Smart Gardening

I love efficiency. With limited time and resources, smart planning helps to maximize what you can do and reduce waste. I study urban garden design because it forces people to be more creative with smaller spaces. When you  can make a space efficient and pleasing to the eye then in my opinion you've succeeded. These urban practices can be applied anywhere, whether you live in the city or in the country. Patti Moreno from Garden Girl TV is one of my favorite designers of efficient gardening. She does a great job of presenting ideas that we all can apply somewhere in our own backyards or apartments. Today I'm sharing "Raised Beds In The City". You can adapt her design ideas to meet your needs. I like the chicken houses she's built to fit perfectly on top of the beds. I've seen this done for rabbits also. Its practical design that I think can be carried out into the later years of life when strength and mobility start to become challenging.

Update On The Baby Chicks

At the beginning of the blogathon, we also began to raise a new batch of chicks. It had been nearly 3 years since we'd taken on this challenge and we were ready. - Well, at least we were willing. You can read how we got started here: New Baby Chicks

Over the past 3 1/2 weeks we've advanced from the tiny cage with a heat lamp to moving them to a sort of nursery cage outside. We are waiting for them to grow larger and finish filling in their feathers before we introduce them to our older chickens.

May 5, 2011

Through these past few weeks its taken quite a bit of decision making on what our next steps should be with the chicks. Its been a season where snakes have been acting unusual and I've heard plenty of stories of them getting onto porches and garages when the storms come. The weather has wreaked havoc on their habitat and feeding grounds so its no wonder they want to come live with people. I've had two so far this year, one being in the chicken coop. It greeted me at the door by hanging from the ceiling near the door and a window. It ended up being a 4-5 ft black rat snake that I had to knock out of there and unfortunately end its life. A chicken had died 2 days before and I just wasn't taking any chances. I think if I want rodent control, a cat that's a good mouser will do me just fine.

May 24, 2011

Thinking about placing the chicks outside really had me concerned that they would end up as snake food. Chicken wire has holes large enough  for a snake to crawl through, even though its may not get out after eating one the chicks. It was because of that we decided that we could use an empty rabbit hutch we had open to hold the chicks for a few more weeks. I had to modify it a bit and make some much needed repairs that was a result from a bored rabbit who chewed through the wood around the door. I sealed up every nook and cranny around the ceiling that I thought a snake could crawl through before I could feel comfortable about leaving the chicks in there.

I was thankful that the chick's nursery cage fit right in the hutch. I thought if anything, the nursery cage would provide a place where they felt secure, like a coop would normally do. Surprisingly though, the within an hour the chicks were out and about, leaving the nursery cage behind. They even slept outside of it the first night.

Its been 4 days so far and I must say I'm really satisfied with this arrangement. The chicks are safe and they are MUCH easier to care for now. No more kicking the bedding out on the floor, changing their water every couple of hours because they've filled it with bedding. I do miss their singing though. Did you know baby chicks sing? Yes, they do. Its a pleasant sound and often reminds me of my parakeet's songs. It is a far cry from the adult chickens voices that are deep and screaming at times.

See how much they've grown? (click on photo to see it better)

Through all of this, I've come to realize that having a "hospital" type of cage outside is important. I needed a place for the baby chicks to be in isolation until they develop large enough. But it also will be great if I need to house an injured or sick chicken. They need to be kept separate from the flock anyway because a) they may be contagious or b) chickens can be cruel and pick on a weak or injured one. Either way, it allows me a level of control of how they are treated.

Phase 2 is now underway and I'm thankful. I must tell you that phase 3 will make me nervous when I introduce the chicks to flock. I may have a few sleepless nights and lots of visits to see how they are socializing. A new pecking order will have to be established and I'm not looking forward to witnessing it.

Recycling In The Coop

Clean Nesting Boxes

 Part of the regular routine of keeping chickens is making sure they have a clean coop. It can get out of hand really fast if you let it go. This morning was another one those days. The hotter it gets outside, the earlier in the day I like to do it. Its just much easier that way.

In order to clean out the coop I needed to gather a few materials:

1. gloves
2. ventilator type mask (Always wear a mask to keep from getting sick)
3. flat edged shovel
4. small handled shovel
5. brush
6. clean bedding material

My first priority is to always keep the nesting boxes clean. This keeps the eggs cleaner when I gather them each day. I empty these and refill them every few days. I only have to knock the bedding into the floor and add fresh into the boxes. Easy-peasy. 

