This past Wednesday morning, I had a dream that young people had an app on their phones that allowed them to pool information about the health of the Earth from anywhere on the Earth. The information on this phone app was updated and edited much the same way as Wikapedia from reports sent by locals as well as travelers. Information gained from precise measurement and chemical analysis by independent observers was most valued. The information was put on a map of the Earth using symbols.
The information allowed the rating of farms, forests, fields, deserts, factories, and cities with a map symbol ranging from green for a sustainable area to red for severely damaged area with toxins that take years to break down. A yellow symbol is an area in the process of becoming sustainable. An orange symbol means an area needs to change practices immediately so restoration can take place. The goal is a sustainable Earth. “A sustainable society is one that satisfies its needs without diminishing the prospects of future generations.” Quoted from Lester Brown of Earth Policy Institute. This definition of sustainability is the criterion for the rating of the areas of the Earth.
People used the information on this app when making choices about what products to purchase, what cases to bring to the attention of the government, which lawmakers to reelect, which multinational companies to hold accountable, etc. The Earth healed. This was my dream.
When actions are known because of transparency, persons or corporations committing unsustainable actions can be held responsible. As people’s actions all over the Earth are known and correct stewardship is demanded by masses of informed people, the Earth will heal.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Beauty in the Garden
What is it that inspires me to go into the garden on a foggy November Sunday morning? The beauty. The dew collects on the Asparagus ferns giving them a silvery sheen. Brilliant pink roses announce their charm. The wild Baccharis pilularis or Coyote Bush covered in white fluffy bloom with its sweet scent will always remind me of fall. If you grow up in California and play outdoors in the hills as I did, you become familiar with this scent. These plants grow in the open grassy spaces between the Oaks. I have cut them for display in the house where their fluff falls on the table below.
The vegetable plants show their exuberance as they push up through the soil; fava and bell bean seeds, garlic, red onions, and also the flowering bulbs that promise color in winter. They express beauty in the patterns which their unfoldment follows. The bulbs are straight up and the winter beans slightly nodding with their leaves poised to lift and spread.
Always the surprise and wonder draw me. There will be some discovery today. Perhaps it will be new blossoms of sea-blue winter iris or a hummingbird at the pineapple sage. The wonder that I am part of this life is more that my mind can comprehend but my heart has always known. I share this life with the plants and animals I see around me and the microscopic life in the soil. Sometimes I see a favorite animal like a toad. I am at home.
Today's wonders were the last gifts of the season: a bucket of tomatoes in red, orange, yellow and green; a few last zinnias and chrysanthemums, and a couple of red kuri winter squash. This was probably the last time till next year that I will bring these treasures into the house. Soon the tender summer plants will turn to mush when they freeze. Then the onions, garlic, green manure legumes, chard, cole crops, and orange calendula flowers will have the garden to themselves. As I picked the last pear tomatoes, I was sad and appreciative. We have eaten some wonderful fresh salsas, salads, and tomato sauces, and the vibrant colors of the tomatoes have brightened our kitchen counter since July. I discovered that I will miss them like friends who move away for part of the year.
The vegetable plants show their exuberance as they push up through the soil; fava and bell bean seeds, garlic, red onions, and also the flowering bulbs that promise color in winter. They express beauty in the patterns which their unfoldment follows. The bulbs are straight up and the winter beans slightly nodding with their leaves poised to lift and spread.
Always the surprise and wonder draw me. There will be some discovery today. Perhaps it will be new blossoms of sea-blue winter iris or a hummingbird at the pineapple sage. The wonder that I am part of this life is more that my mind can comprehend but my heart has always known. I share this life with the plants and animals I see around me and the microscopic life in the soil. Sometimes I see a favorite animal like a toad. I am at home.
Today's wonders were the last gifts of the season: a bucket of tomatoes in red, orange, yellow and green; a few last zinnias and chrysanthemums, and a couple of red kuri winter squash. This was probably the last time till next year that I will bring these treasures into the house. Soon the tender summer plants will turn to mush when they freeze. Then the onions, garlic, green manure legumes, chard, cole crops, and orange calendula flowers will have the garden to themselves. As I picked the last pear tomatoes, I was sad and appreciative. We have eaten some wonderful fresh salsas, salads, and tomato sauces, and the vibrant colors of the tomatoes have brightened our kitchen counter since July. I discovered that I will miss them like friends who move away for part of the year.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Certainties, October 2011
I am comforted by certainties in a time of little sensible political action amid world-wide environmental degradation and a poor economy. Some of the few things I can count on are the golden light of fall, acorns falling with the brown oak leaves, and the emerging green grass transforming the dry faded golden hills.
Another certainty is the funny things that kittens do. There is one kitten by my side as I write. Actually she is now moving under my journal, on me, next to me, oops!–over my journal. Now she is high on the book shelf after some tiny flying insect or spider that I can’t see. Now two of the smaller stuffed animals are falling on me from the shelf above the bed where I am sitting as the kitten explores.
When this active kitten first arrived, she seemed uninterested in people. We have recently adopted her along with her four-month old sister and their mother. During her first few days with us, she and the others stayed close to the bathroom where I had their beds and food. By the second week, they were joining us in the living room. The others were interested in being petted and purred vigorously when they were handled and came to sit with us on the sofas. It crossed my mind that the most active one needed more petting so she would become more social. I soon noticed that when she got around to being with her people she was most attentive–purring, laying nearby, stretching out on her side in front of me, moving under foot, or snuggling with me depending if I was lying down or walking. I realized that she is just a very busy cat and socializes when she gets around to it.
She is a cat after all, and does things her way. No extra petting needed. Weeks later, she is near me when I lay on the sofa in the evening. She even watched a documentary about dogs with me one night. I could tell she was watching because her head moved slightly as she tracked the motion on the screen. She got up and left a few times but went right back to her position facing the television each time.
My husband has named her Rudy. She is the smallest. The mom, he named, Claire. The sister kitten he named Theo or Thea. All names are from the Cosby Show. Sometimes my husband calls the mom Mrs. Huxtable. I can be certain that Rudy will have a busy day today.
Gardening with Nature’s Principles during October in California
A big change happens in California after the first inches of rain fall in October. The grass seed and other wild-plant seeds sprout and grow. Growth is fast in the soil that is still holding warmth from the summer sun. Soon green is visible after the long summer drought. The plants that grew with the last rainy season have withered and dried. In wild places, the dry plants are thick and some are tall. There the green is barely visible two weeks after the first rains . Where last season’s golden brown dry plants have been mowed or eaten by grazing animals, the bright green velvet coat of plants already shows its vibrancy. Perennial plants like the roadside fennel begin to grow from the base of the old dry stalks.
In my garden, I cut down the finished perennial plants and compost them. No one does that to the plants like roadside fennel. By late spring, their old dry stalks are concealed by the new growth if they haven’t blown down during winter storms.
This October, I copied nature and sowed my winter green manure crops in between the finishing tomato, squash, and corn plants. I can remove the tomatoes, squash and corn plants after the last harvest, while letting the seeds get a good start in the warm soil. My time is limited as I teach full-time so I dug compost into beds only when essential for a particular crops like onions, garlic, and cabbage. I didn’t dig or weed to sow the green manure. I just tossed the bell beans and mixed cover-crop seed in between the finishing crops and scratched them into the soil with a hand tool. These beds will get a good dressing of compost later when this green manure crop is double-dug for the next planting in the spring or dug even earlier for lettuce and spinach which will be protected under row-cover or glass.
This green manure sowing was very easy and took about ten minutes. I could have been watching baseball on TV and done the sowing during the commercials if the Giants were in the World Series.
The garlic is up and growing along with the cabbages planted in August.
