Author: Anna & Mark

Planning for chicken manure collection

August 23, 2013 Posts 11 Comments

Roosters asking for clean waterRobin
Edmundson‘s entry
has to do with planning her coop and run to make manure collection
easier.  She wrote:


“We have had chickens for many years
now and there are a bunch of things I wish I had known about
chickens then, that I know now.  I wish I had known how
fabulous chicken poop was for garden fertilizer.  We’d have
designed the coop a bit differently.

“As it is now, we toss all of our yard and garden debris, weeds,
and kitchen scraps into the coop.  The chickens stir it all
up, eat the bugs it draws, poop all over it and it composts
brilliantly.  In the spring and fall we scrape the top
layer off, dig the next 8 inches or so up and dress all the veg
garden beds with that black gold.  It’s made a huge
difference in the quality of the garden.





“If I could redesign the run,
I’d have a couple of different areas for them alternate
between.  It would make aging the compost a bit easier –
the chickens could start the new area while the first area rests
and then it would be good and aged by the time we need it on the
garden.



“Best of luck with the new waterer! 
I’ve attached a pic of a couple of roosters standing in an empty
birdbath as if demanding we try out your new waterer.”

Chickens are hard to contain

August 22, 2013 Posts No Comments
Grounded in the chicken tractor

Jane’s entry in our “I
wish I’d known” contest is a very important behavioral point for those of us who
like to free range our birds from time to time.  She wrote:


“The one thing that we wish we had known
about chickens (and which makes us actually consider giving the
chickens up at least once each year) is that they can be hard to
contain.  We encourage our chickens to free range from late
fall to early spring because they mix up/fertilize the soil and
eat up grubs in our gardens so nicely.  But from spring to
late summer, we really want them to stay in their nice, large
chicken yard.  Instead, and despite good fencing and wing
clipping, they find their way into gardens and flower beds,
eating tomatoes and digging up flowers.

“We can’t imagine life without their eggs, so we keep them but(!)
there are times of the year when it’s a struggle.  We have
found that certain breeds are worse than others.  Both Buff
Orpingtons and Ameracaunas are flyers at our house and often find
themselves confined to our movable chicken tractor when they’ve
been naughty.

“Oh, and I have to mention one more thing.  I wish we had
known that once folks learn you have chickens, they ALL save up
all their egg cartons and give them to you!”



Jane’s points are so
true!  On our own homestead, I’ve found that it’s important
to begin as you plan to go on — if a chicken has been allowed to
free range in a certain area and is then blocked out, she’s much
more likely to fly back there than if she had never known the
free-ranging life.  We do free range our chicks, and have
developed work-arounds to help, but the flying continues
(especially with our White
Leghorns). 
If you move a batch of free range hens across the homestead so
they can no longer see their previous stomping grounds, they’re
much less likely to fly, and keeping their pasture fresh by
rotation also helps.  If all else fails, we put the
trouble-makers in our bellies.

About all those extra egg cartons, though, I have no solution….

Our chicken waterer is
the POOP-free solution to a filthy homestead problem.

I wish I d known chickens were so easy

August 21, 2013 Posts No Comments

Hen coop wagonWant to win a free EZ Miser?  Our “I wish I’d
known…” contest has an EZ Miser as the grand prize!  Read
the full contest information on our homesteading blog, or stay tuned to this
blog for educational and thought-provoking entries, like this one
by Kenny Vaught:


“I wished I’d known that chickens
were so very easy to keep from the onset.  Coop and run
through a rough, snowy winter.  Portable coop and
electro-net fence in the non-winter months.  Easy
peasy!  Kitchen scraps transformed to wonderful eggs and
many a laugh at the developing hens along the way.”



Kenny went on to give
more information about his “Hencoopwagon” in his email:


“The red roofing panel was the key to the
design.  I re-purposed the rolling gear from an old lawn
tractor and the lumber is 10+year old 5/4″ x 6” decking lumber I’d
utilized to build horse fencing.  We no longer have horses
and the boards were just hanging out there, getting in the way and
looking “rural”.  I made the open lattice for the floor to
allow manure to drop through and the side access nesting boxes are
fantastic.”



What do you wish
you’d known about chickens when you first got started that you
know now?  You have until August 25 to enter the contest, but
you can always leave a note in the comments below.