If I keep the floor covered with a good layer of bedding material (straw, wood shavings, shredded paper) then the chickens scratch it around and keep it fairly manageable. Most of the issue you have here is during the nights when chickens come in to roost. They will always perch themselves in a row on a roost above the floor. The floor under the roosts takes the worst hit as you can imagine from the chickens.  Add to that the entrance area where they come in and out of the coop. So to make cleaning easier, I monitor those areas and clean them out using my flat edged shovel. I shove all of the waste material through the chicken entrance out into their yard.

Shredded paper added on the floor

I know the work sounds gruesome, but its a great way to recycle. About a year ago I started using our cross-cut shredder to produce material for the nesting boxes and coop. I shred things like newspaper, junk mail, old statements and anything that has personal information I don't want to go into the regular trash. I steer away from ALL shiny, slick and highly colored paper. There are known toxins in the paper and I don't want to add that into the mix. Its a win-win situation for us. We get to recycle, save money on bedding and also compost the material for our garden.

The dirty bedding that gets tossed out into the chicken yard starts decomposing further. The chickens naturally  scratch around and dig so they break the material down pretty fast. 

The funny part about using the shredded paper and newspaper in the nesting box is this - We sometimes end up with print on the eggs. Its like having decorated Easter eggs all year.

We Have New Baby Chicks!

As of last Tuesday, we are proud parents to 5 new baby chicks! We are thrilled to have new life brought back to our family again. Its been 3 years since we last raised baby chicks. Hearing their little cheeps from across the room is music to my ears.

This time around we wanted to raise the breed Ameraucana, commonly known as "The Easter Egg" chicken. It has to do with a gene they carry that causes them to lay blue and sometimes green colored eggs. They also can lay eggs that are pinkish brown at times. The breed is known for egg laying abilities and should produce about 3 eggs per chicken per week. Not quite as productive as our Production Reds or Barred Rocks, but good enough enough for us.

Four Ameraucanas and One Yokohama

Do you see the little yellowish white chick about? We ended up choosing her because we could only get 4 of the Ameraucanas. She looked really cute and was our tribute to Japan this year. She is a Yokohama breed of chicken. We didn't do our homework on her and just picked her up for being so interesting.  After we got home and looked her up, well... lets just say she's going to be a good pet. One small egg per week is what she's going to give us. I hope she likes being petted and carried around because she has to be our show bird now.

Raising baby chicks has its challenges. We have to keep them really warm and under a light until their feathers come in. They are already filling in on their wings so we are a bit ahead of the game. Normally they will be filled ready to start taking trips outside for short periods when they are about 3 weeks old. When they get close to 6 weeks old we will be able to introduce them to the coop. That's a day I will be nervous about. Hens have a pecking order and the little ones have to learn where they stand. Good times ahead and lots of pecking.

Until then, we are ready for what we have to deal with now. Starting chicks on medicated starter crumbles is important. This food had medication to prevent coccidiosis in chicks. It basically is a parasite that causes the chicks to stop eating, dehydrate, have diarrhea until death occurs. Having come from a hatchery I want to make sure this is stopped before it starts. The only other thing I need to watch for is "pasting up" now.

Here is a quote from About.com Small Farm Section

"Pasting up" is a condition where feces builds up on the chicks' vents, blocking exit of more feces. This can kill young chicks. Causes include stress from shipping and getting chilled. Check your birds' rear ends every day for pasting up and use a warm wet cloth to remove the feces. If really bad, you might need to cut the downy feathers around the vent off with scissors. If you have children, be careful of overhandling. If chicks are pasting up, make the kids leave them alone until the problem is gone. Pasting up chicks are stressed chicks. Curious dogs are also a risk to baby chicks. Put a screen door or other cover over the brooder to keep the chicks safe."


---Sounds fun, huh? "Vents" are the part where eggs come out eventually. To help with the pasting up I've had to mix pulverized oatmeal in my chick starter feed in the past. Its really hard to stop once it gets started.

Raising chickens can be so much fun and really rewarding. You just have to take the good with the bad like with any animal. Once we get them raised to a certain point, they are really low maintenance thereafter. Egg production should start when they reach 24 weeks. It looks like November is our target date for the start of egg production!