This year I am planting Chinese Garlic. I recently read Chester Aaron’s book called "Garlic is Life". I was so inspired to try other varieties of garlic that I found this more spicy Chinese variety at Imwalle’s Gardens in Santa Rosa. We tasted some of it before planting to determine that it really had a noticeably different taste from the California Garlic commonly sold in the grocery stores, and it does seem a little spicier.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Garlic is Life for its beautiful descriptions of living in Western Sonoma County. As I had also lived in the Occidental area, I loved having Chester’s words bring back my connection to this land of tall firs and grassy hills. His writing also tells of his gardening and how that connects him to warm memories of his parents. If you love gardening, this is a good read.
Another certainty is the funny things that kittens do. There is one kitten by my side as I write. Actually she is now moving under my journal, on me, next to me, oops!–over my journal. Now she is high on the book shelf after some tiny flying insect or spider that I can’t see. Now two of the smaller stuffed animals are falling on me from the shelf above the bed where I am sitting as the kitten explores.
When this active kitten first arrived, she seemed uninterested in people. We have recently adopted her along with her four-month old sister and their mother. During her first few days with us, she and the others stayed close to the bathroom where I had their beds and food. By the second week, they were joining us in the living room. The others were interested in being petted and purred vigorously when they were handled and came to sit with us on the sofas. It crossed my mind that the most active one needed more petting so she would become more social. I soon noticed that when she got around to being with her people she was most attentive–purring, laying nearby, stretching out on her side in front of me, moving under foot, or snuggling with me depending if I was lying down or walking. I realized that she is just a very busy cat and socializes when she gets around to it.
She is a cat after all, and does things her way. No extra petting needed. Weeks later, she is near me when I lay on the sofa in the evening. She even watched a documentary about dogs with me one night. I could tell she was watching because her head moved slightly as she tracked the motion on the screen. She got up and left a few times but went right back to her position facing the television each time.
My husband has named her Rudy. She is the smallest. The mom, he named, Claire. The sister kitten he named Theo or Thea. All names are from the Cosby Show. Sometimes my husband calls the mom Mrs. Huxtable. I can be certain that Rudy will have a busy day today.
Gardening with Nature’s Principles during October in California
A big change happens in California after the first inches of rain fall in October. The grass seed and other wild-plant seeds sprout and grow. Growth is fast in the soil that is still holding warmth from the summer sun. Soon green is visible after the long summer drought. The plants that grew with the last rainy season have withered and dried. In wild places, the dry plants are thick and some are tall. There the green is barely visible two weeks after the first rains . Where last season’s golden brown dry plants have been mowed or eaten by grazing animals, the bright green velvet coat of plants already shows its vibrancy. Perennial plants like the roadside fennel begin to grow from the base of the old dry stalks.
In my garden, I cut down the finished perennial plants and compost them. No one does that to the plants like roadside fennel. By late spring, their old dry stalks are concealed by the new growth if they haven’t blown down during winter storms.
This October, I copied nature and sowed my winter green manure crops in between the finishing tomato, squash, and corn plants. I can remove the tomatoes, squash and corn plants after the last harvest, while letting the seeds get a good start in the warm soil. My time is limited as I teach full-time so I dug compost into beds only when essential for a particular crops like onions, garlic, and cabbage. I didn’t dig or weed to sow the green manure. I just tossed the bell beans and mixed cover-crop seed in between the finishing crops and scratched them into the soil with a hand tool. These beds will get a good dressing of compost later when this green manure crop is double-dug for the next planting in the spring or dug even earlier for lettuce and spinach which will be protected under row-cover or glass.
This green manure sowing was very easy and took about ten minutes. I could have been watching baseball on TV and done the sowing during the commercials if the Giants were in the World Series.
The garlic is up and growing along with the cabbages planted in August.
This year I am planting Chinese Garlic. I recently read Chester Aaron’s book called "Garlic is Life". I was so inspired to try other varieties of garlic that I found this more spicy Chinese variety at Imwalle’s Gardens in Santa Rosa. We tasted some of it before planting to determine that it really had a noticeably different taste from the California Garlic commonly sold in the grocery stores, and it does seem a little spicier.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Garlic is Life for its beautiful descriptions of living in Western Sonoma County. As I had also lived in the Occidental area, I loved having Chester’s words bring back my connection to this land of tall firs and grassy hills. His writing also tells of his gardening and how that connects him to warm memories of his parents. If you love gardening, this is a good read.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Gardening in the Summer of 2011
A Personal Garden Vision
My garden is designed to grow food for my husband, myself, friends, and family as well as for beautiful views of flowers from our windows and cut flowers to put in the house. The total effect is patterns of leaf and flower in a range of vibrant colors with the movement of birds, insects, and wind while the constantly changing angle of the sun strikes the leaves and blossoms. Pairs of goldfinches visit the sunflowers chirping all the while. Hummingbirds visit blossoms. Woodpeckers work in the surrounding Oakwoodlands. Scents fill the air.
Included among the vegetables and fruits are plants that increase the well being of the garden. These plants provide food and shelter for a variety of insects. This insures a balanced insect population that eats only tiny bits of the veggies and roses---not enough to be a bother. The plants that increase the well being of the garden include the honey scented alyssum which attracts an insect that preys on aphids, the tall airy Verbena bonarensis with its small flat flower clusters which make perfect landing pads for a variety of insects, the wonderful monarda that attracts humming birds, and the healall that bees love. There are also scented beautiful plants like lemon balm, caledula, marigold, feverfew, lavender, and rue that are essential to a healthy plant community. Some of these probably contribute by repelling harmful insects with their strong smells. In fact, the one potato plant in the new orchard garden with no insect nibbles is the one with a little feverfew plant that volunteered right next to it. Being newly established, this garden does not yet have a variety of established beneficial plants like feverfew to keep the insect population balanced. Here most potato and early bean plants were nibbled..
Being a teacher gave me the summer to correct and refine my garden infrastructure and practices. For example, I built compost bins that will better hold moisture in our dry summers, and the new orchard garden is terraced, has double-dug beds, and is layered with mulch. The materials that I used in these projects were left over from home improvement projects. I have completed gardening projects that will keep myself and the plants thriving as I go back to teaching for the school year. I recycled materials that would have otherwise been landfill.
Gardening for a Purpose
This is the summer when my gardening became part of my life in a unified way. Just as I create an interweaving of plants that do well together, my garden integrates all parts of my life. I no longer leave unfinished tasks undone. For example, vines are tied up before they sprawl over other plants blocking sunlight. There are no neglected tangles of weeds and vines taking extra time to correct. I am planting a year-round garden so seeds are sown most months. I do not just sow a summer garden, water it, harvest it, and wait till the next season. I found that there is always something to harvest. For example, greens can be harvested when small or when mature. If I harvest them when small, I am giving nearby plants more room to mature. This worked well with the cabbage which I am still harvesting. My cooking is inspired by fresh vibrant produce coming from the garden.
Gardening gives me hope. I know I can grow food and increase beauty by growing plants in harmony with nature. I am inspired by the natural processes that I work with and ever changing life-cycles of the plants in my care. I sense that our lives and the life around us are like small concentric rings connected to larger ones expanding and blending. Sometimes these rings also blend from the past into the future.
As a child, I felt nurture in the homes and gardens of my great aunts and my grandmother Florence. Their homes were clean and orderly and their gardens and farms were lovely. I knew that I wanted this nurture in my life. I wanted to be able to create this nurture for myself and my own family. These women were my models for how I wanted to be. Now I can see that I have this nurture in my family relationships, my garden and my home. It feels good.
