MJ's little flock

[Aussie-Chookmum]

All sorts Shad. It'll be a garden one day. In the meantime the little coop and old tables will be in there for shade and a misting system will be installed for cooling. In particular, I'm thinking about three clusters of bushes. One cluster of these I think they'll struggle to get beyond 2m in our soil, and that's perfect. And a couple of other clusters but I haven't chosen which shrubs yet.

Also the hens will only be confined in the run when I'm not home and I'm home a lot.

This link only connected me to the general Bunnings website MJ.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

And yet you can ride a motorbike ~ which I consider more difficult...

Less co-ordination involved in riding a motor bike. No pedaling.
I can ride a motor bike.

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

I think you would find it easiest to go with endemic local plants MJ. At least to start with.
Once you've got some small trees and /or large shrubs established for shade and lots of mulch down you might have more success with exotic species.

What do you want to provide for your chooks? Shade, shelter, perches, browsing? All of the above? I planted 2 blueberry bushes for my girls, one of which survived, but I'll probably have to keep it's protective cage around it for at least another season. As RC said, it will provide both food and shelter eventually.

There may be some local bushtucker plants that will serve the same purpose if you can't get blueberries to grow. Many herbs like lots of sun and well drained soil. Aloe vera is supposed to be good for them too.

Don't forget that you can plant some ground covers and herbs in the pavers just outside their run for them to peck at if you are worried about them digging up the plants.

 

[RoyalChick]

I have to say I'm a bit flattered by that. I really am. ☺

I think it is true for many of us here. Sometimes I just outright copy and most of the time I ask myself WWBOSD?
That is what would Bob or Shad do?

 

[RoyalChick]

Yes it’s pine shavings, but I buy it from the pet shop as it’s had the dust extracted, as dust can give chooks respiratory problems. When I change their bedding, it becomes part of the deep litter (although the litter isn’t that deep at the moment). I just pick out the poo and that goes in an unused garden bed.

That is what I do too. But I use much coarser shavings so no dust.
The Princesses sometimes pick up pieces and throw them out of the nest box (presumably because they don’t fit with their home decor theme of the day), so they work their way into the leaf litter on their own. From time to time I top up with fresh shavings.
Yesterday for some reason nobody wanted to use the top bunk. Today I will change out the shavings in the top bunk in case they were telling me something by suddenly not using it any more!

 

[RoyalChick]

Not a confident bike rider but I was very good at swimming. I always said that's because it's the only sport where you can't fall down. ☺

I actually do ride a bike but am with you in spirit. I love to swim but won’t do anything involving a ball because it is more likely that the ball will hit me in the face than I will catch it or hit it or whatever you are supposed to do with it. When I see a ball my instinct is to run out of its path.
I make an exception for snooker, billiards and pool.

Chicken tax:

 

[Scrambles83]

So I have to ask, what’s the chicken tax thing?

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

I actually do ride a bike but am with you in spirit. I love to swim but won’t do anything involving a ball because it is more likely that the ball will hit me in the face than I will catch it or hit it or whatever you are supposed to do with it. When I see a ball my instinct is to run out of its path.
I make an exception for snooker, billiards and pool.

Chicken tax:
View attachment 2482170

Aaargh! Don't talk to me about balls! They either hit me in the face or bend my fingers backwards. They are out to get me I tell you!

 

[Aussie-Chookmum]

So I have to ask, what’s the chicken tax thing?

Chicken Tax started in ByBob's thread. It's the price one pays for not talking about chicken related things.

Like this:
Chicken tax

 

[RoyalChick]

So I have to ask, what’s the chicken tax thing?

I actually think it is from over at @BY Bob’s thread and MJ doesn’t require tax. But I am a diligent citizen so try to pay my tax when I can.
The idea is that when we get on a soap box or wander off topic and generally get too far from chickens in our chat, we have to make up for it by posting a chicken picture as ‘tax’.
It works well because it doesn’t stop us chatting about random things like swimming, riding a bike, or ball games, but we also get more chicken pictures!