Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Shadrach]

20/05.
Two and a half hours. A few lovely hours at the eldests for a family lunch but once I headed off to do the chickens the drizzle started. We had an hour in the extended run and then, given it wasn't worth getting the tools out to do more on the fence, I took the chickens onto the field. This was the first time they had been in the field since Henry died.
Pumpkin seeds, almond bits and a small tub of wood lice I had gathered from under the scrap wood I had cleared for treat food.

This might give a better Idea of what I'm up against in the extended run. It's mostly nettles and grass clumps that the chickens don't eat. I plan to patch grow clover (red, and white) in the patches I dig out and sow some wild flower mix in a few spots. It's in this area I'll plant a couple of the plants suggested by Perris. Hopefully, bit by bit the nettles will not force the stuff I plant out.

As sooon as I opened the gate they went for the grass and then onto the plot I'm giving up.

 

[Perris]

It's mostly nettles

do I see dead nettles mostly? If so, they can be part of your food forest! https://www.wildfooduk.com/wild-plants/dead-nettles/

They are also really good for insects
https://ukpoms.org.uk/white-dead-nettles

- which the chickens will appreciate of course. We focus too much on the plants when thinking about forage; it's their role as food for insects and other fauna that the chickens prefer is what's important, more than their role as food in themselves.

 

[Shadrach]

do I see dead nettles mostly? If so, they can be part of your food forest! https://www.wildfooduk.com/wild-plants/dead-nettles/

They are also really good for insects
https://ukpoms.org.uk/white-dead-nettles

- which the chickens will appreciate of course. We focus too much on the plants when thinking about forage; it's their role as food for insects and other fauna that the chickens prefer is what's important, more than their role as food in themselves.

There is an abundance of both types of nettles. The dead nettles flower early spring. If you pull the white flowers off and suck the stem end of the flower it tastes like honey. The stinging nettles grow where there is most shade for some reason.
I don't want to rid the area of either. I just want to improve the diversity of what grows in these areas. I hope to get a couple of patch planting of clover done in the coming week and you'lll be able to see what I'm trying to achieve.

 

[L-plate chicken mum]

Thinking of the shrubs which my lot like most, and spend most time under or near, year round, foraging and lounging, and that don't grow tall (or are very tolerant of pruning) so won't throw shade onto people's veg plots, besides choisya, there is

• skimmia japonica https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/17401/skimmia-japonica/details
• griselinia (https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/8123/griselinia-littoralis/details
• elaeagnus (several types), e.g. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/6314/elaeagnus-pungens/details
• pittosporums (https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pittosporum
• yew hedges (extremely useful, as can be trimmed to more or less any size and shape, and even regrow when cut back hard, unlike most conifers), and, of course, the
• parrotia persicas, in opposite corners of the garden; this one https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/227964/parrotia-persica-felicie/details is their favourite (the other is a more upright, less colourful variety, but they still enjoy its cover and find lots to forage under it).

None are food plants for humans or chickens. But they attract fauna that are food for chickens, and offer a preferred type of cover from aerial (and perhaps also terrestrial) predators. And they are evergreen or colourful, and most are fragrant, for me.

All plants here were chosen with a view to coping with the exposure to Atlantic storms occasionally blasting in from the south west, so what thrives here should be able to cope with your windy hilltop. The RHS pages linked give details about what each plant likes and doesn't like if you scroll down, including preferred soil types.

How long they take to grow to a useful size will depend on how happy they are with the conditions in which they find themselves, initially, and for the rest of their first year especially. I usually add a handful of blood, fish and bone to the planting hole if putting something in at this time of year. And make sure to water well if there's a dry spell (that's not normally an issue here though ); to encourage deep rooting, a lot occasionally is better than little and often.

I’d add field maple https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/166/acer-campestre/details https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/tr...itish-trees/a-z-of-british-trees/field-maple/, wayfaring tree https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/18912/viburnum-lantana/details https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/tr...sh-trees/a-z-of-british-trees/wayfaring-tree/ and guelder rose https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/18919/viburnum-opulus/details https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/tr...tish-trees/a-z-of-british-trees/guelder-rose/

All 3 native and commonly found in hedgerows in the south, show on the UK distribution map as present around Bristol and can be grown from seed if you have the patience or sourced as bare root plants from hedging suppliers in the winter/early spring

 

[L-plate chicken mum]

So I haven't gone this route (though I was involved with a relevant project once) and to answer it need to rely more on book knowledge than experience, but since you are looking for edible things to plant, the chicken-friendly ornamentals mentioned earlier might not cut the mustard with the other members of the field association.

So, flicking through Crawford's chapter on Shrubs (chap 13), he starts with the common berries and currants, then moves onto a range of which this is just highlights:
Amelanchier (we have one, more high than wide),
Arbutus unedo aka Strawberry tree (had one, loved it; strongly recommended, evergreen and windproof too),
Quinces - he thinks the flowering varieties (chaenomeles spp) are more reliable and versatile crops than the true quince (cydonia oblonga); we have them but don't consume them,
Fuschias (their fruits are edible but flowers difficult to pollinate here, so don't often produce fruit),
Goji berry (apparently already naturalized in many parts of the UK),
Mahonia (berries are edible; I also have this and recommend it; evergreen, tough - front line shelter belt here - and lovely scented flowers in winter),
Roses (hips are edible),
Elder (have here; recommended; chickens love them too),
Bamboo (seeds are edible - it's a grass, and shoots), which you are familiar with and know makes good chicken cover
Bay, and
Garrya elliptica aka fever bush, which we don't have but I recall my mum was a big fan of in her garden.