“I do not yet know why plants come out of the land or float in streams, or creep on rocks or roll from the sea. I am entranced by the mystery of them, and absorbed by their variety and kinds. Everywhere they are visible yet everywhere occult.” Liberty Hyde Bailey
Garden Observations are a Bonus
This summer was different as I paid more attention to what the plants needed since I was more attentive. After the summer plants were in the ground, I made compost and turned soil, all the while paying attention to the needs of the plants as they grew. I planned a year-round garden, so by July, I was starting plants for winter. I often hand watered the vegetable beds. “The foot steps of the gardener is the best fertilizer,” is a quote from the ancient Chinese farmers. It is so true as being in the garden allows me to see what is needed. While watering I sometimes pull a weed, notice a squash that needs to be picked, train a pumpkin vine to stay inside the protective wire deer fencing, and see what tomatoes need more staking. I don’t think that I spent more time in the garden this summer but my time was spent in better ways. I was able to do small tasks like getting out weeds before they got to be big and competed with the vegetables for food, sunlight, and water. Enjoyment of a well growing garden was my reward as I spent time on priorities that insured healthy plants. I was able to learn to prioritize tasks by what was most needed by the plants.
There were also other bonuses to hand watering besides the fact that the sprinklers don’t water the garden edges well. Once while I was hand watering at dusk, I noticed a turkey high up on an oak tree branch and wondered why her wing was out from her body in an unusual position. I paid attention to moving the gentle rain of water onto the soil between the zucchini and cabbage. The next time I looked up, the turkey had flown down the hill leaving behind five little ones on the branch about 30 feet up in the tree. I was amazed that these little ones had flown so high up to roost in the tree. I watched as one by one the little ones flew down to their mom to find another safe place to spend the night. I was sorry that my watering had disturbed them but glad to have seen how a momma turkey keeps her babies protected at night when the predators are most active.
Gardening with Natural Principles
My understanding of many natural principles increased. For example, plants want to make a protective cover over the soil. I plant seedlings close enough so that the mature plants cover the soil. I use mulch to cover bare spots. This cover protects the soil, keeps moisture from evaporating, and keeps weeds from sprouting. The mulch also provides food for the earthworms to mix into the soil. I also let dandelions and small grasses grow in paths, giving me fresh greens for the chickens. Another path had healall growing in it. In the summer the blossoming stems get about a foot high so I hoed out a narrow five inch pathway. I found that the bees loved this stand of blossoms. I walk through this narrow pathway slowly so I don’t hurt or disturb the bees while they work. I have not been stung, and I go through this area daily. I encouraged pursulane to grow between the corn plants which improves the corn. The plants are protecting the soil in many places in my garden.
Plants place their vitality for growing into tiny seeds which the gardener brings to life. I found this principle of nature a joy to work with. From big nasturtium seeds to tiny viola seeds, baby plants began their life under my care. Some volunteered like the violas and columbine in the soil under the parent plants. These I carefully moved to bigger quarters in nice pots of freshly mixed soil. The results have been a nearly constant parade of sprouts becoming beds of vegetables or decorative plants. Friends have benefitted from my extra plants.
I benefitted from the extra seedlings of a new friend. I partnered with Diane who had not grown much outdoors but grew indoor gloxinias from dust-like seed. Last spring Diane had extras of these baby plants which mature into tender house plants with flowers up to four inches across. As I type this, sitting next to me are several of these plants, one with a luscious wide-opened white bloom with red dots in a beautiful scalloped pattern of denser dots near the petal’s edge and another with intense purple blooms that look ruffled. Another gloxinia that has finished blooming was a deep red. It is in the greenhouse as it goes dormant to sprout again later from a tuber of stored energy. These wonderful plants have the added bonus of being perennial.
“Feed the soil, the soil feeds the plants, and the plants feed you.” This is a quote from my friend Pat who gardened for a year learning from Alan Chadwick, the gardener who introduced French Intensive/ Biodynamic Gardening to North America. Last year my summer and winter squash plants were small and produced little. They were growing in a new garden with very poor soil. In fact, a soil test revealed that my garden soil tested low in nitrogen and potash and medium in phosphorus. This planting area had only been gardened for a few years with my chicken manure compost added in only the last two years when I started raising chickens. My improved compost was added in the spring, and this year I noticed that my squash plants look healthy and vigorous. It takes years to build good soil with compost, and I needed more soil nutrients than I had been applying. I have continued adding purchased compost as a mulch throughout the summer, and these large squash plants are continuing to thrive.
Community Growing
My friend, Diane, and I gardened together every week this summer. Diane helped me prepare plum grafts and shell bell beans. I helped her double dig her first bed in the back yard. She gave homes to some of my extra plants like tomatoes and rosemary as we landscaped her wild front yard. I learned how to follow another person’s garden vision as I paid close attention to her garden plans.
My friend had not imagined she could turn her soil into planting beds. After observing me double digging the soil, she plans to get a fork for herself.
We were both very proud of our results. Her front yard shows off some of her favorite lilies and morning glory vines as well as existing shrubs and new tomato plants. Her back yard has its first planting bed. I have three fig tree starts from under her fig tree in my greenhouse and we await the results of the plum grafts which will be evident next spring. We were both pleased and got compliments on her front yard from a homeless man who often walks by her house.
Community growing was definitely a success for us and we have more gardening planned when our work schedules allow. Of course we will keep each other informed of the growth of our plants and the ripening of the figs.
Hidden Places for Growing
The path by the raspberries filled with the low growing mint ground cover, healall, is like a bee sanctuary. It is wonderful how many things you can grow in a path when you get over the idea of all paths needing to be free of plants. A sign saying "Walk slowly, bee sanctuary" would be nice if anyone used that path besides me.
The chickens are always interested in my activities when I come outside. They watch me from the edge of their pen. They are only distracted from me if I give them some greens or grasses to scratch through. I give them grasses from spring weed-eating done to minimize fire hazards. Any unwanted plant material pulled or trimmed from the vegetable and flower beds are theirs except for woody twigs and rose prunings which go to the garbage company for shredding and composting. I have a little pen within their enclosure that I sometimes use as a place to sow peas and vetch for the chickens to eat. They finish with that in a day. I am glad there are dandelions, burr clover, and grasses growing in the nearby paths to supply them with fresh greens. This also increases the vitamin content of their eggs besides keeping the chickens happily occupied.
Matching companion plants in beds together gives extra crops. There are carrots in between the tomato plants and carrots planted with green onions.
Starting the next crop among the finishing crop worked with a pea bed becoming a tomato bed. There is a bed of peas that had four tomato plants started in between them in May. Now the peas are decomposing under the mulch around the four foot tall tomato plants.
Several beds of potatoes are still growing. Adding layers of mulch to the beds probably encouraged the plants to continue growing. Most potato plants are still green and have not bloomed so the next crops for the cool season are in pots in the greenhouse waiting for the potatoes to finish. The greenhouse with pots is another hidden place for growing as growing in pots keep the beds available for large maturing plants. The potted plants will be ready when the mature plants are harvested. A continuous supply of food comes from beds in continuous production.
Invasive Plants as Healers
I have a patch of ground were the soil was once covered with chaparral. We cleared this area to protect our property from wildfire moving up the hill to our house. The slope faces south west receiving the hottest part of the sunlight. Over the years that we have lived here, star thistle has started growing here. This plant is considered an invasive problematic nonnative. I have tried over the years to pull it all out each summer, and the next summer it is still growing in the same place. This summer I read the book, Invasive Plant Medicine, The Ecological Benefits and Healing Abilities of Invasives which gave me an understanding of the job invasive plants do to remediate problem soils so I didn’t pull out the star thistle. I went to see how this area looked this summer and noticed there was only one star thistle plant and a whole patch of native bunch grasses perfectly arranged as if they had been planted with equal spacing between each one. Did the long strong roots of the star thistles make it possible for these plants to get their roots into this dense soil? Did I pull last year’s star thistle out before they made seeds and there were no seeds left in the soil from previous years? Has the star thistle finished its work so the native grasses can grow? I wonder what will grow there next year. I am going to continue to leave this place alone.
