How to become self-sufficient (kinda) with chickens.

[OrpingtonManor]

I would need to collect my rain in the winter, since we have no rain in the summer. However, it doesn't freeze here, so all is well.

I am thinking about a mosquito fish for my rainbarrel, which is still in the planning stage. Has anyone tried these? The oil sounds like a viable possibility as well. Have you been using that method?

 

[DollDoctor]

I have really enjoyed this thread. My six Columbian Wyandotte pullets have recently started free ranging whenever I am home. I worry about them (lots of predators around here) but I can tell they are so much happier. And don't eat as much feed either!

Last week I went to a PYO place for the first time in my life and got some blueberries. They were so good, so easy to pick and so cheap compared to the store! Why didn't I do this years ago? Inertia, I guess. Even if I only do some of the work (the harvesting) it's still another small step toward self sufficiency.

Regarding bone meal - has anyone ground up the bones of their own chickens for adding to the garden?

 

[OrpingtonManor]

I haven't had a chance to garden in years. I made the mistake to buy and renovate a 90 year old house. It takes up every minute I have. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter, though. I will get to think about gardening soon. (Then I will have to battle the deer.

)

The question on bone meal a few posts back was a good one. My son does research, and one of the things his lab does is related to BSE. I will ask him about current problems with bone meal and mad cow disease.

Is it easy to grind your own bone meal?

While we are talking about soil supplements, does anyone add wood ash to their soil? I was looking at the analysis, and not only does it have Potassium, but it is as high in calcium as lime. I add it to my compost pile. Some threads had mentioned it as a good dust for the chickens. Any thoughts?

 

[mylilchix]

I use it as dust for our chickens. They seem to love it, and I haven't had an bad effects from it. I have an area where I toss the litter from my coop, llama poo, and ash, it's growing plants like mad!! I may have to create a compost pile now.

Sonja

 

[rainbowgardens]

If you simmer your chicken bones a few days for broth, the bones will soften up enough for you to smoosh them with your fingers. You could do this in a crockpot if you're concerned about leaving your stove on that long. It could be mixed right into the soil or put in your compost.

 

[estpr13]

Quote:
I used feeder guppies in a rain barrel once. It seemed to work. They became big and multiplied but there were still misquitos in the water.

I first used this technique of using guppies when I worked commercial construction on large construction sights that had containment pits to catch any accidental chemical spills but mostly ended up collecting rain water. So in order to keep the misquito population I would sneek guppies into the containment pits. About 10 guppies per pit and in about 6 months time there were lots of them.

I had a friend in northern Indiana who put some in a bird feeder that he burried in his back yard and come winter time he pulled out 3 to 4 times as many as he put in. It works and feeder guppies tend to be more hardy than the fancy one's which tend to be inbred.

Good luck and don't feed the guppies. Kind of defeats their purpose in life.

 

[strictlyliable]

Our rainbarrells are enclosed 55gallon barrels connected together with PVC. So we don't have too much of a problem with bugs getting in, except for the random one to find its way through our roof runoff filter. But friends use the oil method and they say it works. I think they occassionally skim it off if the oil goes too rancid and smells heinous.

I would say though that if you give the water to chickens make sure you don't have a chemically treated roof, on your house or coop, and that there is a way to divert the first rain which hits your roof. That first rain is full or dirt/pollutants that have settled on your roof and in the clouds, just not the healthiest water for anything, gardens included.

 

[OrpingtonManor]

I wanted to post an update regarding bone meal and mad cow disease. I spoke with my son, who is working on his doctorate at the University of Washington. The research lab where he works is heavily involved in research on BSE/ CJD/ mad cow disease.

He said that chickens cannot get this disease. Even if they peck at bone meal that came from cows with BSE, chickens are particularly resilient. They have not been able to find a single instance of chickens with a prion disease.

Also, we cannot get BSE from bone meal just by dusting it on our plants, or tilling it into the soil. It cannot be contracted from breathing it. It is only possible to catch BSE (CJD in humans) if you ingest/digest bovine tissue that is infected. We do not have any infected cattle in the US.

Whatever questions they were having about BSE and bone meal in the 90's are settled. Bone meal is safe to use for both you and your chickens.

 

[The Zoo]

Anyone have a good way of keeping aphids off of things? One of my tomatoes is covered with aphids and it's not a happy tomato. Which is too bad since it's a yellow peach and delicious!

 

[LittleFeat]

Order a carton of Ladybugs. I've heard they work great and are safe too. I've also heard you can just use a little detergent mixed with water in a spray bottle but just be sure to get the undersides of the leaves.