Every now and then I’m given a chicken house to put through some field trials and as a consequence I can end up with quite a ‘buildings’ covering the field. It was on one such coop I figured I try a different kind of field trial by sticking a green roof on it. Why not, after all it’s a roof like any other so it would provide “the environmental benefits of having a living, breathing space where once there was nothing, transform an otherwise dull space into something aesthetically pleasing AND provide you with more growing space.”
This project will take you through how to go about constructing a simple and effective green roof on your chicken coop. There are options to buy ready-made matting that can be rolled out and attached to a roof but at over £20 a metre this can prove a little prohibitive, especially as this whole project costs less than £20 if you sow or propagate your own plants. Better instead to build your own, that way you can decide the planting plan and over the years it will pad out and provide the same effect as the matting. It also enables you to create your own personal blend of weather-hardy plants such as sedums, alpines, mosses, grasses, seasonal herbs, and house leeks.
In fact you could apply the same design principles to a shed, log store, over even a bird box!
What You Will Need:
An offcut of pond liner or damp proof liner
Geotextile membrane or some old blankets
Sufficient Yorkshire board to go around the perimeter of the roof
Screws
A sack of 10mm gravel
Peat free compost mixed with sharp sand
Drill
Saw
Screwdriver
Step 1
Identify a suitable roof structure ideally with a 9-10 degree pitch on it. Check it’s strong enough to take the weight of a saturated green roof and add supporting framework (crossbeams attached to the side supports & roof will help) if necessary.
Step 2
Attach the section of pond liner or damp proof membrane and make sure it overlaps the edges so water will run off and not seep into the roof. Staple into position and trim off any excess with a knife or pair of scissors
Step 3
Cut lengths of board to ‘box in’ the roof. This will stop the planting medium from simply washing off. Allow a 5mm gap between the board and the roof on the lower edge. This will help with water drainage.
Step 4
Staple the geotextile member (or old blanket) to the box sides. This layer will help retain moisture and reduce the need for frequent watering.
Step 5
Add a 2cm layer of the gravel to the roof. This layer will aid water dispersal and drainage.
Step 6
Finally add about 5cms of the compost and sharp sand mix and level it out. You are now ready for planting it up.
….but perhaps not for chickens. The last week or so it’s been pretty much persisting it down, which whilst it’s no bad thing for the garden or the ducks in the garden, it can have its pluses and minuses on the chicken front.
A gold brahma cockerel (not quite) singing in the rain
Chickens don’t mind a bit of rain, in fact it’s fairly safe to say that they do seem to welcome a bit of a wash down and don’t mind getting wet, having a good preen afterwards. Despite looking like drown rats they do actually dry out quite quickly given the right sort of shelter.
Things to watch out for are ventilation in the chicken coop. Don’t be tempted to seal the house up against the elements in an attempt to stop the birds ‘getting a chill’ by going to bed wet. Poultry generate an amazing amount of heat when roosting and if you’ve sealed the house up the birds won’t dry out at all, instead the coop will become a warm damp environment – an ideal breeding ground for disease. So keep the ventilation clear and let the birds air dry overnight.
Boggy ground can be another problem for chickens in wet weather, not only will they potentially be standing in a mass of mud, but they could well be traipsing the mud into their living quarters. Whilst not quite a designer look, putting old wooden pallets down in the run and near to the pophole will help get the chickens out of the mud. If possible you could also add a porch to the pophole. Ok, they are unlikely to wipe their feet before entering the house but it will at least keep the mud down a bit.
If pallets aren’t your thing and you prefer something a bit more pleasant looking then a good thick layer of hardwood chips will be help lift the ground level and aid the water drainage. Don’t be tempted to put ornamental bark chippings down though, these will begin to rot down quickly and the resulting fungal growth will mean the chickens are at risk of inhaling large quantities of spores. These spores are bad for the birds health and can in turn cause respiratory problems for them. The classic example is aspergillus which thrives on bark, if ingested by poultry it can cause aspergillosis which is difficult to treat successfully and will cause the slow death of the infected bird. Hardwood chips can often be source cheaply from a local tree surgeon and if that’s not possible then consider putting down sand instead.
As for the ducks…. leave them to it, the saying goes “as happy as a pig in muck” well there’s nothing much happier than a duck in rain & muck too!
I often get asked about how and when to clip the wings of chickens. I usually answer with a question… “why do you want to clip your chickens wings”. Its not a requirement to clip their wings and only really needs doing if you have a bird or birds that persistently clear boundaries and head off to the neighbours garden, or your veg plot.
Some breeds of chicken are reasonable flyers over a short distance, others are very good jumpers, and in both cases the clipping of wings can help reduce the amount of lift they get from frantically flapping.
