ok guys and gals eco friendly time

[chickenforlife]

what are some good ways to make my chicken coop more eco friendly? im big on that and try to do as much as i can.

 

[five is my dog]

i dont think you can get more eco friendly with just a regular chicken coop

 

[chickenforlife]

not only is my coop made from recycled wood but it doesnt have any chemicals in the wood that alot of companies put in the wood these days. and the nesting material starts off as fresh cut dried for three days in the sun and then put into the coop and then after its taken out it goes right into the composte bin and from there is spread about my flowers and trees and bushes. tell me about the eco stuff you do ?

 

[five is my dog]

well you went way farther than i would!

but i do use the old nest and chicken box hay and stuff for compost.

 

[lazy gardener]

I use deep litter shavings in the loft section of my 8 x 8 cattle panel coop. The bottom section has grass clippings for litter. When ever we mow the lawn, if the coop needs it, I top off the lower area with fresh grass. I'll let it pile up and cook until fall, then clean it down to the soil, (put all of that poo and composted grass onto the garden, and put in a nice bed of shredded leaves. Hope to collect bagged leaves to bank around the coop to help with heat retention. I'll also cover over the open area of the coop with plastic to create a nice warm sun space for the winter. Will orient my second cattle panel structure (an 8 x 8 green house) to be in line with the coop, and will probably plant it with greens and veggies for family use, then when we've used up everything we can, will open it up to allow extra winter forage for the girls.

When I built my coop and green house, I bought some of the materials from the local Habitat for Humanity store, as well as a local discount store that sells hardware by the pound. The dump is also a great place to "shop" for windows, screens, screen doors, and in the case of my dump, compost. A lot of lumber yards have a "seconds" pile where you can get less than perfect lumber for a fraction of the cost.

Egg shells get saved to give to the girls. Any that don't go to them go to the compost. When we have corn on the cob, the chewed cobs go to the girls. They clean them down to little nubs. The same with watermelon, and any left overs that I'm not concerned about being too spicy or salty, or too concentrated in carbs. Any hand picked bugs that the girls will eat go straight to them. (They won't touch potato bugs) but love squash bugs, Japanese beetles, and cucumber beetles. Today I hung a Japanese beetle trap in their run, and they are hanging out under it catching the low flying bugs. They've probably consumed 4 - 6 oz of bugs already today. They get fermented feed to cut down on the waste and to improve the nutrient absorption. I have 3 EE, 1 RIR, 1 BSL. They started laying at 16.5 weeks.

 

[chickenforlife]

wow that is all cool. furthermore with my lawn equipment i have my self an old roater mower the No gas No oil human powered one. and got rid of my gas trimmer too and use a battery powered one. and the first ladies love it. i have three right now martha dolly and jackie. and still want more that i can do for eco friendlyness its kinda my life lol,

 

[lazy gardener]

My whole rationale for getting chickens was to have little garden helpers: they till, weed, and provide free pest control and fertilizer. The eggs and the chicken antics are merely a fringe benefit. Of course, I can't let them in the garden while it is actively growing, as they don't discriminate between weeds and veggies, not to mention indiscriminate placement of fertilizer bombs. I have a 3 x 6' tractor that would work great in the garden, except my intensive planting makes that impractical.

 

[chickenforlife]

that is so cool and yes i did the same thing. with me my first ladies are a key part of my eco friendlyness never again will i use any sort of chemical on my lawn or plants and since i got the ladies they have gotten my oak tree to grow a foot aweek almost unheard of with oaks. tell me other ways that you keep your carbon foot print down ?

 

[lazy gardener]

My rototiller is pretty much retired. You might want to check out Lasagna Gardening by "Lanza" And The No Work Garden by Ruth Stout. My garden is under a permanent mulch. Had been doing straw for years due to fear of the imported weed seed associated with hay. But when the price of straw went up to $8/bale last summer, I bought 20 bales of spoiled hay at $1.50 each. I have not noticed much difference in the amount of weeds sprouting as the theory is that you put the mulch on deep enough to prevent weeds from sprouting. If some do sprout, you just flip the mulch over or throw some more on top of it. I also feel that weeds can be used as a green manure. Why spend money on specialty seeds when your ground will sprout green stuff with increased variety, thus theoretically increased addition of nutrient. The only time I bother with a compost heap is when the garden is too closely grown to dump stuff directly into it. Sheet composting or trench composting are less labor intensive. The chickens will help with the sheet composting effort this fall when I turn them into the garden. They'll turn the compost, take care of weed seeds, enjoy those little weed sprouts, and should cut down on the insect pests for next years crop. There's a new buzz in organic gardening which is a spin off from ancient gardeners in the rain forest. They would cut the vegetation and burn it in a slow fire, heaping soil on top of the coals to hold the heat and preserve the carbon. I've read that the carbon acts like a sponge to bind nutrients. Some of these high carbon soils have been measured up to 12' deep in the rain forests. I hope to experiment with this concept in the fall. An old gent that I knew pointed out a round spot in his old garden spot where the vegetation was noticeably more lush than on the surrounding soil. He said he had had a burn pile on that spot quite a few years ago. That was the only difference.

One of my passions is gardening, and every where I go, every one I talk to, I try to encourage them to get their hands in the dirt, even if it's only a little window box with a few lettuce plants. If every family who had access to a little soil grew what they could, including having a few chickens, and cut back on expenses... (come to grips with the difference between needs, wants, and desires) the American economy would be in a much healthier place. If the American citizen can live on a budget, our government should also live on a budget. Now, I'll get off my soap box.

 

[chickenforlife]

NO get back on your soap box. what you just said was well brilliant. there should be more people like you in this world. i am the same way actualy. but i go as far as to get wood that people throw away for no other reason than they dont need it and build things like a cold frame im actualy building one of those now with no new wood. the back wall is made of 1x4s that i salvaged and cut to fit and an old pain of glass for the top framed out in old pallet wood and looking for 4 more boards of 1x4s to finish the sides. and the total coast was zero. oh the weed eater i use is a works gt with the eddging twist on it. completly emission free. wonderful thing and that i didnt even get new found it at a garage sale. for ten bucks. works great and no packing. i make baskets out of news paper for fun and that keeps paper out of the land fill and they are actualy quite strong. and my chickens the first ladies are enjoying my compost pile lol. actualy i have a hard time getting them to leave it when i need to put new stuff in lol kinda funny. what else do people do to be eco friendly