Keeping Chickens - Deep Litter Method

This is one of the best explanations I've found on the deep litter method of keeping chickens. Gardeners are often warned to not put fresh chicken manure in their garden because the nitrogen is way too high. Add to that the warning of not putting freshly cut mulch around their plants because it will "burn" them. In the decomposition process the mulch robs the soil of any nitrogen and causes the plants to whither and die. Chicken manure and wood chips seems like a natural pair for making compost. I personally clean out my chicken coop about once per month and rake all of it out to the chicken yard to break down further. I replace the wood chips/shredded paper in the coop and it keeps it fairly clean for laying. Since we're in an area that has two short vegetable growing seasons (Spring & Fall) I am beginning to prepare the area for Spring of next year with the chicken manure compost. I am currently spreading rabbit manure in my Fall 2010 vegetable garden. The good part about using rabbit manure is that it can be applied fairly fresh and not cause problems. Building up my soil is continuing to be my biggest challenge here, especially with a limited budget and wanting  such a large area developed quickly. I am seeing the benefits on many of my regular landscaping beds as they mature. Organic matter, beneficial insects and micro-organisms take time to build up and balance out. Every time I see new life in my garden I know I'm just one step closer!

Food Waste Reduction Challenge 2010

Thanks to Crunchy Chicken, I have a new incentive to better manage our food waste. This has been something that has always bothered me anyway. Having chickens to eat our leftovers has provided some relief from guilt, but even that is not the only solution. Although I would recommend getting chickens for this very reason. They are amazing little composters!

What does this have to do with gardening? Well, having grown our own food I realize the amount of money and work needed to get it from the garden to my table. If I factor in all of the elements that it takes to get food that I buy from a farm to a grocery store, and then my husband's wages to buy the food to feed us blows my mind. There has to be better management of our resources starting with ME. Our grandparents and great-grandparents were experts at this and its time to start looking back at their amazing skills.

Wasting anything seems to go against everything I work so hard for out in the garden and managing my animals. I try to make the most of all of our resources, using one's waste to fill a need in another area. i.e rabbit/chicken manure for garden, garden scraps for chickens/rabbits. It's a system where everyone benefits and it is a more sustainable one also.

For our food management, I started years ago to monitor our level of eating leftovers from a meal. We are not a family to have a different meal every evening. If there is still quite a bit of something in the refrigerator, we try to use it up before moving on to the next meal. It may not be the most EXCITING way to eat, but it is practical.

Here is some of the food we struggle the most with on wasting:

fresh produce (especially spinach, celery, lettuce)
sour cream
salsa (store bought)
cornbread
beans (cooked and in fridge)
rice
potato chips
bread (when it gets down to that last few pieces)
orange juice

I'm sure I could think of a few more if I really try. There are certain meals that I notice we eat better for leftovers than others, so I try to incorporate more of those meals into our weekly plan.


I cookbook I have that helps is:


It gives you ideas on what to do with common things you have to use up. My brain seems to shut off when I stare blankly into the refrigerator or pantry trying to come up with ideas on how to use up certain foods, so I can use all of the help I can get. This cookbook does just that. There are online recipe sites that you can plug in your ingredients and come up with something too. Try AllRecipes.com for some ideas.

Top 10 Things I've Learned From My Chickens

Our girls, the chookas, have taught us:

10. They don't like any kind of rodents, especially mice, and they're fast enough to catch them. Grabbing them with their beaks and slamming the mouse into the ground multiple times until they're dead is how they handle them. Oh, and then they eat them.

9. They like attention. Of course it's on their terms. Some will crouch down nearly to the ground, bowing their backs if they don't like it. They'd rather be petted on the side.

8. I now understand the term, "Don't get your feathers ruffled!"...Cause it came from chickens. If I do #9 and they're not happy, well ruffled feathers and complaining is what I get. It's hysterical to watch.

7. Be careful what you wear when you go visit them in their yard and coop. They're fascinated with shoe strings, shiny buttons and holes. Oh, and add just about anything that stands out. If they come up to you and their eyes become fixed and trance-like on something you're wearing, you're fixin' to get it pecked or pulled. Again, it's funny to watch them do this. Well, that is if you're well protected.

6. As with #7, don't make the mistake and enter their yard with shorts on. Even the slightest freckle fascinates them and deserves a peck. My son learned that one the hard way even though the rest of us laughed.