Points to note though, despite clipping some birds will potentially still manage to get sufficient lift or can jump powerfully enough to clear the boundary. Wing clipping is not therefore a fix-all and some sort of netting over the run might be required.
Wing clipping is simple enough, but far simpler if you have an extra pair of hands to hold the bird. All you need do is take a pair of scissors and cut off the primary feathers ON ONE WING ONLY! This will serve to unbalance the bird and hopefully reduce the height they can gain. The image below shows the cut line in red. Note when you are holding the wing, the primary feathers are not seen when the birds wing is closed, therefore cutting them doesn’t effect the look of the bird when it is at rest.
In terms of when to cut them, do it when the feathers are fully grown and only do it on mature birds. Don’t cut the feathers whilst they are still growing.
The feathers of course will remain cut until the bird moults, at which point new primary feathers will grow. Once they are fully grown then you can clip them again but by that time the bird may have got out of the habit of ranging a bit too far!
Whilst doing some research recently for an upcoming poultry book I’m involved in writing I was reminded about the “The Chicken-of-tomorrow” contest. For those not familiar with this ‘contest’ you may well have just missed the biggest social, agricultural, food based event of the last 1000 years.
You don’t believe me? Watch these two video’s if you have the time and you may be surprised and you may just find the 20minutes you spend watching them somewhat thought provoking.
The film is an element of what was perhaps the most potent Public Relations exercise ever to have hit the world.
Let me explain a little. The Post War Western world was suffering a significant shortage of meat, meat being an essential source of protein in our diets. Chickens at this time were invariably kept for egg laying (eggs being a cheap, accessible source of protein). Chicken meat wasn’t as readily consumed in the early 20th century as it is now; it was a case of eating surplus cockerels or hens that had passed their laying best. Some table fowl existed but these were a luxury item, so invariably the chicken that reached the pot was either scrawny or a tough old bird; many urban households preferring instead to ignore chicken as an option.
During the war eggs and chicken meat came under more scrutiny as a source of essential rations. “A million eggs for a million soldiers” ran one headline in the US National Poultry Digest and demand for eggs and broilers grew. Consequently the humble farm chicken switched to chicken farming in less than a decade. It was however in 1946 when the major stakeholders converged and the shape of poultry, the poultry industry and the waistline of the world was to change forever through the birth of “The Chicken-of-Tomorrow” contest.
Agriculturists, scientists, breeders, farmers, and grocers all combine together in one very subtle but very deliberate PR exercise to not only promote poultry as an excellent source of protein but also to change attitudes toward the chicken. I won’t deny it, I do like a good conspiracy theory but I’m not going to build this in to one, in fact it could almost be said that it was ‘pioneering’ work that took place. The intent behind the contest was to produce ‘improved’ chickens, chickens that carried more meat, grew quickly and gave a more efficient yield in terms of feed conversion.
This could be frowned upon but ultimately it was a funded exercise to accelerate what any smallholder would be trying to do in their backyard. When the farmyard chicken became more focused upon as a source of food during the 19th century the objective was, and still is (outside of the poultry exhibition circuit) to produce good utility strains or breeds of chicken. The difference here was that through clever and careful publicity, coupled with prize funding and a foresight beyond what most of today’s corporations are capable of, the full range of stakeholders became engaged in process that went on to change the world, but far more imperceptibly than an iphone or even the internet.
The ‘contests’ ran in three year cycles from 1946 to 1961 and went through regional heats on to national competitions. This wasn’t however a case of playing one breed off against another, it was about hybridising existing breeds and then submitted 400 eggs to a fully controlled hatchery in each region where the birds would be hatched, monitored and slaughtered ( where upon the results would be declared in terms of the ‘best’ chicken). Hundreds of thousands of chickens, in fact it’s probably safe to say millions of chickens, were a part of this process. The objective was understandable and quite possibly well intentioned; it was however how it evolved that becomes the leg bone of contention.
It was only a matter of time before the chicken ceased to be livestock and became a crop. Maximising yield became the governing factor, and quite possible because the PR promoting chicken meat was hugely successful, then the drive to produce quick growing eating machines that converted cereal feed into protein rich meat flicked a switch that spelt out a welfare disaster for the animal.
A meat bird now can be table ready in under 8 weeks, it can be bought for £4 (or 2 for a fiver in some supermarkets) and it will weigh around 4lb in weight (Back in the 70’s the drumsticks or leg bones would be invariably broken. This may have been down to the post slaughter handling but if you looked closely (using what you might have learnt from CSI) you would have seen it was a pre mortem injury… the bird had literally converted its feed into flesh instead of bone resulting in its legs being weak and breaking under the weight.)
