Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[BDutch]

I just found the results in my mailbox (not on my phone and didn’t expect a mail on Saturday evening).

I dont want to pollute Shads thread any further. So I post the results in my own thread.

 

[Shadrach]

Wasn't it John Cleese who said "Life is a terminal disease" ? Our governments have been playing fast and loose with health for decades, and we will probably never see full depth and scope of what all has been done. All we can do is live our lives to the fullest, and take the best care we can of other living things and just try to be happy, because everything has an expiry date.

Despite the governement and the disaster priests we here in the industrial wealthy countries were living longer than those people born a couple of hundred years ago. It's only recently that the average lifespan has started to head downwards. This may or may not be a good thing.

 

[Shadrach]

choisya is one of my flock's favourites. And it's evergreen. And it attracts lots of insects (often see chickens jumping to catch things on the surface). Not sure how fast it grows. Much more robust than it looks.

Found some part grown bushes for sale. I'll give it a try.

 

[fuzzi]

Not to be too off topic, but the reason I think kindness is human nature is because helping each other is how we evolved to survive. Studies show that even infants show signs of distress when they see someone (even a stranger!) who's upset or sad, and exhibit relief when said person is happy again. I agree with your second point though, people who desire power are rarely the ones that deserve it. In my opinion, we act like jerks because we're forced to live in an industrial society made by jerks that rewards us for being jerks

My daughter was about 16 months old. I was 8+ months pregnant, exhausted, and lying on the couch watching while she toddled around the room. She brought me her security blanket and tucked me in. That's kindness displayed in the very young.

Appropriate Tax:

Martha and brood (April 2024)

 

[fuzzi]

I agree and think if we return to a more natural way of living, through practices like regenerative farming, the damage to environment can heal. Nature is amazing.

Totally inspired by @Perris, again, and the article on food forests, I am going to fence off our property with a modified hedgerow method that will work here (and not take decades to be functional.) and turn the entire property into a food forest, with the chickens having full access to do chickening.

When we get started, I will probably start my own thread, to document the process, that way if there is anyone that is interested can follow along and learn from our trials and errors. My goal is that by the time I am able to retire, we will have an almost totally self-sufficient homestead with chickens and turkeys running around wild and feral. All I really want to do in my final years is enjoy watching the chickens and turkeys having fun in the best environment that I can create for them and not have to spend too much time in the outside world. (it is too peopley out there. ;-) )

Funny you should mention hedgerows. Yesterday a video popped up on my feed which was about working on hedgerows, "hedging". It's a totally new concept for me!

 

[MrsNorthie]

I probably don't have enough battery life to see the results but I am planning on planting stuff in the extended run that will head in that direction, that's after I've picked Perris's brains a bit on what grows fast and doesn't cost a fortune.

at 55, (which I will hit this year..) I think I have just enough battery life to at least get a good start so my son can take over and keep it going after I am ashes. LOL

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Yes they do. Stop eating what is right and buy what is wrong. My gov (RIVM) really says stop eating your own eggs and buy the eggs from the supermarket. They say these eggs are better bc they have very little PFAS.

I am worried. A bit for myself but more for future generations. More and more people are living on a toxic dump and governments do not enough to prevent the increase of toxics in our environment.

PFAS are in fact several types of Fluoride chemicals that got the name forever chemicals. The result of getting to much PFAS is that our immune systems are compromised. More specifically, vaccinations no longer work well and we get sick more easily.
The different types of PFAS (PFOS, PFOA, GenX) seem to have different effects in the human body.

I’ve found different warnings from the Dutch and the Belgian health institutes, and I have been reading lots is unknown. But I do know it’s not healthy to live near chemical and heavy industries all over the world.

Sources:

Dutch RIVM:
What are the health risks that can arise from exposure to PFAS?

PFAS are associated with various health effects. They can have an effect on the immune system, on cholesterol in the blood, have effects on the liver and cause kidney and testicular cancer. Whether PFAS actually have health effects depends, among other things, on how much PFAS people ingest over time.

Flanders government:
Health risks of PFAS

The effects vary depending on the type of PFAS studied, but are mainly:

• restriction or disruption of immunity
• disruption of hormone balance
• disruption of liver function.

PFAS accumulate in the human body and break down extremely slowly. These factors also determine the toxicity of PFAS.

I totally agree with most of the things you say/claim. But be careful with your own locally grown food if your garden flourishes on toxic waste.

I just saw the results posted on your thread; I’m so sorry!

But I find it incredibly difficult to believe that supermarket eggs have low levels across the board. How can this be?

 

[Perris]

I am planning on planting stuff in the extended run that will head in that direction, that's after I've picked Perris's brains a bit on what grows fast and doesn't cost a fortune.

Thinking of the shrubs which my lot like most, and spend most time under or near, year round, foraging and lounging, and that don't grow tall (or are very tolerant of pruning) so won't throw shade onto people's veg plots, besides choisya, there is

• skimmia japonica https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/17401/skimmia-japonica/details
• griselinia (https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/8123/griselinia-littoralis/details
• elaeagnus (several types), e.g. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/6314/elaeagnus-pungens/details
• pittosporums (https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pittosporum
• yew hedges (extremely useful, as can be trimmed to more or less any size and shape, and even regrow when cut back hard, unlike most conifers), and, of course, the
• parrotia persicas, in opposite corners of the garden; this one https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/227964/parrotia-persica-felicie/details is their favourite (the other is a more upright, less colourful variety, but they still enjoy its cover and find lots to forage under it).

None are food plants for humans or chickens. But they attract fauna that are food for chickens, and offer a preferred type of cover from aerial (and perhaps also terrestrial) predators. And they are evergreen or colourful, and most are fragrant, for me.

All plants here were chosen with a view to coping with the exposure to Atlantic storms occasionally blasting in from the south west, so what thrives here should be able to cope with your windy hilltop. The RHS pages linked give details about what each plant likes and doesn't like if you scroll down, including preferred soil types.

How long they take to grow to a useful size will depend on how happy they are with the conditions in which they find themselves, initially, and for the rest of their first year especially. I usually add a handful of blood, fish and bone to the planting hole if putting something in at this time of year. And make sure to water well if there's a dry spell (that's not normally an issue here though ); to encourage deep rooting, a lot occasionally is better than little and often.

 

[Perris]

Funny you should mention hedgerows. Yesterday a video popped up on my feed which was about working on hedgerows, "hedging". It's a totally new concept for me!

you might find this useful then fuzzi
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hedges-for-forage-and-cover.79874/

 

[MrsNorthie]

this is widely regarded as one of the best books on the topic
https://www.agroforestry.co.uk/product/creating-a-forest-garden-2/
and is based on decades of experience. He also has some very useful appendices on propagation, hedging and fencing, attracting pollinators and other beneficial insects, and edible crops by month of use. He even considers chickens (recommends not to exceed about 20 per acre).

Funny you should mention hedgerows. Yesterday a video popped up on my feed which was about working on hedgerows, "hedging". It's a totally new concept for me!

I have always had a love of the U.K.'s stone walls and hedgerows.