These quotes were taken from the book, Invasive Plant Medicine.
A quote from the great plantsman, Liberty Hyde Bailey. “All living beings have the right to engage in the struggle for existence.”
Many believe that invasive plants harm native plants. Here is a quote from Vermeij. “The evidence so far points to the conclusion that invaders often cause extinction on oceanic islands and in lakes, but rarely in the sea or on large land masses.”
A quote from Masanobu Fukuoka. “The living and holistic biosystem that is nature cannot be dissected or resolved into its parts. Once broken down, it dies. Or rather, those who break off a piece of nature lay hold of something that is dead, and unaware that what they are examining is no longer what they think it to be, claim to understand nature... Because [man] starts off with misconceptions about nature and takes the wrong approach to understanding it, regardless of how rational his thinking, everything winds up all wrong.”
Still Learning as Always
I am a teacher by profession and have found that teaching and learning are the same thing. I am curious about many things and want to share that with youth. I find that I am still learning about gardening constantly even though I have gardened since I was a child. Pairing up to work with a less experienced gardener gave me much to learn. It wasn’t so much that she learned from me but rather that we both learned different things from sharing gardening.
The wonderful thing about this is that each new season becomes a new chance to learn. My winter study of new garden practices and seed catalogues is always an exciting time of year for me. During this period, I am like a kid in a candy store as I envision next year’s garden. I often need to adjust my exuberant plans so they fit the space that I have.
Connecting Gardeners, Community, and Opportunity
Building a humane world where food is produced locally and sustainablly will heal ourselves and our planet. Currently about 75% of greenhouse gases come from food production and distribution worldwide. More land that is stewarded locally and sustainablly will allow gardeners and community to work together toward a humane world.
Imagine if the unused land between a suburban fence and a city street, the front yards currently growing only a monoculture of mowed grass, the forgotten easements, and unused back yards were beautiful kaleidoscopes of texture, color and form devoted to fresh local food. Children would view the wonder of the life in these places and be learning to appreciate and protect it. People would have more fresh nutritious food. People would work together to create something that would be a source of pride and kinship.
I have friends with a nonprofit organization who would be happy to sponsor food growing. Their website is Communityconnexions.org. I and other friends with gardening experience ranging from setting up community gardens to farming biodynamically would be happy to share our experience. I can be reached at marlenahirsch@yahoo.com. In my area of Sonoma County, California, there is igrowsonoma.org and the School Garden Network's group emails with helpful info for food growing. These are just a few of the many groups devoted to promoting local sustainable food growing.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Community Growing; food, flowers and friends
Community Growing ---May 2011
Mission Statement: To help people grow fresh food for healthier daily living using natural sustainable principles.
Walking outside to my garden is stepping into a world of surprise and wonder. Each day brings provides new observations. As I learn from my observations, my garden flourishes. I would like to connect with others who want to enjoy gardening.
When I bring food in to my kitchen from the plants growing outside, cooking is more fun. Often the smells and tastes are heightened as the food is so fresh and vibrant.
Plants want to grow. On a recent trip to North Carolina, I saw a tomato plant that was growing behind a restaurant next to the corner of the building near the sidewalk and the rock paved alley. No one had planted this or was caring for it, and yet it was as big or bigger than the tomatoes in my garden. As a gardener, I am attempting to organize the growing.
Besides college classes, my horticultural background includes working under the tutelage of Alan Chadwick at UCSC in the late 60s who brought the French Intensive/ Biodynamic gardening method used by the Parisian market gardeners to North America. I have taught gardening to children of all ages as well as to adults. My quest to learn and teach about growing plants continues.
You do not need to leave nearby to be part of Community Growing.
We can work together by meeting at a garden site or by email: marlenahirsch@yahoo.com
Mission Statement: To help people grow fresh food for healthier daily living using natural sustainable principles.
Walking outside to my garden is stepping into a world of surprise and wonder. Each day brings provides new observations. As I learn from my observations, my garden flourishes. I would like to connect with others who want to enjoy gardening.
When I bring food in to my kitchen from the plants growing outside, cooking is more fun. Often the smells and tastes are heightened as the food is so fresh and vibrant.
Plants want to grow. On a recent trip to North Carolina, I saw a tomato plant that was growing behind a restaurant next to the corner of the building near the sidewalk and the rock paved alley. No one had planted this or was caring for it, and yet it was as big or bigger than the tomatoes in my garden. As a gardener, I am attempting to organize the growing.
Besides college classes, my horticultural background includes working under the tutelage of Alan Chadwick at UCSC in the late 60s who brought the French Intensive/ Biodynamic gardening method used by the Parisian market gardeners to North America. I have taught gardening to children of all ages as well as to adults. My quest to learn and teach about growing plants continues.
You do not need to leave nearby to be part of Community Growing.
We can work together by meeting at a garden site or by email: marlenahirsch@yahoo.com
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Chickens; Feathers and Fun
Feathers and Fun
Humane Chicken Keeping
Observations of Adding New Chicks to an Adult Silkie Flock
by
Marlena Hirsch
I added chickens to my garden in early January of 2008 to provide eggs and manure. The first birds were three silkie hens and a silkie rooster. This is a very docile breed with good mothering abilities.
I had carefully designed a 3X6 foot chicken house on wheels with an attachable day run to move around in the vegetable garden. This arrangement is sometimes called a chicken tiller, because chickens scratch up the ground while eating bugs and seeds incorporating their manure into the soil.
Jan. 28, 2008
Lily, my daughter, and I named the four adult silkies; a brown hen, Henrietta; a grey pair, Mr. Puff and Mrs. Puff; and a black hen, Penny. They are very fluffy with feathers that don't have barbs so the strands don't lock together. They can’t fly and usually roost in a pile on the floor of their house.
They stood their ground to Morty, the killer cat,, who tried stalking them. The rooster sounded the alarm and raised up as tall as possible while walking toward Morty. Morty stopped stalking, relaxed, and eventually lost interest in the chickens after they stood up to her.
They are learning to come into their house at night. The first two nights I had to shove them in. I only had to shove one in last night. It was pouring rain. I would think they would all go in our of the rain.
I must give the rooster credit for watching out for his group. He was very insistent that one of the hens go in the other night just as it was getting dark. He kept going back and forth from the yard to the house as this one brown hen would not come in for the night. His herding style is a peck on the head which wasn’t very convincing to the hen.
They are very managable. I can easily pick one up to hold it. That is handy when children come to visit.
I am very excited about this project. My independent study student has a pair also. She plans to go with me to get a chick or two. Since I would like egg production on a regular basis, I will need another breed of chicken. Silkie do not lay regularly and often want to sit on their eggs to hatch them.
To allow unfamiliar chicks to integrate with an existing flock, I did careful observations to make sure that the chicks would be safe and warm. I did not know how this would work as I had not heard of anyone doing this, but I did not want to raise chicks without the care and/or example of adult chickens. I volunteered for many years doing rehabilitation for native birds. I was well aware that all of our care was for nothing if the rehabilitated wild bird didn’t know how to live in the wild when it was released. The best releases were the amazing situations when a parent in the wild would adopt an orphaned baby. This was done with baby owls when someone knew a tree climber and the location of the nest of the same owl species. Although chickens don’t need to live in the wild, I want them to live as chickens do with humane conditions for all of the flock
These are my observations of adding new chicks to an adult silkie flock.
Feb. 12, 2008
I bought two week old pullets, an americana and a brown leghorn, for egg production. In broad daylight, I put the baby chicks in with my four adult silkies. I watched carefully. The grey silkie hen pecked a baby chick and then the grey rooster tried to peck a baby chick. That was enough for me. I took the baby chicks out of the adult’s enclosure. I took out the calmest brown hen who had not tried to peck, and put the two babies and the brown hen together in a large cat carrier. Again, I watched carefully. The hen was calm. Within a half an hour, a baby chick was climbing on her back.
