offered seedlings this spring if I wanted to come down and get them. Now I forgot who it was that had them...and forgot to bookmark the post!! If whoever has that great pea tree shrub hedge reads this...please let me know....sorry I forgot who it was!

Me. You gotta come to Montana for them though... I can probably swing some lilac shoots and even some quaking aspen too, thoug.

 

[rural mouse]

Make sure to dispose of the bodies too. Chickens (and other critters) can eat them and get poisoned off the poison in the bodies.

SHRA t

ax

 

[BY Bob]

I was planning on putting the pea tree in a hedge that will be enclosed in a new 'summer' pen (long term plans is 3 'summer' large 'pastures/pens' that I can rotate them through, and my current pen as a winter only one. The (long term) 'pastures/pens will enclose between 1/2 ish acre [what will be the smallest our 'orchard' pen for our soon to be fruiting & nut trees. (Apples, apricots, figs, pear, persimmons, & blueberries - a sub section - and some nut trees...have a few in mind but haven't settled on them yet. The fruit trees mentioned (minus blueberry bushes) we already have, heeled into a woodchip pile.] All the way up to an acre. The middle 'pen/pasture' will include half of the hedgerow (inside half, with fencing line in middle & enough space to walk along fence line & have electric fencing at base & top.
I plan on planting the pea tree shrubs on the inside of the fenceline...and hope the chickens will eat enough seeds as we approach winter...plus scratch enough to keep most from successfully sprouting. Also, I'm up for hand pulling AND for picking & saving seeds for winter feeding/supplementation. I hope in the future to be able to provide about 1/3 of their food for the winter from harvested/stored produce/seeds/grown worms/larvae& grown greens. Pumpkins and other winter squash, beets, turnips, parsnips, carrots all store well, and cold crops such as kale/cabbage/turnip greens/peas & pea vines will all grow in a greenhouse most of the winter. Plus, once I've got the orchard going, freeze or dry a variety of fruits, too! I've got to cut down on my feed bill, and I WANT to be more sustainable/self sufficient.

Sorry for the long windedness!

This is some project, I wish you every success and look forward to following along as you work your way there.

 

[BY Bob]

The trouble is it will be hard to work around the branches, and I don't want to cut them. One pine has a couple of 'low' branches...start @ 6' & drop to about 4.5 -5' that the chickens like to roost on....and there are more above that...once you get into the branches, it is almost impossible to work around them...especially with the 2 trees. If the lowest branches were 8' high, I could put the netting below them & be good. I really don't want to cut the lowest few on both trees, though, as these are the longest & provide the most/best shade...and again, the girls love roosting on them.

Cut and re-sew the netting, not the trees.

 

[RoyalChick]

I flat out refuse to even try to set them… I would lose a finger, I’m sure!

I think you are right. It is why I haven’t dared use it. Even the mouse ones hurt like hell and leave a real dent in your finger though don’t actually break bones (don’t ask me how I know!). But the rat sized one I am sure would break a finger. Fortunately I managed to find the access point for the rats and destroyed their nest so I am not bothered by them any more. I see them sometimes on my cameras but they are going about their normal ratty business and not going into the Chicken Palace.

 

[Ponypoor]

Oh the drama! Will it ever stop?

Not if they r like my gang! Haha!

 

[Kris5902]

Baby owl death by rodent poisoning

UK Barn Owl poisoning

Vancouver Owls

Sheesh...even more dead:
N.E. poisonings

Some info on Primary & Secondary risks of various rodent poisons

Yep Vancouver Owls would be our general location, most of the smaller local papers covered this as well. You can’t purchase rodenticides as a homeowner, but they are still available to professionals and you will often still find active poison boxes around restaraunts, grocery stores, and food warehouses. The important thing is killing them and containing the bodies in a secure place. The industrial boxes are supposed to do this. The dose is supposedly high enough the rodent can’t get back out of the box before perishing. Same idea. The problem was the widely available only semi effective poisons homeowners were using that allowed resistances to develop and then the toxic little rodents were running around for owls to snack on… and often making an easier target as they were slowly succumbing. I prefer snap traps. But poisons can be used safely… just most people don’t.

 

[rural mouse]

The trouble is it will be hard to work around the branches, and I don't want to cut them. One pine has a couple of 'low' branches...start @ 6' & drop to about 4.5 -5' that the chickens like to roost on....and there are more above that...once you get into the branches, it is almost impossible to work around them...especially with the 2 trees. If the lowest branches were 8' high, I could put the netting below them & be good. I really don't want to cut the lowest few on both trees, though, as these are the longest & provide the most/best shade...and again, the girls love roosting on them.

What about strategic branch removal near the 8' mark? Just enough to slide (and curse, untangle, curse some more) the net between layers of the branches: 2 man job, 1 ladder from outside branches feeding net in, 1 up inside the tree spreading the net around the trunk....

 

[micstrachan]

Sharing!!

Oh. My. Frick. This is amazing!

 

[micstrachan]

Baby owl death by rodent poisoning

UK Barn Owl poisoning

Vancouver Owls

Sheesh...even more dead:
N.E. poisonings

Some info on Primary & Secondary risks of various rodent poisons

Coyote, bobcat, raptor and (maybe) fox poisoning via eating poisoned rodents is a HUGE problem where I live.