How much any of these might cost you I have no idea. Some self seed easily so you might be able to pick up for free if you ask around.

Goji berry aka Duke of Argyll’s teaplant is common and extremely invasive where a friend lives in Norfolk on sandy soil and I’ve never seen it produce many berries (nor on allotments where people plant it). There it got into their annex and had a high old time growing indoors.
Fuschias seem to readily fruit here & the chickens seem to like them, maybe it’s about the variety?

 

[townchicks]

20/05.
Two and a half hours. A few lovely hours at the eldests for a family lunch but once I headed off to do the chickens the drizzle started. We had an hour in the extended run and then, given it wasn't worth getting the tools out to do more on the fence, I took the chickens onto the field. This was the first time they had been in the field since Henry died.
Pumpkin seeds, almond bits and a small tub of wood lice I had gathered from under the scrap wood I had cleared for treat food.
View attachment 4103316
View attachment 4103317

This might give a better Idea of what I'm up against in the extended run. It's mostly nettles and grass clumps that the chickens don't eat. I plan to patch grow clover (red, and white) in the patches I dig out and sow some wild flower mix in a few spots. It's in this area I'll plant a couple of the plants suggested by Perris. Hopefully, bit by bit the nettles will not force the stuff I plant out.
View attachment 4103318
View attachment 4103319View attachment 4103320
As sooon as I opened the gate they went for the grass and then onto the plot I'm giving up.
View attachment 4103321
View attachment 4103322

Wondering what are your thoughts, Shad, if you have them, are the chickens trying to say something about their preferences? Do they not want to eat anything in the field, do they not like it heavily planted, do they prefer the openness of the plots, or is it just more familiar territory? Or is it just the vagaries of the day, and I'm reading to much into it? My girls have pretty much turned their yard into a desert, I'm trying to figure out how to make it more chicken friendly, while dealing with summer drought conditions and clay soil. I thought I had it covered with the cardoons, which gave good shade and cover, but the new crew decided they are good to eat.

 

[BDutch]

So it’s not contaminants in the feed? I confess I didn’t read the initial article linked several days ago.

My husband has been reading a message on Linkedin where someone claims that he had bought 2 tests for his eggs with a few months in between. First time he gave normal feed from a agri/pet/plant shop (Welkoop) and the eggs tested high on PFAS.
He switched to organic from an enterprise (Bio Ron) that only makes and delivers organic food and supplements for all common animals like horses, dogs and chickens. After giving this a few a months the second PFAS test results are under the EU limit.

I dont think it’s tested or registered in what circumstances the backyard flocks are kept and which feed the chickens eat. The map with test results is an initiative of a concerned private person and not from an institution or government. https://pfasinkaart.nl/

 

[Perris]

If you pull the white flowers off and suck the stem end of the flower it tastes like honey

it appears I was teaching granddad how to suck eggs
Next time I see one (they don't grow here, sadly) I'll try that!

 

[Shadrach]

are the chickens trying to say something about their preferences?

They are, and what makes matters more difficult is their preferences change with with seasons and weather.
Firstly, chickens much like their ancestors like cover. As Perris has mentioned and one can see from the pictures they post, chickens like hedges and dense ground cover. It's about have their backs protected to some extent. Provide them with large shrubs, hedges and even fencing in some case and they will occupy the edges and look out onto any open ground making forays on to the open ground to forage. Things go wrong, or they want to rest and nap they head for the hedge or whatever provides some protection.
There are only three spots in the field where they can find this; one large rosemary bush I've posted picture of, a large bush and the path you can see them on in one of the pictures below.
I want to provide this sort of cover in the extended run,
They always want to go onto the field. The forage diversity is reasonably extensive, the plot edges where the bugs hide before they match out and eat the crops is excellent forage territory. Then there are the plants that people grow; they like some of those too..
During the growing season they''ll have to spend a lot of their out of their coop and run in the extended run. It's mostly weeds which are a long way down their preference list. Today for example, once let onto the field, they went for the mustard that an unused plot is covered in and of course the short grass that surrounds most of the plots.

My girls have pretty much turned their yard into a desert, I'm trying to figure out how to make it more

I write this often but due to the nature of backyard chicken keeping most are reluctant to believe it. A group of dawn to dusk free ranging chickens, or true free rangers will set their own boundries. This territory hasn't change much from their ancestors either and it works out to be around an acre to an acre and a half of land. In one of the links Perris posted above the author of the book mentions no more than 20 chickens an acre. One must assume given the nature of the book that the author is talking about a very well planted and managed permatculture/edible jungle type arce with lots of diversity and lots of plants for cover and food. Perris's yard/garden is similar and well enough thought out and managed that they can have an average of ten (?) chickens in less than an acre (bear in mind there are fences and set boundires) without the chickens stripping the area.
It can be done with less than an acre but it requires a lot of thought and maintainance.
In the simplest terms, if a group of chickens strip a garden then they don't have enough room, or enough plant diverstiy.
The field chickens are going to spend a lot more time in the extended run and I want to try and provide a similar diversity to that of the field with the plots.
There are fruit trees in the extende run but they're young and not fully grown. A few more years and they will provide some shade and cover. There isn't much midline growth such as bushes and shrubs. One needs both, much like a jungle.

 

[Shadrach]

it appears I was teaching granddad how to suck eggs
Next time I see one (they don't grow here, sadly) I'll try that!

Not at all, and thank you for the informative posts on the topic. I've ordered the book.