The earwigs are wrecking havoc on my garden...and I notice the rollie pollies (pill bugs, slaters, etc) are chowing down on some of my stuff too. :evil: I like the idea of introducing chickens --or any other fowl that could produce good eggs-- into my yard. Questions: -am I correct to assume fowl will eat the earwigs, even though they are nocturnal? -is there any species that won't eat the young crops/seedlings when roaming? I'm open to any kind of bird. -living in town (~100'x100' lot), the birds would need to be contained to my yard and specific sections at that. I hate to have all my fencing high though (existing is 6-7' tall). Could I get away with some fencing in the 3'-4' tall range? -lastly, which books on the subject are recommended? Though we had chickens on the farm, little attn was paid to them, i.e., my knowledge on the subject is thin. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, rusty
Re: General questions on fowl and recommended books. Rusty All depends on the breed of chooks and how happy they are inside the fenced area Australorps did not jump any fences when I had them and fence waas only 100 cm high, however the chooks where I grew up would go over a 8 foot fence and the only way to keep them in was to trim the flight feathers on one wing to unbalance them. I think ducks might be a better choice as some breeds 'khaki cambells' wont eat plants (often) and they also dont scratch Ryan
Re: General questions on fowl and recommended books. Thanks, Ryan. A short 100 cm tall fence is what I was hoping I could get away with. I wouldn't mind trimming their feathers either...if it didn't hurt them. Does it or is it like clipping our finger nails? In regards to ducks, I'm open to the idea of getting them, but don't they require a constant water source for swimming? Also, would they be efficient earwig eaters? I know less about ducks than I do chickens...which isn't very much. :? rusty
Re: General questions on fowl and recommended books. Ducks will break your heart. They won't eat your plants but they'll squash them and make a real mess with their watery droppings. In my opinion they do need water to keep themselves clean and in good health although people manage with small containers - but no matter how often you replace the water it always seem to be full of green sludge and isn't very pleasant to live with. You might get away with having just a few chickens and let them free-range all day or just in evening before they perch or only at certain times in the planting season. They'll soon rid your garden of pests! You'll have to protect some of your plants and provide the chickens with a dustbath in a designated area. We've about 50 chickens who free-range and don't do much damage but our garden is over a much bigger space than yours. https://www.flickr.com/photos/hardworkin ... 288270606/ You could also consider using a chicken tractor.
Re: General questions on fowl and recommended books. https://forums.permaculture.org.au/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=11106#p54545 might help with the chooks in the garden idea. I am not aware trimming flight feathers hurts the chook I would only do it if they were flighty.
Re: General questions on fowl and recommended books. Thanks for the info, you two. And Hardworkinghippy,...that's a great looking garden you have! My wheels are spinning now.....
Re: General questions on fowl and recommended books. G'day We keep chooks in our suburban block, they are contained in an enclosed pen and let out to free range, with the boundary fence being about 1.3m they have never attempted to fly over. I protect young seedlings with low portable 'fences' about 50cm high, or any area I want to keep them off. They seem to eat all the little bugs, especially if there is a covered area that you then uncover revealing all the critters. I have a wormwood plant in a pot in their run for this purpose (and a bale of straw) We keep Ancona's an Italian breed that are very economical as they are good foragers and for a rare breed they are still good layers too. They also handle the heat and are very beautiful. I have found a good book is Alanna Moores "Backyard Poultry" which includes chooks within a permaculture system. Also Jackie French has a"Chook Book" which isn't bad. Hope this helps, and just go for it, chooks are such good value in many ways. cheers