Author: Anna & Mark

Planning the perfect chicken coop part

January 28, 2013 Posts No Comments

Pentagonal chicken coopMark and I are still in the
planning and negotiating phase of designing a new chicken coop. 
My long-suffering husband agrees with all of my features
of a perfect chicken coop, but what’s most important
to him at the moment is aesthetics.  He wants to order a Starplate
building system for a bit over $100 and turn it into a coop like
the one shown here.



Even though I was the
art major, I also don’t seem to have a problem with plain old
rectangles — probably because I’m also a cheapskate and know how much
less rectangles cost to build with.  However, I figure it’s worth
letting Mark have his way if he gives me an external nest box and a
wide Marans hendoor. 
Plus, it’s quite possible the pentagonal shape will be easier to shovel
bedding out of than a rectangle.



The big question mark
right now is the roof.  Due to crazy winter weather keeping our flock cooped up, I’m tempted to make a
clear roof that can be made opaque for shade in the summer. 
Options for the clear layer include cheap greenhouse plastic (but that
would have to be replaced perhaps every year or two) and clear roofing
panels (but they might not be structurally sound if cut into
triangles).  I’m pondering simply cutting triangles of styrofoam
insulation to fit up under the roof in the summer, providing a bit of
heat reflection as well as shade.  Other ideas are appreciated!


Our chicken waterer keeps drinking water clean
even in a cramped coop.

Roots hold terrace in place

January 25, 2013 Posts No Comments

Roots hold soilI know you’ve all been
waiting with baited breath to find out if our simple
terraces hold up to
the weight of the soil.  Heavy rains are usually what cause the
soil to slump, so when days of downpours flooded our creek, I donned my
rain clothes and walked up to check on the terraces.



Although a little soil
had eroded down to be caught by the boards and logs, there’s actually
still a pretty big gap between the earth and the terrace walls in most
places.  I did quite a bit of hacking through roots while digging
out the terrace, and it turns out that those roots are holding the soil
quite firmly in place.  Makes me wonder if we didn’t really even
need the boards after all.


Our chicken waterer is the POOP-free alternative
to traditional, filthy waterers.

Soil tests in the chicken pasture

January 21, 2013 Posts No Comments
Soil sampling

I’m writing over on my homesteading blog last week and next about
balancing soil nutrients, but I thought I’d crunch the numbers about
our chicken pastures here.  Let’s take a look at the results:

Tables

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CP3 and CP4 CP5
TEC 9.88 6.52
pH 5.9 5.9
%OM 5.48 4.27
S 38 32
P 99 51.48
Ca 2076 1259
Mg 350 254
K 613 541
Na 51 38
Ca %
sat		 52.56 48.26
Mg %
sat		 14.77 16.23
K %
sat		 7.96 10.63
Na %
sat		 1.12 1.28
other
% sat		 5.6 5.6
H %
sat		 18 18
B 0.58 0.48
Fe 306 340
Mn 60 36
Cu 4.06 3.84
Zn 13.28 28.74
Al 804 644

Wooded chicken pastureI know this probably looks
like gobbledy-gook if you’re not used to soil analysis, but there are
some interesting factors to pull out of the chart.  First of all,
notice that the two pasture areas are quite a bit different.  CP3
and CP4 have been within our core homestead from the start, so they
have several extra years of being mowed as lawn, compared to CP5 which
was woods until recently and still hasn’t developed a solid sod. 
Perhaps that’s why the organic matter and CEC are quite a bit higher in
CP3 and CP4 than in CP5?


Grassy chicken pasture

The next thing to look
at is the soil cations, especially the figures that
say “% sat”.  If you’re following the lead of Steve
Solomon, you’ll want
the ratios of Ca:Mg:K:Na to be 68:12:4:2, and it looks like CP3 and CP4
are closer to that ratio than CP5 is.  Perhaps if I just kept
grazing and mowing, the soil would reach the optimal levels all by
itself?



Instead of waiting,
though, I’m going to follow Solomon’s advice and calibrate
a series of soil amendments to raise these pastures’ pH,
correct micronutrient deficiencies, increase calcium levels, and
decrease magnesium and potassium levels:


Pounds
of amendments to add to each set of pastures:

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CP3
and CP4		 CP5
and CP6
Gypsum 27.64 16.9336
Ag
lime		 63.85 71.553
Borax 0.71 1.07
Manganese
sulfate		 0 3.6
Copper
sulfate		 1.4 1.708
Zinc
sulfate		 2 0

If I had enough manure
or compost on hand, it would also be handy to topdress both of these
pastures to raise the organic matter levels, but I’ll count on the
chickens to improve both, while also increasing the phosphorus
levels.  It will be interesting to see whether these amendments
make a difference in pasture growth and chicken health this year.


Our chicken waterer is perfect for pastures
since hydrated chickens hunt more bugs.