5. I've learned to pet them with my hand that doesn't have a ring on it. Shiny things deserve to be pecked and pulled. It hasn't hurt but it sure puts them in a trance when they notice it on my hand.

4. Laying an egg brings on a big celebration. Screams and calls go round the chicken yard when one is laid. The one who lays it is as proud as a new father passing out cigars. We have a few others who like to spread the news when others lay also. Goldie is our biggest cheerleader of the bunch.

3. Live grasshoppers are the best thing ever to watch them scramble to catch. We purposely throw them in their yard for the entertainment. One grabs the hopper and the rest chase the one who has it. It kind of reminds me of football. They will run back and forth several times with a crowd following. Sometimes another chicken will snatch it away if it can. Then comes the killing. Just like with mice, it slams the grasshopper into the ground several times to kill it before it will eat it. Fun times....

2. Chickens will eat nearly anything. We feed them weeds, table scraps, things from the garden etc. They are composting machines! Oh, and they love spicy fire ants for a snack too, yeah!

1. Chickens are just plain fun. I walk into the yard and up on their roost they hop to see me. They like the attention. With their floppy comb, jerky head movements and fascination with whatever you have makes me smile. I would advise though, not to be eye to eye with a chicken without a barrier. Remember their obsession with shiny things...well eyes are just that. I've not had mine pecked, but I know there is potential for that. Again fun times if you come out with both eyes...

Our Benny is somewhere amongst the sea of brown hens. Every once in a while, she remembers when she used to hop up on my lap and wanted to be petted. She then comes running and circling around my legs enjoying a bit of attention like she used to get. It doesn't last long, sadly, before she again blends back into the crowd.

After having chickens, I think everyone should have a couple. Cheap entertainment, amazing composters and eggs ta' boot. It's worth it I say!

Marathon Week

Having Christmas, our wedding anniversary, sons birthday, New Years and my husband birthday in barely over a week definitely is a marathon for us. Tonight 6 teenage boys are coming over for a birthday party sleepover so food planning and entertainment are in the works.

The chickens are laying an average of 6 eggs per day now. Hurray! We just have a few more weeks when the other 4 should start laying. There goes our cholesterol level, lol.

The rabbits are doing well. I think they're lovin' the cool temps and are as cute as ever.

My indoor lettuce and spinach are up and growing. I can't wait to harvest some. :)

Last but definitely not least, the garden planning! I've been hard at work figuring out the details of next years veggie garden. I really want to make sure I plant plenty for us and a good deal extra for those who will be in need. Next year will probably be a lean year for a lot of people and I want to see if I can be of help.

I'll post my garden plan soon. I need to make the diagrams for it all first. :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Our First Egg! Woohoo!

Well, we've done it! Out of our first batch of chicks we got this past summer, we have an egg! :)

We've been waiting patiently over the past few weeks wondering "who" was going to lay the first egg. As the girl's combs began to fill out and turn from pink to red, we knew that them laying time was getting closer. Our Penelope seems to be the most developed of all of them, so we think she's the lucky one.

The egg was surprisingly huge. We were expecting something really deformed and unusable, but lo and behold this one is larger than our store bought large eggs. (Ours is on the right)



I thought this would also be a great time to post the origami chicken that my son made for me a few weeks ago for my birthday. You know you've crossed over to being a chicken lover when your family starts to include things such as this for personal gifts. I was completely impressed at the time and effort he went to in researching and making this for me. I had to include the first egg with his creation. :)


Life is good... Now, how hard is it to eat this treasure we've been waiting on for months? Well, we may have to plan something special. :)

Chicken Update!

The older chickens are now 19 weeks and the younger at 13 weeks. It's been an adventure getting through their life stages. From raising them in a box with a light on them to keep them warm, to wing clipping and now egg laying within the next few weeks for the older chookas.

When we we started all of this we had no idea how busy our lives would be, so building the coop and the chicken run/yard was a little (or should I say A LOT) overwhelming. We managed to add what was needed at the time and vowed to make updates later when the temperatures dropped to a more tolerable temperature for such a project. (You can look at earlier posts to see the change)

Well the time has finally arrived!