The next morning, they were sleeping under her. I gave them their own 10 feet by two feet run attached to the cat carrier to forage in among the plants and grasses. They went in the cat carrier at night to be safe from foxes and coyotes. Their little noises the chicks made and the answers the hen made were so cute. This constant dialogue told me that they were contented.
The brown hen raised these babies, keeping them warm at night and foraging with them in their mini-run attached to the cat carrier during the day away from the other adults.
When the babies were almost grown (4 months old), I decided to move them in with the others as the black hen was brooding eggs and needed their enclosure that could hold babies safely. I put the babies and the brown hen in with the grey pair of silkies. The hen pecked at an almost grown baby. The brown hen who was by now the smallest of all of these birds, raised herself up to her fullest height, got eyeball to eyeball with the offending hen and stared her down. That was the end of the pecking.
One of the purposes of integrating new chicks directly into an existing flock is to prevent them growing up under lights missing out on the freedom to learn to forage with the older chickens. Chicks that are raised win incubators without the protection of an adult chicken are usually introduced to other adult chickens when they are grown enough to protect themselves from any attacks. Chickens are careful to maintain their territory and an unfamiliar chicken is sometimes seen as an intruder and attacked, a habit probably designed to foster dispersal over territories large enough to support healthy living. I have heard of overly zealous chickens pecking unfamiliar chicks to death. I was very pleased to see this flock getting along well.
The two chicks, hatched in an incubator in January, had grown up and were now a part of the whole group. The Astrolorpe had turned out to be a rooster that crowed earlier and louder that the silkie rooster. I took him to our local feed store to sell to someone who neeeds a rooster.
May 9, 2008
The black silkie hen started to sit on her eggs in the back of the chicken house. I realized that baby chicks were so small that they could get out under the day run so I built a four foot cube covered in hardware cloth with a hinged door for her and her nest. I moved the nest with the mom sitting securely on the eggs during the move. Now the hen would have a safe place for her babies.
After three weeks of dedicated brooding, the black silkie hen’s eggs hatched. The first one hatched on May 9th. By the next morning, there were five babies under the mom. I loved listening to her soft calls and their responding peeps. She began teaching them to forage. Within a week she was tearing up all of the dead plants and compost that I put in the bottom of her cage. I wanted them to have more room to forage so built a wire enclosure that connected to their open cage door. At night I closed them in their cube with the strong hardware cloth.
On the morning of June 5th, I woke to the unceasing squawking or alarm call of the mother hen. I walked out of my bedroom to see what was happening. There was a fox about eight inches from the secure hardware cloth enclosure that held the hen and chicks. Reggie, our cat, was about ten inches from the fox. It was as if Reggie was saying, “This is my territory. What are you doing here?”
That night I put out dry dog food for the fox with the idea that the fox would be less interested in eating chickens. This month is probably a stressful time for the fox as it may be a mother who must find enough food for herself and her young.
I kept the chickens locked up in their secure night houses during the day and intended to do so until the fox issue was resolved. I hoped the fox would lose interest in the chickens after eating the dog food.
June 6, 2008
I felt sorry for the adult chickens confined to the safety of their 3 by 7 foot house for the day as well as for the night. I decided to let them out for a few hours during the day. After dinner, I was involved in writing a tribute for a fellow animal lover who had recently passed away. I forgot that I had let the chickens out.
The next day, I discovered feathers from the brown leghorn alongside of the chicken house. The story of what happened was evident. The house was unlocked. The brown leghorn had gotten out of the day pen as evidenced by chicken fecal matter on the roof of the house. She was probably sleeping outside of the house when the fox came by. Her death would have been avoided if I had locked them in the house that evening.
June 9, and 10, 2008
I built a large chicken day pen (14 feet square) and rolled the chicken house inside. I also attached the 4 foot cube house that housed the momma hen and five chicks to this new day pen. The bigger new pen has chicken wire buried about six inches on the bottom and a roof of chicken wire. I lay boards around the outside of the buried wire with large rocks and stakes holding the boards in place. Few predators would want to dig that much to get to the chickens.
I opened the door to the cube and to the moveable chicken house to let them all out together for the first time in this new pen. The mother was fiercely protective if another adult even looked at her chicks the wrong way. After one or two half hearted pecks at the little ones by the other adult chickens, they got the idea that the little ones were off limits.
I had now been successful getting a hen to adopt week old baby chicks, introducing her with her half grown chicks, and introducing a mother with her four week old babies to the group. I had none that were good egg layers. I was feeling confident that I could avoid raising hatchery chicks under lights. I had recently visited a neighbor who had raised hatchery chicks with a light in the safety of a small cage placed near the others. These chickens were now full grown and afraid to come out of their cage and join the others. It was sad to watch how one would look out at the big yard where the others roamed and start to put a foot out but then freeze and go no farther. We watched for about an hour and these two young adult chickens would not step through their open door into the freedom of the big enclosure.
June 11, 2008
I purchased two about three week old pullets at Western Farm Center, a Wellsummer (a breed from the town of Wellsum in Holland) and a Golden Sex Link. They were not frightened of my hands and could be picked up without loud protesting squawks. I brought these two new chicks home. Neither the brown silkie hen who had adopted chicks before or the black hen with the chicks the same age was interested in adopting these chicks. I tried putting the brown hen in the cat carrier with the new ones like I had in February. She pecked at the new ones. She didn’t do that in February. I tried putting the grey hen in the cat carrier with the new chicks. She pecked at them.
I left the chicks with the group in the large yard and watched. It reached over 90 degrees so I wasn’t concerned about keeping them warm. When the chicks got too near an adult, they got pecked but not hard except for one peck when the rooster actually lifted the littlest chick off the ground. This pecking subsided as the rooster realized that they were not a threat. The chicks knew where their food and water was located. They stayed together and avoided getting pecked.
When the mom took her five chicks to sleep in the nest box in the house at dusk, I put the new chicks under her and watched. If one new chick poked her head out, the momma hen would peck at her. The new chicks were fine if they stayed under a wing, warm and out of sight. It was getting dark. I knew the momma hen would not be able to see these chicks at night, and they would be safe and warm under her. Most birds, except vultures, have a poorly developed sense of smell so I knew that the sight of the new babies bothered the hen.
June 12, 2008
I helped the new chicks out of the house in the morning after the rooster had inspected. The rooster pecks at any bird that goes out into the yard before he has inspected everything. He does not like any hen going out before he does. I think it is his safety inspection. When he is finished, he is very peaceful.
The new chicks kept to themselves but near the others at times. I even saw them bounding across the yard as chicks this age are just learning to enjoy running and flapping their wirngs.
At night, they went into the house themselves staying in a huddle near the entrance. I tucked them under the momma hen and watched. They were fine if they kept out of sight. It was getting dark to help them be out of sight.
June 13, 2008
When I opened the door, the new chicks stayed in the house and peeped plaintively. The rooster looked in at them, then they came out by themselves. They roamed all over the yard, but stayed near each other. They also favored places where they could take cover if an adult came near. For example, if they were eating when an adult came to eat, they got a little peck and ducked behind the feeder.
They were exuberant in their exploration of the outdoors, the first in their lives, having been raised in a hatchery. They practiced fluttering their wings as they bounded around in bursts. They forage.
At dusk they went into the house themselves. This time the new chicks were in a nest by themselves with the brown hen perched in the entrance to the nest box. I was concerned that they needed more warmth, so I put them under the mother hen with the other babies.
June 14, 2008
The new chicks came out of the house themselves. The rooster pecked once as he was still doing his initial morning safety inspection. He does not like any other birds to go into the yard until his inspection is completed but most of his flock doesn’t wait for him.
