Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[BDutch]

Good to know; I had added them to my list of plants to look into for cover. So far they seemed to tick quite a few boxes, but I guess the chickens will have to do without them.

I’m way out of my depth here. If only chickens liked succulents

In the Netherlands privet (Ligustrum) is not invasive at all. We have a little group in our garden. Need to prune twice a year to keep it in shape. The white flowers have a nice smell.

Foto from the 1st floor.

The one in front of the privet is a bigger nuisance. Its a climber and has beautiful orange trumpet flowers in summer. Campsis?

Typo

 

[HiEverybirdy]

fwiw Fluffy I have a hedge that is covered in privet -- out here in NC when I bought the land it was already fully grown up and thick as you can get, it's a great visual barrier as I built my house out back behind it on the pasture.

It's a great hedge, it has several cedar and elm trees in it as well and the chickens LOVE IT as cover and honestly its the safest place for them since they free range all day. They can bust out of the hedge to forage on the lawns if they like, but a lot of the time, they spend it in the hedge, dust bathing and relaxing in the shade (it gets HOT here in central NC, hotter and more humid than where you're at)

View attachment 4133043

This is it in the winter - cedar is evergreen but its still nice and thick and a cover barrier.

For some reason, I abhor privet more than I do kudzu. Maybe because I think its fresh blossoms are what make my allergies unbearable 3 weeks every spring I yank it by the roots on walks, so we have many fewer privet bushes these days. However, it does give dense shade as a hedge, and a beekeeper friend swears privet flowers help hives through nectar dearths.

On another note, I want to see more pictures of that handsome rooster! He looks like a heavier version of our beloved head rooster Stilton, who is 5 years old today, along with broodermates Carrots and Raisin. Happy hatchday to these dear friends

 

[fluffycrow]

It is poisonous, but only if eaten, and almost nothing eats it because it's very bitter, I read. I believe it's native where you are (won't grow here, too cold and wet) so your Tsouloufati and it go way back together. I would think it'd make great chicken cover from aerial predators and the sun, and look magnificent while doing it.

Indeed it does. I also believe that it’s native here. My main concern was that it could potentially get into their water supply (leaves carried by the wind), but admittedly, that’s quite a stretch. They’ve already proven to thrive on the property, so there should be no issues there. On the list they go!

 

[fluffycrow]

In the Netherlands privet (Ligustrum) is not invasive at all. We have a little groep in our garden. Need to prune twice a year to keep it in shape. The white flowers have a nice smell.

Foto from the 1st floor.

The one in front of the privet is a bigger nuisance. Its a climber and has beautiful orange trumpet flowers in summer. Campsis?

View attachment 4133110

I was specifically looking at Ligustrum Japonicum, hence the confusion about its origins. Never bothered to search for other privet species native to Europe. Thank you both thistlewick and BDutch.

«Η ημιμάθεια είναι χειρότερη της αμάθειας» as we say, and I should probably heed that more

 

[fuzzi]

All about privet:
https://www.nashvilletreeconservati...is-invasive-plant-and-the-problems-it-creates

Not only does it displace native plants, its berries and flowers are nutritionally deficient.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

All about privet:
https://www.nashvilletreeconservati...is-invasive-plant-and-the-problems-it-creates

Not only does it displace native plants, its berries and flowers are nutritionally deficient.

I hate the things. If you’re trying to get rid of privet, let’s just say that you have job security. Dig all you like, it will pop up elsewhere, not the least because wild birds enthusiastically poop out its seeds everywhere. And the smell - when the flowers first open, there’s a delicate, sweet scent, but it quickly turns to over-the-top rotten/sweet that follows you everywhere.

And what fuzzi wrote is the description of an invasive plant: originating from elsewhere, generally another continent, that no longer has the predators (herbivores for plants) and diseases that keep it under control where they co-evolved in its home territory. So in its new home, it has little or no competition to keep its numbers and size under control. Now growing with few natural controls in its new homeland, it out-competes native plants for sunlight, for water, for space, and for attention from pollinators, while at the same time generally of less quality than native plants for the native animals that depend on them for food, shelter, or nesting.

It goes in reverse, with North American plants like Canadian goldenrod, prickly pear cactus, and the dreaded honey locust tree (in addition to various animals) now invasive on other continents.

- Most exotics (species from elsewhere) are pretty benign. As far as I know, Japanese azalea hybrids for instance aren’t trying to take over the world. But Japanese (and Chinese) wisteria; hoo boy.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Tax: a fully-shelled egg! Still on the coop floor and not in the nesting box, where she does cram herself in and gently sing, but progress. 1.2 oz.

Her sisters are hysterical - they take turns with one in the coop and the other in the doorway, singing the same purring song, until she finally chased them off.

 

[Shadrach]

omg they are all bantams? those little crows lol

Someone dumped some chickens and they're thriving hahahaah

There are a few feral chicken videos on the net. What srtruck me about this one is the mum with chicks that look the age they would still be in a brooder in many backyard keeping arrangements and this lot seem to be navigating a busy town.

 

[Shadrach]

For some reason, I abhor privet more than I do kudzu. Maybe because I think its fresh blossoms are what make my allergies unbearable 3 weeks every spring I yank it by the roots on walks, so we have many fewer privet bushes these days. However, it does give dense shade as a hedge, and a beekeeper friend swears privet flowers help hives through nectar dearths.

On another note, I want to see more pictures of that handsome rooster! He looks like a heavier version of our beloved head rooster Stilton, who is 5 years old today, along with broodermates Carrots and Raisin. Happy hatchday to these dear friends

Happy Birthday Stilton. Is the hen grooming Stilton his favourite, or the top hen?

 

[fuzzi]

I hate the things. If you’re trying to get rid of privet, let’s just say that you have job security. Dig all you like, it will pop up elsewhere, not the least because wild birds enthusiastically poop out its seeds everywhere. And the smell - when the flowers first open, there’s a delicate, sweet scent, but it quickly turns to over-the-top rotten/sweet that follows you everywhere.

And what fuzzi wrote is the description of an invasive plant: originating from elsewhere, generally another continent, that no longer has the predators (herbivores for plants) and diseases that keep it under control where they co-evolved in its home territory. So in its new home, it has little or no competition to keep its numbers and size under control. Now growing with few natural controls in its new homeland, it out-competes native plants for sunlight, for water, for space, and for attention from pollinators, while at the same time generally of less quality than native plants for the native animals that depend on them for food, shelter, or nesting.

It goes in reverse, with North American plants like Canadian goldenrod, prickly pear cactus, and the dreaded honey locust tree (in addition to various animals) now invasive on other continents.

- Most exotics (species from elsewhere) are pretty benign. As far as I know, Japanese azalea hybrids for instance aren’t trying to take over the world. But Japanese (and Chinese) wisteria; hoo boy.

I have wisteria, too. I cleaned out a corner by the woods, and some of the wisteria roots were 2-3" in diameter!

I fight honeysuckle and poison ivy, but worse than those two is Trumpet vine. It pops up all over the yard, and spreads by roots/tubers that are about 6" below the surface.


Tax:

Wisp (on the left) watching Silas and his gals.