One of our first projects when we purchased our property was to create a permaculture chook run so we could enjoy healthy fresh eggs. We have 4 rotational runs which come off the central housing area and are used for vegetable production. The chooks thoroughly enjoy cultivating and fertilising the soil in between vegetable crops and the soil improvement has been rapid in this system with only a few chooks. The runs were constructed using steel posts with poly hoops to make the frame and recycled doors used to keep the chooks out of the runs when in production. The chooks also get access to a larger area and when we are home can be let out into the vegetable garden and orchard area where garden beds are protected with small fences to keep them out of our food.
Predators: we made sure that the chicken netting was buried in the ground about 30cm deep and have had no issues with foxes in the many years we have kept chooks at The Oasis. I think this is also helped by the fact we have a lot of electric fences on our property which helps to deter foxes.
Vermin: A grandpas chook feeder was an early investment due to birds and mice eating all of the chook feed – I balked at the $300 price tag but when I estimated the cost of continuing to feed all of the wildlife in addition to our chooks I estimated the feeder would pay for itself within 6 months. This feeder remains sealed to keep out vermin and the chooks learn to open the lid to access feed by standing on the ramp at the front. We usually have to keep it open for around a week when we get new chooks for them to learn the ropes then they are good to go. http://grandpasfeeders.com.au/products?gclid=CPicnZTOub4CFVgnvQod4SAATQ
Vermin: A grandpas chook feeder was an early investment due to birds and mice eating all of the chook feed – I balked at the $300 price tag but when I estimated the cost of continuing to feed all of the wildlife in addition to our chooks I estimated the feeder would pay for itself within 6 months. This feeder remains sealed to keep out vermin and the chooks learn to open the lid to access feed by standing on the ramp at the front. We usually have to keep it open for around a week when we get new chooks for them to learn the ropes then they are good to go. http://grandpasfeeders.com.au/products?gclid=CPicnZTOub4CFVgnvQod4SAATQ
Best breeds: The choice of birds is critical if your main motive for keeping chooks is egg production. Angus and I had both kept chooks before – mainly the fairly boring egg producing breeds. When we had our chook run completed we decided to attend a poultry auction in search of some chooks. We purchased a few isa brown layers and a trio of silkies. My only reason for purchasing the silkies was because they were cute!! We soon found them to be gorgeous natured but they rarely laid any eggs and once they had laid a few they promptly went clucky. They would make a great pet but were not ideal for egg production for the family. The isa browns were older birds and egg production was far from ideal. It is important to be aware of the age of the birds when purchasing – pullets at the point of lay are ideal. Also be aware that many ex commercially farmed chooks come on to the market after they have past their prime egg laying production and they wont necessarily be great egg producers. One indication of ex commercial layers is that they have been debeaked. Some people like to rehome these birds but we are more interested in a good egg yield so stay away from them. On discovering a local poultry buy swap and sell facebook group I started to source some different varieties of chooks – we have had light sussex and also Australorp and have found again their egg production not as good as the more conventional isa brown hens. This is partly due to the fact that these breeds are more dual purpose meat breeds but I also wonder if they are being selected by poultry fanciers for traits other than egg production which won’t be helping in that department. This site can be helpful in researching estimated egg production for various breeds.
http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html
http://www.sagehenfarmlodi.com/chooks/chooks.html
Best performing Vegetables in Chook run gardens: we have had easy success with summer vegetables including beans, spaghetti squash, chokos and corn. The one crop that didn’t yield well were zucchinis which grew prolifically but didn’t set fruit. This was possibly due to the soil being high in Nitrogen. It was also a wetter than normal season so it may be worth trying them again.
Future chook projects: We hope to further investigate grain free composting chicken systems as seen in this video by Geoff Lawton.
http://www.geofflawton.com/sq/34325-feeding-chickens-without-grain
We are also considering using a movable chook house and electrified chicken netting to get our chickens out in the pasture and see how they fit with our soil improvement system which is currently done using rotational grazing of sheep and cattle.
Future chook projects: We hope to further investigate grain free composting chicken systems as seen in this video by Geoff Lawton.
http://www.geofflawton.com/sq/34325-feeding-chickens-without-grain
We are also considering using a movable chook house and electrified chicken netting to get our chickens out in the pasture and see how they fit with our soil improvement system which is currently done using rotational grazing of sheep and cattle.