I made a warm box shelter with a light for heat in the yard. The chicks can use it when they want to on their first foggy day since they arrived.
I watched. They were interested in food after leaving the house first thing in the morning. After a while, I put them in the shelter so they could feel the warmth of the light. The other chicks went under their mom for a few minutes after eating. The new chicks also wanted warmth, and they stayed under the light. Soon they were running around. I turned the light off when the sun came through the fog.
The new chicks seem comfortable in the yard as they roamed all over, sometimes by themselves even joining the other chicks at times. They seem to take cover to rest from their foraging rather than for protection. In only four days, the new 2 to 3 week old chicks are acclimated to a new outdoor pen and nine other chickens both adults and chicks their own age. The only thing they needed my help with was settling down in a warm place for the night.
At 8:10 p.m., a new chick began crying loudly. The other chicks were in the house for the night with their mom. The grey adult silkie pair where the only other adults still out. At about 8:30 p.m., the new chicks went in the house. Tonight I planned not to intervene but let the new chicks settle for the night themselves. I had put the new chicks under the mom with the other chicks each night. These last few days, the adults had given up roosting on the perches, a habit learned from the brown leghorn and astrolorpe, and were once again sleeping on the floor of the house. If the new chicks joined them, they would be warm. Since the process of the adults settling into their position for the night took about 20-30 minutes, I wanted to leave them alone before checking to make sure they new chicks would be warm for the night. At 9:45 p.m., I went to the chicken house and peeked in to the sound of the peeping of contented chicks. All of the chicks were under the momma including the new chicks. They had braved her occasional peek and joined the other five chicks already under the warmth of her sheltering feathers.
The three adults were crowding into a small nest box with the rooster partly on the outside of the box. I wanted them to leave the nest box clean for laying eggs and sleep in a larger box with litter and slats for perches in the back of the house, so at 9:00 p.m. as the darkness and fog thickened, I moved the adults gently into the large box. The chicks were almost quiet. Only one or two made a soft peeping noise.
June 15, 2008
At about 6:30 a.m., the new chicks bounced down the steps of their house out into the new foggy day with the others. I watched as all of the chicks, fed from the feeder with the chick mash. Other feeders had organic laying pellets which were too big for the babies. They fed together; the new chicks integrated with the others. The mother hen joined and pecked one new chick so the two new chicks left to watch from a safe distance.
On a cool morning like this one, the five chicks took refuge under their mom to warm up after initial feeding, drinking and other early morning chicken activities. The new chicks took refuge under the lamp in their box.
This is only the second day with this box with two entrances, litter on the floor and warmth from the lamp. The first day, I showed them the box by placing them gently inside. Today they went to it themselves.
A note about their demeanor on this morning- These two new chicks are not bothered much by being picked up. They cry out initially in alarm but settle down quickly. On their first morning before I put the box with heat out for them, I picked them up, put them in my lap under my t-shirt for warmth. They stayed for about 10 or 15 minutes while I made some notes while observing the others. They were quiet and didn’t try to escape or cry.
By 8:45 a.m. The new chicks went under the light in their box by themselves on this cool morning.
June 15, 2008, evening
The whole group was all settled for the evening when I checked at 9:00. The new chicks were under the grey hen in the second nest box from the front. The momma and five chicks were in the first next box. The brown hen was on the edge of the large roosting box with the rooster on a roost above her. Perfect
I wonder what the momma and five chicks will do when they outgrow their nest box. They will figure this out peacefully if the behaviors I am observing are any indication.
June 16, 2008 morning
I didn’t hear the rooster crow so I went to let the chickens our later; it was 7 a.m. They were waiting inside. All were off their perchies except the brown hen. The two new chicks were together by the feeder.
I opened the door. The rooster was out first for his inspection of the yard. I noticed no pecking except the rooster towards me. I was a stranger in his territory during his safety inspection. I brushed him away when he pecked me. He doesn’t peck hard.
It was cool outside. After returning with some food for the chickens, I noticed that the new chicks had gone under the light.
June 16, evening
One new chick was in a nest box alone and one was under the momma. I put the one alone with the others for warmth. The new chicks have become fairly independent, but I checked carefully to see that they got warmth at night and turn the light on during cool mornings.
June 17, 2008
At 6:30 a.m., I opened the door to the chicken house. The rooster was out first. He didn’t peck me while I stood near their house. All came out with him except the brown hen and two new chicks. After about a minute or two, the new chicks came out and headed straight into the box with the light bulb for heat. It was another foggy morning.
In the evening (9:15 p.m.), I went to lock the chickens in their house. All the chicks were under the momma in the first next box. The other adults were on the roosts so the new chicks didn’t have a choice of who to get under or next to.
June 18, 2008, 6:20 a.m.
Before letting the chickens out, I looked in and noticed the new chicks had found a place in the back away from the momma hen who was still on the nest with her babies under her. The rooster came out first. The new chicks last. The younger new chick headed right to the heat of the light.
evening
The new chicks slept by themselves with the brown hen roosting nearby. It was 96 degrees during the day and still warm so I left them as they were.
June 19. 2008, morning
When I peeked in the house, the new chicks were perched on the roost with the brown hen between them. They all came out by themselves. The smallest new chick went under the light for 5 seconds and was off again running around.
June 21, 2008. evening
The two new chicks have gone to roost under the wings of the brown hen. Now I believe her unwillingness to accept these babies and her staying alone in the house for most of each day was due to her loneliness after losing the last of the babies that see adopted in the winter to the fox. Perhaps now that she has begun to shelter the two new chicks, she will stay with them in the yard during the day.
June 22, 2008, morning
The new chicks are eating in the house with the brown hen. They stayed near the house or in the house for parts of the day. It seems as if the brown hen and new chicks are forming a bond.
The grey hen has laid three eggs in the cat carrier.
In the evening, the new chicks slept near the brown hen.
June 24, 2008
The new chicks slept near the rooster. I spent time observing through out the day. The new chicks are fully integrated into this group with no pecking except the occasional random peck that happens when one is too near a chicken who is eating.
June 26
The new chicks were asleep under the rooster.
June 27, 2008
All weekend, I noticed that the brown hen is spending time outside. I even photographed her at the nest in the cat carrier arranging nest material with the two new chicks. This is a big change for her as she had been spending most of her time in the chicken house. She is spending time with the others now. The new chicks are a part of this entire group. They were adopted by the whole group.
Humane Chicken Keeping
Observations of Adding New Chicks to an Adult Silkie Flock
by
Marlena Hirsch
I added chickens to my garden in early January of 2008 to provide eggs and manure. The first birds were three silkie hens and a silkie rooster. This is a very docile breed with good mothering abilities.
I had carefully designed a 3X6 foot chicken house on wheels with an attachable day run to move around in the vegetable garden. This arrangement is sometimes called a chicken tiller, because chickens scratch up the ground while eating bugs and seeds incorporating their manure into the soil.
Jan. 28, 2008
Lily, my daughter, and I named the four adult silkies; a brown hen, Henrietta; a grey pair, Mr. Puff and Mrs. Puff; and a black hen, Penny. They are very fluffy with feathers that don't have barbs so the strands don't lock together. They can’t fly and usually roost in a pile on the floor of their house.
They stood their ground to Morty, the killer cat,, who tried stalking them. The rooster sounded the alarm and raised up as tall as possible while walking toward Morty. Morty stopped stalking, relaxed, and eventually lost interest in the chickens after they stood up to her.
They are learning to come into their house at night. The first two nights I had to shove them in. I only had to shove one in last night. It was pouring rain. I would think they would all go in our of the rain.
I must give the rooster credit for watching out for his group. He was very insistent that one of the hens go in the other night just as it was getting dark. He kept going back and forth from the yard to the house as this one brown hen would not come in for the night. His herding style is a peck on the head which wasn’t very convincing to the hen.
