Daily chicken September 23
Good morning from the little aspiring homestead in Texas! Today is a day of starting to clean up from the rain!
All of the chickens' dishes got turned into mud and water dishes, so we got em cleaned up today. Yes, we still fed the birds before cleanup, but we fed them from table scraps. I wanted to make sure my efforts didn't go to waste from another storm. They all seemed super happy to have their chicken feed back, and all got an extra treat of mealworms.
We restocked on feed, bedding, and treats and put the feed into buckets. 50# of feed fits nicely into two buckets. I need more buckets. I think I only have five left...
I need for things to dry out so I can gather dry bedding. And fall. I need fall. Leaves are going to be one of our most plentiful assets around here. Mulch, compost, and bedding are all going to be made with leaves from our twelve mature oaks, four mature pines, and our mature red oak and mulberry trees.
On the note of leaves, I'm thinking we will get some of the heavy weight paper lawn bags to store some leaves back for bedding throughout the year. I'll probably need to make an area out of a tarp to keep them dry, somewhat like a makeshift hay barn. That'll be a fun project!
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We use the paper bags, and save them from year to year to reuse. Because we have a tinder dry 150 yr old tobacco shed, we make SURE they are bone dry before storing them. we put in about 100 bags/year, for the run only.
Our run isn't as big as y'all's, but I bet we could easily put back 100 bags. I'm thinking of putting a few tarps between the chicken coop and the fence and making a way to keep it all a bit off the ground.
How much do you add, or is it just on an as-needed basis? Is there a specific pest threat that y'all have to watch for?
As needed generally. You might want to make sure you mix the oaks with other stuff. Lot of tannic acid there.... I know with hoofed animals that's not a good thing, so I have been careful with the birds too, in case...
Other stuff like hay, Pine shavings, and pine needles?
Yup, or other types of deciduous leaves. Pine needles are ok, but the pitch might be a problem with feathers and feet... So again, mix them.
Diversity seems a common thread here.
Yup! That's why Joel Salatin goes on and on about "salad bar". The more diverse the plants you can offer, the better health your animals (and birds) will have. They will select what they need from what is offered. That's why I dehydrate up to 42 different herbs/forbs/flowers for feeding them in the winter.
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