More chicken pasture planting

May 29, 2011 Posts No Comments
Chicken pasture plan

Japanese beetle on grape leafWith
the chickens moved
to their newest pasture, I couldn’t resist trying
out several experimental plantings in the area they left behind. 
At the moment, this pasture is not a forest pasture, just a sea of
grass, so I put in two almonds for summer shade for the flock (and nuts
for us.)  Hardy almonds are a bit experimental in
zone 6, but if they work out, the chickens might get something out of
the flesh that falls away to reveal the nuts.  And trees
make leaves, which the flock adores scratching under.



I also planted three
grape vines along the northern fence of the pasture.  I like to
start grapes from hardwood cuttings and had run out of places to put
these guys, so I figured I’d give them a shot in the chicken
pasture.  If I play my cards right, I might be able to get the
chickens to eat the Japanese beetles off the leaves for me, then turn
the chickens into another pasure when the fruits are just getting ripe.



Across the fence, I
installed an Illinois Everbearing Mulberry.  If this tree takes
root, in a few years it should spread its canopy into this pasture and
drop fruits for my flock.  The area the tree is in will be our
next chicken pasture, so the tree will feed the flock when they’re in
two different pastures.



Song sparrowFinally, I sprinkled collards
and “Salad Blend” (lettuce, chicory, endive, spinach, and Swiss chard)
onto the patches of ground scratched bare by the chickens.  The
idea was that when the chickens are rotated back into this pasture in
about six weeks, they’d have tender greens to nibble on. 
Unfortunately, a flock of sparrows descended almost immediately and ate
nearly every seed.  I noticed they also ate the
oats I’d scattered in the grain paddock (although the clover
sprouted and I took the time to bury the field peas.)  Birds don’t
come to steal scattered seeds in the garden, but I guess these pastures
feel more safe to them — looks like I’ll either have to sprinkle
compost on similar plantings in the future, rake the seeds in, or take
a page out of Masanobu
Fukuoka’s book and
make clay balls to encase the seeds until they sprout.


With our chicken waterer, I only have to top off
their bucket once a month on pasture.

Hatching eggs why and how

May 25, 2011 Posts No Comments

Fragile boxAfter learning that our old
hens lay eggs with limited fertility, we opted to buy hatching
eggs online for our third incubator run of the season.  The
concept is new to me, so I figured some of you might be asking the same
questions I had, like:





Why
buy hatching eggs instead of chicks?

Hatching eggs can be a
bit cheaper than mail order chicks, but not by much.  Recently, I
spent $35 (shipping included) to buy 20 black australorp hatching eggs,
which I hope will turn into 10 to 15 chicks, and previously I hatched 7
cuckoo marans from a dozen eggs purchased for $25.  (Hatch rates
tend to be a bit lower for eggs ordered online than for eggs that
haven’t spent several days jiggling around in the mail.)  For the
sake of comparison, 12 straight run black australorps from a major
hatchery (plus shipping) would cost me $40.26, but I was able to buy
australorp chicks locally for $2 apiece earlier this spring, which
would beat the hatching eggs rate.  I definitely got a good deal
on the rarer cuckoo marans, though, since those 7 chicks would have
cost me $42.63 as mail order chicks and no one keeps this breed in our
area.



Newly hatched chickThe main reason I chose to
buy hatching eggs is because I wanted to learn my incubator better, but
I was also sold on several other factors.  Most importantly, you
can often buy just a few hatching eggs at a time, which is helpful for
folks who can’t handle 25 chicks (the minimum for most hatchery
orders.)  I was also able to pick and choose the genetics of my
parent birds, focusing on chickens raised on pasture with — hopefully
— good foraging genes.  In contrast, hatcheries tend to select
birds using traits I’m less interested in, like how closely a chicken
matches certain appearance standards and how well those chickens live
in a hatchery setting.  Finally, buying hatching eggs allows me to
keep hatchery diseases out of my flock (although there’s always a
slight chance disease will carry over on eggshells.)



Of course, you also have
to keep in mind that home-hatched eggs won’t be sexed.  For us,
that isn’t a problem since we want to rebuild our laying flock and also
want to raise males for meat, but if you’re squeamish about doing away
with extra roosters, hatching eggs might not be for you.





Where
can you find hatching eggs?

Since you’re probably
looking for a specific breed, I won’t recommend any one egg
source.  Instead, try out these three options:

  • Google for “black australorp hatching eggs” (or whatever breed
    you’re looking for)
  • Head to ebay and search for the same terms
  • Look on your local Craigslist (and put up a wanted ad)

Hatching eggsYou’ll probably find several
different options, so you’ll need to decide which factors matter the
most to you.  I figured that price was less important than the
photos of the parent birds and was won over by a small farm that raises
the parent chickens on pasture.  A source closer to you is likely
to have chickens better suited to your climate (and shipping will also
be faster, which will increase your hatch rates.)  Buying hatching
eggs is all about having more control over the new members of your
flock, so be a bit choosy.





How
do I treat my hatching eggs?

Eggs settleYour eggs should arrive carefully packaged,
often with an extra egg or two in the box to make up for eggs cracked
during shipment.  In my limited experience, only one egg out of 46
arrived cracked, but several came with small smears of poop or
dirt.  It’s best to either discard these dirty eggs, wash them
with a special solution that maintains the protective coating on the
egg, or sand the dirt off.  Then arrange your eggs in a carton
(big end up or flat) or in your incubator and allow them to settle for
at least twelve hours before beginning incubation.  After that,
you can treat your hatching eggs like any others.


Our chicks got off to a
healthy start with clean water from our chicken waterer.

Old boards make worm buffet for chickens

May 23, 2011 Posts No Comments

Chickens eating worms under a boardA
couple of weeks ago, Mark figured out that the old
boards tacking down
the bottom edge of our pasture fence were attracting scads of
earthworms.  He tipped a board up and the hens came running,
eating up the worms in seconds.  Ever since, he’s made it a habit
to flip up a board or two when he goes in to gather the eggs in the
evening.  I keep thinking that we’d run out of worms, but new
worms keep appearing to take the old ones’ place.



The trick to attracting
earthworms seems to be placing a moist object
on top of bare soil, and damp cardboard is even more effective
than boards.  We’re currently experimenting with laying down
sheets of cardboard in the pasture to create a worm buffet for the
flock and will let you know if we come up with anything higher tech
that works better.


Our chicken waterer provides POOP-free water
even in the irregular terrain of our forest pastures.