They are very managable. I can easily pick one up to hold it. That is handy when children come to visit.
I am very excited about this project. My independent study student has a pair also. She plans to go with me to get a chick or two. Since I would like egg production on a regular basis, I will need another breed of chicken. Silkie do not lay regularly and often want to sit on their eggs to hatch them.
To allow unfamiliar chicks to integrate with an existing flock, I did careful observations to make sure that the chicks would be safe and warm. I did not know how this would work as I had not heard of anyone doing this, but I did not want to raise chicks without the care and/or example of adult chickens. I volunteered for many years doing rehabilitation for native birds. I was well aware that all of our care was for nothing if the rehabilitated wild bird didn’t know how to live in the wild when it was released. The best releases were the amazing situations when a parent in the wild would adopt an orphaned baby. This was done with baby owls when someone knew a tree climber and the location of the nest of the same owl species. Although chickens don’t need to live in the wild, I want them to live as chickens do with humane conditions for all of the flock
These are my observations of adding new chicks to an adult silkie flock.
Feb. 12, 2008
I bought two week old pullets, an americana and a brown leghorn, for egg production. In broad daylight, I put the baby chicks in with my four adult silkies. I watched carefully. The grey silkie hen pecked a baby chick and then the grey rooster tried to peck a baby chick. That was enough for me. I took the baby chicks out of the adult’s enclosure. I took out the calmest brown hen who had not tried to peck, and put the two babies and the brown hen together in a large cat carrier. Again, I watched carefully. The hen was calm. Within a half an hour, a baby chick was climbing on her back.
The next morning, they were sleeping under her. I gave them their own 10 feet by two feet run attached to the cat carrier to forage in among the plants and grasses. They went in the cat carrier at night to be safe from foxes and coyotes. Their little noises the chicks made and the answers the hen made were so cute. This constant dialogue told me that they were contented.
The brown hen raised these babies, keeping them warm at night and foraging with them in their mini-run attached to the cat carrier during the day away from the other adults.
When the babies were almost grown (4 months old), I decided to move them in with the others as the black hen was brooding eggs and needed their enclosure that could hold babies safely. I put the babies and the brown hen in with the grey pair of silkies. The hen pecked at an almost grown baby. The brown hen who was by now the smallest of all of these birds, raised herself up to her fullest height, got eyeball to eyeball with the offending hen and stared her down. That was the end of the pecking.
One of the purposes of integrating new chicks directly into an existing flock is to prevent them growing up under lights missing out on the freedom to learn to forage with the older chickens. Chicks that are raised win incubators without the protection of an adult chicken are usually introduced to other adult chickens when they are grown enough to protect themselves from any attacks. Chickens are careful to maintain their territory and an unfamiliar chicken is sometimes seen as an intruder and attacked, a habit probably designed to foster dispersal over territories large enough to support healthy living. I have heard of overly zealous chickens pecking unfamiliar chicks to death. I was very pleased to see this flock getting along well.
The two chicks, hatched in an incubator in January, had grown up and were now a part of the whole group. The Astrolorpe had turned out to be a rooster that crowed earlier and louder that the silkie rooster. I took him to our local feed store to sell to someone who neeeds a rooster.
May 9, 2008
The black silkie hen started to sit on her eggs in the back of the chicken house. I realized that baby chicks were so small that they could get out under the day run so I built a four foot cube covered in hardware cloth with a hinged door for her and her nest. I moved the nest with the mom sitting securely on the eggs during the move. Now the hen would have a safe place for her babies.
After three weeks of dedicated brooding, the black silkie hen’s eggs hatched. The first one hatched on May 9th. By the next morning, there were five babies under the mom. I loved listening to her soft calls and their responding peeps. She began teaching them to forage. Within a week she was tearing up all of the dead plants and compost that I put in the bottom of her cage. I wanted them to have more room to forage so built a wire enclosure that connected to their open cage door. At night I closed them in their cube with the strong hardware cloth.
On the morning of June 5th, I woke to the unceasing squawking or alarm call of the mother hen. I walked out of my bedroom to see what was happening. There was a fox about eight inches from the secure hardware cloth enclosure that held the hen and chicks. Reggie, our cat, was about ten inches from the fox. It was as if Reggie was saying, “This is my territory. What are you doing here?”
That night I put out dry dog food for the fox with the idea that the fox would be less interested in eating chickens. This month is probably a stressful time for the fox as it may be a mother who must find enough food for herself and her young.
I kept the chickens locked up in their secure night houses during the day and intended to do so until the fox issue was resolved. I hoped the fox would lose interest in the chickens after eating the dog food.
June 6, 2008
I felt sorry for the adult chickens confined to the safety of their 3 by 7 foot house for the day as well as for the night. I decided to let them out for a few hours during the day. After dinner, I was involved in writing a tribute for a fellow animal lover who had recently passed away. I forgot that I had let the chickens out.
The next day, I discovered feathers from the brown leghorn alongside of the chicken house. The story of what happened was evident. The house was unlocked. The brown leghorn had gotten out of the day pen as evidenced by chicken fecal matter on the roof of the house. She was probably sleeping outside of the house when the fox came by. Her death would have been avoided if I had locked them in the house that evening.
June 9, and 10, 2008
I built a large chicken day pen (14 feet square) and rolled the chicken house inside. I also attached the 4 foot cube house that housed the momma hen and five chicks to this new day pen. The bigger new pen has chicken wire buried about six inches on the bottom and a roof of chicken wire. I lay boards around the outside of the buried wire with large rocks and stakes holding the boards in place. Few predators would want to dig that much to get to the chickens.
I opened the door to the cube and to the moveable chicken house to let them all out together for the first time in this new pen. The mother was fiercely protective if another adult even looked at her chicks the wrong way. After one or two half hearted pecks at the little ones by the other adult chickens, they got the idea that the little ones were off limits.
I had now been successful getting a hen to adopt week old baby chicks, introducing her with her half grown chicks, and introducing a mother with her four week old babies to the group. I had none that were good egg layers. I was feeling confident that I could avoid raising hatchery chicks under lights. I had recently visited a neighbor who had raised hatchery chicks with a light in the safety of a small cage placed near the others. These chickens were now full grown and afraid to come out of their cage and join the others. It was sad to watch how one would look out at the big yard where the others roamed and start to put a foot out but then freeze and go no farther. We watched for about an hour and these two young adult chickens would not step through their open door into the freedom of the big enclosure.
June 11, 2008
I purchased two about three week old pullets at Western Farm Center, a Wellsummer (a breed from the town of Wellsum in Holland) and a Golden Sex Link. They were not frightened of my hands and could be picked up without loud protesting squawks. I brought these two new chicks home. Neither the brown silkie hen who had adopted chicks before or the black hen with the chicks the same age was interested in adopting these chicks. I tried putting the brown hen in the cat carrier with the new ones like I had in February. She pecked at the new ones. She didn’t do that in February. I tried putting the grey hen in the cat carrier with the new chicks. She pecked at them.
I left the chicks with the group in the large yard and watched. It reached over 90 degrees so I wasn’t concerned about keeping them warm. When the chicks got too near an adult, they got pecked but not hard except for one peck when the rooster actually lifted the littlest chick off the ground. This pecking subsided as the rooster realized that they were not a threat. The chicks knew where their food and water was located. They stayed together and avoided getting pecked.
When the mom took her five chicks to sleep in the nest box in the house at dusk, I put the new chicks under her and watched. If one new chick poked her head out, the momma hen would peck at her. The new chicks were fine if they stayed under a wing, warm and out of sight. It was getting dark. I knew the momma hen would not be able to see these chicks at night, and they would be safe and warm under her. Most birds, except vultures, have a poorly developed sense of smell so I knew that the sight of the new babies bothered the hen.
