Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[RoyalChick]

Nope, same here in New England! But I'm not at all complaining about Spring. Neither are the chickens:View attachment 3030838View attachment 3030839

What tree/shrub is that? Looks like perfect chicken garden material!

 

[bgmathteach]

I need to get my paddocks sprayed with a herbicide to kill off the white clover, golden rod, and buttercup plants in the next month or so. Unfortunately I can't get any herbicides here unless you have a license to purchase. We have the same issue getting mouse and rat poison, the stuff they sell to the public is useless and a complete waste of money....

So road trip to the US next month so I can get some Dicamba - need to get rid of those weed plants as they are bad for my horses. The white clover causes founder and buttercup plants are poisonous to horses. Golden rod while not poisonous is just a nuisance plant.

I knew about laminitis (Founder) from too much grazing on lush spring pastures...always thought it was too much too quick...not good to suddenly introduce cows to lush pasture with unlimited access, either....however, always thought clover was a good food. Made me look into it a bit more....this was an interesting read for me! Thank you
Horses & Founder

 

[rural mouse]

The Brahma now have names. In order of darkest to lightest: Belladonna, Asphodel, and Primula. (Upper left, directly below, and far left against the feed tray)

Names for the Sussex and little man still under discussion. (Right side)

 

[bgmathteach]

What tree/shrub is that? Looks like perfect chicken garden material!

Actually, not perfect chicken garden material. We have pulled many of them out all around the yard, but really like them and wanted to keep the ones in front of the picture window of the house. These are yews that have been trimmed over the years. There were MANY, MANY yew shrubs & trees here when we bought the place. While I like them a lot, they are toxic to chickens

Unfortunately, the chickens love to hang out there....they can dust-bath against the house pretty much year round there ( we have a 2.5' overhang of the roof that keeps it dry & snow free, and the shrubs provide shade in the summer & 'roosts' year round.

I'm going to expand their 'extended run' this summer so the compost pile can be inside of it. This will also give me space to put up a pergola type thing (over the compost, but to 'train' 2 grapevines that are growing at the outside edge of the current run....and, hopefully, will plant either a wider shaped arborvitea, or a hemlock, so they can have 'natural roosts' inside the run, with some winter shelter. It will need to be protected for a few years until it gets some size to it to not be destroyed....but in time it should be great.

If anyone has a better suggestion of a plant for this, I would love suggestions! (want something evergreen and that will have enough low branches for roosts...this last criteria is why I'm not going with cedar (red cedar) as once they grow to decent size, low limbs die off.)

I have a chokecherry that is going to be planted in another area of the extended run, and am hoping to get some sand cherries for along part of the southwesterly side.

More 'chickens in the yew' tax: (I apologize n advance for the 'ghost' images...they are reflections on the window as most pics were taken from inside the house.)

 

[rural mouse]

Actually, not perfect chicken garden material. We have pulled many of them out all around the yard, but really like them and wanted to keep the ones in front of the picture window of the house. These are yews that have been trimmed over the years. There were MANY, MANY yew shrubs & trees here when we bought the place. While I like them a lot, they are toxic to chickens

Unfortunately, the chickens love to hang out there....they can dust-bath against the house pretty much year round there ( we have a 2.5' overhang of the roof that keeps it dry & snow free, and the shrubs provide shade in the summer & 'roosts' year round.

I'm going to expand their 'extended run' this summer so the compost pile can be inside of it. This will also give me space to put up a pergola type thing (over the compost, but to 'train' 2 grapevines that are growing at the outside edge of the current run....and, hopefully, will plant either a wider shaped arborvitea, or a hemlock, so they can have 'natural roosts' inside the run, with some winter shelter. It will need to be protected for a few years until it gets some size to it to not be destroyed....but in time it should be great.

If anyone has a better suggestion of a plant for this, I would love suggestions! (want something evergreen and that will have enough low branches for roosts...this last criteria is why I'm not going with cedar (red cedar) as once they grow to decent size, low limbs die off.)

I have a chokecherry that is going to be planted in another area of the extended run, and am hoping to get some sand cherries for along part of the southwesterly side.

