Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[ChaosMom]

The Mexican orange blossom is much too big to move; this is the 60% left after my cutting back to give access to the leak area
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and this is what it looks like from side
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you can see from that why this has been one of the flock's favourite places to hang out to rest and digest btw.

None of the choisya ground resting branches had naturally rooted sadly, but I took lots of cuttings from the wreckage, and I did find a young self-seeded version of the tree behind whose name I have forgotten but is a nice evergreen: the one right behind the choisya , just right of the new big hole in the border
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so I popped that in a new gap near the house where a pink elder once was, and I'm hopeful it'll take in its new location, near the bins where I can keep a close eye on it
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(the upturned bucket is a temporary measure to stop the flock digging for goodies in the disturbed soil round its relatively small roots)

It sounds like you’re nicely on top of things!

Question about your free-rangers hanging out beneath the shrubs: do the plants have to be a certain age or size to survive the digging?

I’m replanting shrubs along the inside of our backyard fences, and I’d love for them to serve as a bit of a chicken tunnel, but not if they’re going to wipe out dozens of $40-50 plants. #destructosaurs

 

[ChaosMom]

Hope it takes. I put bits of broken stone paving stones around newly planted shrubs to foil the chickens. It seems to work quite well.

You posted while I was still typing - same question for you as for Perris above, if you’re willing.

 

[BDutch]

No philosophical tax:

More down to earth. Ini mini with Gin in the background.

 

[ChaosMom]

@Perris might your transplanted evergreen be a bay laurel? (Laurus nobilis)

It definitely looks like a member of the laurel family, and those leaves look like what I put in the ropa vieja I cooked for dinner the other night!

 

[townchicks]

Tax due from me too no doubt: 5 roos should put me in the black for a while
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They had been in an even tighter group before I got the camera out: a walker was going past with a dog (on a lead, I'm pleased to say). Anyway, evidently they all assembled near the gate to warn it off, and were just dispersing again by the time I got the camera.

Yum, eye candy! And rooster envy, here.

 

[RoyalChick]

You posted while I was still typing - same question for you as for Perris above, if you’re willing.

I think it is about how well established the shrub is. It is definitely not about size as mine took only a few hours to uproot a small tree (fortunately I got it back in the earth fast enough).
I keep my paving slabs in place for at least a couple of years - more if I don’t need them elsewhere.

 

[Perris]

I put bits of broken stone paving stones around newly planted shrubs to foil the chickens.

that's a great idea; I'll see what I can rummage up; would be much better from all points of view than an upturned bucket!

do the plants have to be a certain age or size to survive the digging?

hard to say. That border was planted up over 20 years ago, long before I had chickens. Some shrubs do self-seed (notably, pittisporum) and there are some in the leak gap, so they can survive even mere inches tall. I guess it depends on whether the shrub and/or what lives with/on it attract their attention or not. And the existence and attractiveness of alternatives for their attention. My flock definitely work their territory on rotation, as if they were born knowing about mob grazing. They work an area and then move on and give it a rest. Very few things have been wiped out by them.

might your transplanted evergreen be a bay laurel? (Laurus nobilis)

might be that family but not the culinary herb. It's variegated, leaves much thinner and finer than bay. I must have it noted somewhere; I'll try to dig it out. It's a fine addition to the border. And suits the conditions here very well.

 

[ChaosMom]

@RoyalChick and @Perris: many of the shrubs will be in the heath-azalea-rhododendron family. (No, I’m not worried about the chickens nibbling and promptly dying.) They have shallow fibrous root systems, and I’m a bit concerned about paving stones, unless the broken pieces are quite small.

Will chickens commonly dig through a few layers of rocks the diameter of a golf ball or larger? I realize that determined chickens can probably dig through steel I-beams if given enough time.

 

[RoyalChick]

@RoyalChick and @Perris: many of the shrubs will be in the heath-azalea-rhododendron family. (No, I’m not worried about the chickens nibbling and promptly dying.) They have shallow fibrous root systems, and I’m a bit concerned about paving stones, unless the broken pieces are quite small.

Will chickens commonly dig through a few layers of rocks the diameter of a golf ball or larger? I realize that determined chickens can probably dig through steel I-beams if given enough time.

I moved to paving slab pieces after my chickens proved themselves more than capable of moving quite large rocks.
I think the paving slabs being flat makes them more difficult to move.
Mine are broken pieces not full slabs. 8-10” pieces.
I have used this approach with shallow rooted shrubs including azalea and they did fine. My only worry is when it gets very hot - I worried about the stones absorbing heat and overheating the roots. I haven’t actually had an issue, but to be cautious I piled some weeds over the stones at the peak of the summer heat.

 

[ChaosMom]

I moved to paving slab pieces after my chickens proved themselves more than capable of moving quite large rocks.
I think the paving slabs being flat makes them more difficult to move.
Mine are broken pieces not full slabs. 8-10” pieces.
I have used this approach with shallow rooted shrubs including azalea and they did fine. My only worry is when it gets very hot - I worried about the stones absorbing heat and overheating the roots. I haven’t actually had an issue, but to be cautious I piled some weeds over the stones at the peak of the summer heat.

Oh, that’s perfect; just what I needed to know! Good point about the heat: I’m planning to cover with hardwood mulch, which should insulate a bit.

I suppose one thing I’ll have to keep an eye on is alkaline substances leaching from the concrete, but I can always add acid when needed.

Thanks!