Author: Anna & Mark

Stacking chickens and mushrooms

January 16, 2012 Posts No Comments
Chickens and mushrooms

Stacking is a
permaculture principle that refers to using a single space for more
than one purpose.  For example, you’re stacking when you pull your
chicken
tractor across the
lawn — you’re keeping the chickens happy with fresh food and
maintaining an open area to play in.



I could write about
stacking and chickens for hours because the possibilities are nearly
endless, but I stumbled across a new one last week.  The photo in
this post shows my mushroom
totems with chickens
grazing amidst them.  Since chickens don’t care for oyster
mushrooms, I can “plant” the logs right in their space, and as the logs
rot, they’ll attract creepie crawlies for the chickens to eat.  I
get tasty eggs and mushrooms, all from the same space.



(Yes, my mushroom logs
are fruiting in the middle of winter.  A tasty January treat!)


Our chicken waterer provides POOP-free water.

Black Australorp

January 13, 2012 Posts 2 Comments

Black Australorp roosterWe’ve now played with seven
varieties of chickens, and Black Australorps are currently in first or
second place.



Egg-laying
abilities

As the name suggests,
Black Australorps were developed Down Under from
Orpington chickens at the turn of the twentieth
century.  In the 1920s, Australorps became famous for laying an
average
of 309.5 eggs per hen per year, a figure that compares favorably with
current modern hybrids.  One Australorp hen laid 364 eggs in
another year.  However, most Australorps clock in closer to
an average of 250 eggs per year.



So far, I haven’t been
as impressed by the egg-laying abilities of our Australorps as I’d
hoped.  Compared to our Golden Comets (a hybrid egg-laying breed),
Australorp eggs seem small and not as numerous.  Our pullets stopped
laying when stressed this winter, but, to be fair, I started
the pullets late in the spring and they weren’t in full lay.  Black Australorp pulletI’ll report more on how the
Australorps do in the egg department next year.



Behavior

In every other way, our
Australorps have been pros.  They’ve foraged better than any other
breed, coming in first among this year’s breeds in feed
to meat ratio. 
They’re on the shy side, which turns out to be a positive point since
it tempts them to hunt in the woods rather than in my garden.  And
the rooster is always on watch for predators but has yet to act
aggressively toward me.



Some sources suggest
that Australorps even make good mothers.  We added the Cuckoo Marans to our flock for that
purpose, but would be thrilled if an Australorp hen or two decided to
set this spring.


Our chicken waterer never spills on uneven
terrain or when faced with rowdy chickens.

Chicken winter quarters The greenhouse

January 9, 2012 Posts No Comments
Chickens in a greenhouse

I wrote a couple of
weeks ago about Harvey
Ussery’s tips for keeping your chickens healthy and happy in the winter.  I thought you might
like to see another, related method, this one by Throwback
at Trapper Creek. 
The blog’s author raises her chickens in an unheated greenhouse in the
winter, and all that brightness and warmth keeps her flock laying
straight through the cold season.



Chickens eating cabbageAlthough her flock isn’t able
to free range, I suspect her birds are just as happy as ours. 
Throwback at Trapper Creek’s chickens scratch through deep bedding
(which consists of the shavings from her dairy cow’s stall, along with
lots of straw), and she also provides plenty of garden debris like
cabbage leaves and carrot tops.  She lives in the Pacific
Northwest where you can eat greens, carrots, and more all winter if you
play your cards right, and she does.



If you have a hoop house
or greenhouse that sits vacant through the winter, perhaps you should
follow her lead?  Being warm and dry will make your flock so
happy, they probably won’t mind not getting to wade through winter mud
in their pastures.


Our chicken waterer never spills or fills with
POOP.