June 12, 2008
I helped the new chicks out of the house in the morning after the rooster had inspected. The rooster pecks at any bird that goes out into the yard before he has inspected everything. He does not like any hen going out before he does. I think it is his safety inspection. When he is finished, he is very peaceful.
The new chicks kept to themselves but near the others at times. I even saw them bounding across the yard as chicks this age are just learning to enjoy running and flapping their wirngs.
At night, they went into the house themselves staying in a huddle near the entrance. I tucked them under the momma hen and watched. They were fine if they kept out of sight. It was getting dark to help them be out of sight.
June 13, 2008
When I opened the door, the new chicks stayed in the house and peeped plaintively. The rooster looked in at them, then they came out by themselves. They roamed all over the yard, but stayed near each other. They also favored places where they could take cover if an adult came near. For example, if they were eating when an adult came to eat, they got a little peck and ducked behind the feeder.
They were exuberant in their exploration of the outdoors, the first in their lives, having been raised in a hatchery. They practiced fluttering their wings as they bounded around in bursts. They forage.
At dusk they went into the house themselves. This time the new chicks were in a nest by themselves with the brown hen perched in the entrance to the nest box. I was concerned that they needed more warmth, so I put them under the mother hen with the other babies.
June 14, 2008
The new chicks came out of the house themselves. The rooster pecked once as he was still doing his initial morning safety inspection. He does not like any other birds to go into the yard until his inspection is completed but most of his flock doesn’t wait for him.
I made a warm box shelter with a light for heat in the yard. The chicks can use it when they want to on their first foggy day since they arrived.
I watched. They were interested in food after leaving the house first thing in the morning. After a while, I put them in the shelter so they could feel the warmth of the light. The other chicks went under their mom for a few minutes after eating. The new chicks also wanted warmth, and they stayed under the light. Soon they were running around. I turned the light off when the sun came through the fog.
The new chicks seem comfortable in the yard as they roamed all over, sometimes by themselves even joining the other chicks at times. They seem to take cover to rest from their foraging rather than for protection. In only four days, the new 2 to 3 week old chicks are acclimated to a new outdoor pen and nine other chickens both adults and chicks their own age. The only thing they needed my help with was settling down in a warm place for the night.
At 8:10 p.m., a new chick began crying loudly. The other chicks were in the house for the night with their mom. The grey adult silkie pair where the only other adults still out. At about 8:30 p.m., the new chicks went in the house. Tonight I planned not to intervene but let the new chicks settle for the night themselves. I had put the new chicks under the mom with the other chicks each night. These last few days, the adults had given up roosting on the perches, a habit learned from the brown leghorn and astrolorpe, and were once again sleeping on the floor of the house. If the new chicks joined them, they would be warm. Since the process of the adults settling into their position for the night took about 20-30 minutes, I wanted to leave them alone before checking to make sure they new chicks would be warm for the night. At 9:45 p.m., I went to the chicken house and peeked in to the sound of the peeping of contented chicks. All of the chicks were under the momma including the new chicks. They had braved her occasional peek and joined the other five chicks already under the warmth of her sheltering feathers.
The three adults were crowding into a small nest box with the rooster partly on the outside of the box. I wanted them to leave the nest box clean for laying eggs and sleep in a larger box with litter and slats for perches in the back of the house, so at 9:00 p.m. as the darkness and fog thickened, I moved the adults gently into the large box. The chicks were almost quiet. Only one or two made a soft peeping noise.
June 15, 2008
At about 6:30 a.m., the new chicks bounced down the steps of their house out into the new foggy day with the others. I watched as all of the chicks, fed from the feeder with the chick mash. Other feeders had organic laying pellets which were too big for the babies. They fed together; the new chicks integrated with the others. The mother hen joined and pecked one new chick so the two new chicks left to watch from a safe distance.
On a cool morning like this one, the five chicks took refuge under their mom to warm up after initial feeding, drinking and other early morning chicken activities. The new chicks took refuge under the lamp in their box.
This is only the second day with this box with two entrances, litter on the floor and warmth from the lamp. The first day, I showed them the box by placing them gently inside. Today they went to it themselves.
A note about their demeanor on this morning- These two new chicks are not bothered much by being picked up. They cry out initially in alarm but settle down quickly. On their first morning before I put the box with heat out for them, I picked them up, put them in my lap under my t-shirt for warmth. They stayed for about 10 or 15 minutes while I made some notes while observing the others. They were quiet and didn’t try to escape or cry.
By 8:45 a.m. The new chicks went under the light in their box by themselves on this cool morning.
June 15, 2008, evening
The whole group was all settled for the evening when I checked at 9:00. The new chicks were under the grey hen in the second nest box from the front. The momma and five chicks were in the first next box. The brown hen was on the edge of the large roosting box with the rooster on a roost above her. Perfect
I wonder what the momma and five chicks will do when they outgrow their nest box. They will figure this out peacefully if the behaviors I am observing are any indication.
June 16, 2008 morning
I didn’t hear the rooster crow so I went to let the chickens our later; it was 7 a.m. They were waiting inside. All were off their perchies except the brown hen. The two new chicks were together by the feeder.
I opened the door. The rooster was out first for his inspection of the yard. I noticed no pecking except the rooster towards me. I was a stranger in his territory during his safety inspection. I brushed him away when he pecked me. He doesn’t peck hard.
It was cool outside. After returning with some food for the chickens, I noticed that the new chicks had gone under the light.
June 16, evening
One new chick was in a nest box alone and one was under the momma. I put the one alone with the others for warmth. The new chicks have become fairly independent, but I checked carefully to see that they got warmth at night and turn the light on during cool mornings.
June 17, 2008
At 6:30 a.m., I opened the door to the chicken house. The rooster was out first. He didn’t peck me while I stood near their house. All came out with him except the brown hen and two new chicks. After about a minute or two, the new chicks came out and headed straight into the box with the light bulb for heat. It was another foggy morning.
In the evening (9:15 p.m.), I went to lock the chickens in their house. All the chicks were under the momma in the first next box. The other adults were on the roosts so the new chicks didn’t have a choice of who to get under or next to.
June 18, 2008, 6:20 a.m.
Before letting the chickens out, I looked in and noticed the new chicks had found a place in the back away from the momma hen who was still on the nest with her babies under her. The rooster came out first. The new chicks last. The younger new chick headed right to the heat of the light.
evening
The new chicks slept by themselves with the brown hen roosting nearby. It was 96 degrees during the day and still warm so I left them as they were.
June 19. 2008, morning
When I peeked in the house, the new chicks were perched on the roost with the brown hen between them. They all came out by themselves. The smallest new chick went under the light for 5 seconds and was off again running around.
June 21, 2008. evening
The two new chicks have gone to roost under the wings of the brown hen. Now I believe her unwillingness to accept these babies and her staying alone in the house for most of each day was due to her loneliness after losing the last of the babies that see adopted in the winter to the fox. Perhaps now that she has begun to shelter the two new chicks, she will stay with them in the yard during the day.
June 22, 2008, morning
The new chicks are eating in the house with the brown hen. They stayed near the house or in the house for parts of the day. It seems as if the brown hen and new chicks are forming a bond.
The grey hen has laid three eggs in the cat carrier.
In the evening, the new chicks slept near the brown hen.
June 24, 2008
The new chicks slept near the rooster. I spent time observing through out the day. The new chicks are fully integrated into this group with no pecking except the occasional random peck that happens when one is too near a chicken who is eating.
June 26
The new chicks were asleep under the rooster.
June 27, 2008
All weekend, I noticed that the brown hen is spending time outside. I even photographed her at the nest in the cat carrier arranging nest material with the two new chicks. This is a big change for her as she had been spending most of her time in the chicken house. She is spending time with the others now. The new chicks are a part of this entire group. They were adopted by the whole group.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)