This lot is especially for doubting Francis and Paddy (who demanded to see the chooks).
They move about 3 metres a day, and boss chook leads eagerly. They pretty well rip the grass (bar big tussocks) out and turn it into scratched over chook-pooed dirt. I am planting the strip behind them with potatoes and parsnips ATM. I want to plant grain in their trail.
They're tame and curious - boss chook is afraid of nothing.
and they're chatty and love to scratch and eat.
Payoff
And a lot of wheelbarrow and spade work: The new raised bed. The high sides keep the wind and dogs out.
I'd be a bit cautious about planting stuff directly behind the Chookabago. Fresh chicken crap is extremely high in nitrogen(?), and if not allowed to compost first for a few months will cause problems for a lot of plants.
ReplyDeleteYou might be ok though, the original caution I had was about old hay/straw that had been gathering up more than just one or two days of crap before being replaced.
ReplyDeleteI suspect you are probably right. I've only left it 3 weeks (i've just done the first 3 metres). I'm hoping as it's fairly low density and a short duration that it won't be too bad - but I'm using seed I gathered myself - so it's not much of an expensive experiment. I wanted to leave it longer but to take advantage of their 'plowing' I found weeds were starting to come back.
ReplyDeleteWell the photos are almost worth the wait for them. That's a mighty fine residence them chooks have.
ReplyDeleteThey probably aren't putting much down but concentrated chicken manure has to compost for at least 6 months before spreading over fields.
ReplyDelete