I love hens, my grandfather kept them on his smallholding when I was a child. I would love to have some but it's not practical when you live a mile away from your plot of land. I do buy a big tub of pelletted chicken manure, and spread some on my potatoes this afternoon in fact. Chicken manure is excellent stuff.
Great question: We have a lot of opossums, and they eat hordes of ticks, so that might keep the population down. I haven't seen any ticks at all in our garden, but I do get them frequently in the woods further out of town.
As Lisa pointed out we have made some changes to the chick-shaw. We covered the egg window and even reinforced all of the plastic roofing material by adding more screws. if something gets in there it will have to be very large, very strong, and very determined (I don't think I could get in bare handed). Fortunately, being in an urban environment we don't have to worry about big predators.
We've only seen the harmless garden snakes and the Dekay's brown snake. I don't think they could get up to the chickshaw proper, which is elevated above the wheels.
Dekay's are so cute! We have rat snakes, which are GREAT as rodent control (and non-venomous), but they are climbers. There's a whole group of Facebook called "Rat Snakes in Predicaments." Still, I like the idea of a chicksaw when we do get chickens. I mean, we live on Chickasaw Run!
Anyone else raising chickens on one acre or less? What's your experience like?
I love hens, my grandfather kept them on his smallholding when I was a child. I would love to have some but it's not practical when you live a mile away from your plot of land. I do buy a big tub of pelletted chicken manure, and spread some on my potatoes this afternoon in fact. Chicken manure is excellent stuff.
Great idea on the potatoes! Hens are quite lovable creatures.
I love the discussion that happened among them before they decided to go down the drawbridge.
Right? Chickens are so entertaining.
That looks amazing.
Thanks for all the details.
Do you also find that your chickens help with the tick population where you are? Or are you urban enough that you don’t have a lot of ticks?
Great question: We have a lot of opossums, and they eat hordes of ticks, so that might keep the population down. I haven't seen any ticks at all in our garden, but I do get them frequently in the woods further out of town.
As Lisa pointed out we have made some changes to the chick-shaw. We covered the egg window and even reinforced all of the plastic roofing material by adding more screws. if something gets in there it will have to be very large, very strong, and very determined (I don't think I could get in bare handed). Fortunately, being in an urban environment we don't have to worry about big predators.
Snakes? Rat snakes are a culprit here
We've only seen the harmless garden snakes and the Dekay's brown snake. I don't think they could get up to the chickshaw proper, which is elevated above the wheels.
Dekay's are so cute! We have rat snakes, which are GREAT as rodent control (and non-venomous), but they are climbers. There's a whole group of Facebook called "Rat Snakes in Predicaments." Still, I like the idea of a chicksaw when we do get chickens. I mean, we live on Chickasaw Run!
Ha, ha, it's your destiny! Just don't cut the hole for the egg door per the specs. Also, that flimsy "kickstand" is a joke. We prop it with a bucket.