More 'chickens in the yew' tax: (I apologize n advance for the 'ghost' images...they are reflections on the window as most pics were taken from inside the house.)View attachment 3030885View attachment 3030886 View attachment 3030880View attachment 3030878

Mungo pine comes to mind along with bird's nest spruce and some of the juniper varieties

 

[bgmathteach]

Mungo pine comes to mind along with bird's nest spruce and some of the juniper varieties

I love the idea of juniper!! Thanks!! I had kinda scratched them off my list because I didn't see anything suitable last fall in the local nurseries when I looked - could only find the low growing ground cover type. I'll have to look online and see if I can order something better in the juniper family!

 

[RoyalChick]

I love the idea of juniper!! Thanks!! I had kinda scratched them off my list because I didn't see anything suitable last fall in the local nurseries when I looked - could only find the low growing ground cover type. I'll have to look online and see if I can order something better in the juniper family!

Keep us (me!) updated. I am on the same search.

 

[rural mouse]

I love the idea of juniper!! Thanks!! I had kinda scratched them off my list because I didn't see anything suitable last fall in the local nurseries when I looked - could only find the low growing ground cover type. I'll have to look online and see if I can order something better in the juniper family!

Juniper comes in everything from fragrant green carpet to large trees. Cinquefoil (aka potentilla) is another idea. It doesn't stay green, but is so shrubby/drapey that tunnels develop under it. That's what Jessica was climbing a couple of weeks ago. And is behind the birds in this pic

Cheetah is next to the mint. The ladies are facing the cinquefoil/potentilla. view from the bottom of the slope, behind the mint is a passage under the thing, comes out on both sides of it.

 

[RoyalChick]

Juniper comes in everything from fragrant green carpet to large trees. Cinquefoil (aka potentilla) is another idea. It doesn't stay green, but is so shrubby/drapey that tunnels develop under it. That's what Jessica was climbing a couple of weeks ago. And is behind the birds in this pic
View attachment 3030948
Cheetah is next to the mint. The ladies are facing the cinquefoil/potentilla. view from the bottom of the slope, behind the mint is a passage under the thing, comes out on both sides of it.

I was thinking about red twigged dogwood. Also not evergreen but very pretty red stems in winter. But not generally sturdy enough to perch on.

 

[Kris5902]

Mix rain and snow here but hey it's not -20 so it's all good! And the chickies have been having a blast digging in the mud and crud....

The horses have been hanging out in the front paddock picking at old grass and checking for any new shoots coming up.

I need to get my paddocks sprayed with a herbicide to kill off the white clover, golden rod, and buttercup plants in the next month or so. Unfortunately I can't get any herbicides here unless you have a license to purchase. We have the same issue getting mouse and rat poison, the stuff they sell to the public is useless and a complete waste of money....

So road trip to the US next month so I can get some Dicamba - need to get rid of those weed plants as they are bad for my horses. The white clover causes founder and buttercup plants are poisonous to horses. Golden rod while not poisonous is just a nuisance plant.

First though need to fill the ruts I created yesterday... Oh joy. Gotta love Spring!

Canada Kinda Sucks Rant: (chicken tax coming)

It’s really quite awful the way the response to some misuse of substances has led to outright restrictions. If you were registered as a “farm”, you could get access to some of the pesticides and herbicides, but because you don’t make $XXX income from your animals, you don’t get to play with the chemicals you need to keep them safe. Horses are kind of dumb, like sheep…. And will literally eat themselves to death given the opportunity. If the cows break into the feed barn they will overeat, but not to the point of founder.

I didn’t know that about white clover. We actually seed with some of it in the pasture mix. Rather than responsibly using safe and effective chemicals, you could always just get on your hands and knees and pull out all the buttercups… it’s not like they propagate by runners Or anything I’m sure you have so much free time for that! We have been hit with a new invasive plant I think it’s called poison Tansy, that is killing the Deer and might be what caused some of the unexpected sheep deaths. Not sure if the Feral Goats will eat it. Ardy showed no interest, and she won’t touch buttercups, but I’m always worried about what they eat when we walk. When it comes To tenacious/invasive plants that will kill your animals… I agrees it’s a kill them first with whatever you can situation (I still want a propane weed torch, even though we don’t have a morning glory problem here)

Same thing here with some simple Medications as well. You can’t get fish Mox here… yes you can buy fish antibiotics for $10 in a US Walmart, but here you’re looking at a $500 vet bill for a simple infection, if you can even find a vet that will treat your livestock! Big chicken producers have vets on staff. They can get all the Corrid/Amprolium they want. Just try to treat coccidiosis in your small flock though. Most small animal and even avian/exotic vets won’t touch poultry.