In steps the task of explaining my long drawn out plans to dh. I'm such a big picture thinker that my poor husband hangs his head when I have yet another element to add to the already huge plan. When I try to explain the "big picture", he often asks me, "Doesn't your brain ever take a rest?" I respond by telling him another long story about how all of this will come together and make our lives a little easier in the long run. Poor guy, he has to go to work to get some quiet time. :)

Here's part one of the animal enclosure - the chicken yard!





We were blessed to mostly use reclaimed wood for the bottom half of the walls. This saved a ton and "the plan" is to landscape in front of the wall and allow vines to grow over the top. This should help provide some shade through the scorching summers here.

Look at the bottom picture where the screened door is. We have found a wonderful addition to watering the chickens - a dripper. It's just like the ones used for rabbits. We have used one inside our house for the parakeets for a long time and I thought, "Hmm, if the parakeets can use it, why not the chickens?" Well, the chickens took to it like ducks to water, lol. Whew, and I must say it's SO much easier!

Here's a picture of one chickie using the dripper:



We need to add another one. With eleven chickens using this we go through two bottles per day. The great thing is that the water is CLEAN when they drink it. If you know anything about chickens or any other bird, their water can get absolutely disgusting within minutes.

Chicken Town

Wow, things are really changing here. The original group of chicks we bought are now 15 weeks old. We hopefully will start seeing eggs in the next 5-10 weeks. Seems like a long time, but really the time so far has flown by. The girls are now eating nearly any and everything they can and their voices have changed to really deep. Funny thing, we had named a few of them and now we can't find them in the crowd! They've all changed so much in appearance and behavior. There is one of the brown ones we call, "Penelope". She is the loudest one and from what we can tell is at the top of the pecking order in the group. Nothing gets past her!

The black and gold chicken really stands out though. Her name is "Goldie" and she is a Golden Laced Wyandotte. She's a bit stand-offish. Not mean or anything, she just doesn't come up to you like the others wanting to be petted. She's sweet to everyone and I think she's pretty low in the pecking order. The only ones lower are the new chicks. :)

See our newest chicks of the bunch? These are Barred Rocks. We've had them for a while and they are about 8 weeks old. I had wanted these chicks originally but everyone was out of them. I think they are beautiful and really friendly. Since we've moved them in with the rest of the brood about 2 weeks ago, they have nearly spent all of their time in the coop. That has been their territory- by force! The older ones hardly allow them outside. They're brave girls though and I laugh when the smallest of the group makes near suicide missions out into the chicken yard to get scraps. She will literally snatch food right out of the mouths of the older chickens and run like lightning to get back into the coop! Fun times. :) Who said living in the country is boring? lol.

We're 6 Weeks Old!

Life through the eyes chicken:

"Look at our feathers! We're getting them in our heads now. We are finally coming out of the "ugly" stage and looking like real chickens. Our personalities are blooming daily. We really like to gather around our human family when they come out and get some attention from them. "

Funny birds. :)

Next is the famous "Benny" the chicken. We used to be able to tell her apart from the other chicks by the light socket design she had on her back. Now the feathers are coming in, we can only tell it's her by her tiny tail feathers. She barely has one. Although her personality shows up immediately. She's loved to sit on our laps since day one, so needless to say getting affection is important to Benny. She is FINALLY getting along with the others. The few weeks of isolation has made her rethink her role as aggressor within the flock. She now happily runs with the rest without pecking them in the face or grabbing their feet. We love the peace. :)

Check out the coop we built. I know, it lacks luster now, but I plan on sprucing it up to be more homey. Can't have a boring coop for these fine ladies. More updates later... (at least when the temps her drop below 100 degrees)

My Chickens

I never knew how much fun chickens could be! If I'd known this I'd gotten them years ago. :)

These pictures were taken about a week ago when the chicks were 5 weeks old. They have seemed to grown tremendously over the past week, so I'll have to add new ones soon. We have 7 all together now, 6 Production Reds (brown ones) and 1 Gold Wyandotte (the black one). They are hysterical to watch.

They love to play a game I would compare to football. Every time I drop something in their cage, one grabs it and runs with the rest chasing it trying to take it away. I threw a sucker stick in there and laughed so hard when they ran with it holding one end with the other raking against the side of the pen. It reminded me of a prisoner clacking a tin cup along the bars. Back and forth they'd go, one snatching the stick away from the other. For days they even began to hide the stick down in their bedding until I came out there to check on them. Then over to the corner one would go to scratch out where the stick was hiding and run with it.

Who needs television for entertainment with this bunch.