I started this out with a bold statement saying this contest changed “the shape of poultry, the poultry industry and the waistline of the world”. The first two points hopefully now speak for themselves but what of the final point, waistline. A simple wander through a high street or supermarket will highlight this. What are chicken nuggets? When did buffalo wings become the meal of the Super Bowl? Popcorn chicken? Chicken fingers? Chicken in hotdogs? The list could go on, there’s no denying that ‘chicken’ once either a scrawny addition to the table or a luxury most couldn’t afford, now appears to be consumed on a titanic scale and all this has come about in the last 50 years – a global consumption acceleration matched by no other meat product on the planet.
And so to the question, has the “Chicken-of-tomorrow” become yesterday? Animal welfare is certainly an agenda item. In recent decades we once again see clever and careful publicity working but this time bringing welfare to the fore. Slowly consumers are becoming more aware of food production, and slowly attitudes are changing. This year 2012 saw the banning of battery cage egg production systems, a small but positive step that can’t help but make you think the tide might be changing. Pioneering as the poultry contest initiated in the 1940’s might have been, the time has come for another rethink. Poultry are one of the few creatures we openly consume before they are born and after they are dead. Spend time around poultry and they seem quite content with this lot, albeit it having little choice but what does the future hold for yesterday’s chicken of tomorrow?
The sun was out this morning and, despite the frosty start the light was very good for a few random snaps of some the various birds I have. This young Red Pyle Brahma gives away his ancestry somewhat with a … Continue reading →
Husbandry of poultry is very much ‘by eye’. Only by spending time around your flock will you pick on potential problems as chickens are very good at disguising illness which is quite possibly a survival mechanism to mitigate the risk of predation common in many species of bird.
Sick birds may emerge from the coop in a flurry with the other hens but then spend the day skulking or hiding out of sight, so be sure to do a head count periodically during the daylight and investigate any bird that seems out of sorts.
The nature of many poultry diseases is such that the symptoms can appear more or less the same which can leave you, the keeper, at a loss as to what might be the issue but by carefully observing your flock you can pick up on certain diagnostics that may help isolate the problem.
This BVA Animal Welfare Foundation pdf file was put together in conjunction with the Poultry Club of Great Britain and provides an excellent early diagnostic crib sheet and is well worth downloading and printing off. Stick it on the wall of your chicken shed or feed store and familiarise yourself with the basic symptoms, likely causes and possible treatments.
As mentioned earlier, birds can and do disguise illness, consequently when it becomes obvious that there’s a problem it can often be too late to treat them. Early identification of diseases or disorders therefore can be the difference between life and death.
It goes without saying that the crib sheet provides only a guide but it can be essential in collecting the right information about the problem your bird maybe suffering and this will help immensely should you need to refer to a poultry vet.
If you are a twitter user then its well worth following two such vet establishments on there, namely @avianvets and @chickenvet , or alternatively visit their web sites ( AvianVets and ChickenVet ) as both are frequently available to help and advise the online poultry keeper.
The Muscovy is one of those birds you cannot fail to notice and often it can bring out mixed responses in terms of admiration because of its distinctive looks. Originally fromSouth America this duck is unlike the others we see today as it originated from the wild Musk Duck and not the wild Mallard, consequently it does not appear to interbreed with other species of duck, and in some peoples belief, it straddles the line between duck and goose
Muscovys are reasonable layers of good sized eggs with the ducks reaching 7lb in weight and the drakes, if left for up to 6 months, reaching 12lb providing a very good dual purpose option. They are a very hardy breed and need no special attention. They can go broody and hatch their own young and the mothers are very attentive.
They are broad and powerful bird, slow moving when on the ground but will periodically take to the wing often perching on top of a shed or outbuilding to survey their territory.
They also come in a variety of colours and combinations from blacks, whites, lavender, blues and more recently chocolate.
Nope, it’s not another spin off horror movie or a new video game, it’s a sad truth faced by many poultry keepers…chicken predation, and particularly during the winter months. Many folks ask me for advice on how to deal with various forms of predation but by far the most common is the fox. To lose one bird is sickening, to lose your entire flock to a fox attack is soul destroying, and has in my experience led to some people giving up their poultry keeping rather than continue to struggle with persistent predation.
Whether your birds are pets, or a functional part of your food supply, to find them slaughtered en masse from a fox attack is not a something you’d wish on anyone who keeps birds. More often than not you will find carcasses strewn across the garden with bits missing (the fox can be a picky feeder when food is a plenty) and in other cases you’ll simply find a mass of feathers. Either way it can be distressing.
Equally whether you live in a rural or urban environment, these cunning and effective predators can turn up at anytime and pick off a bird, or wipe out your flock in a frenzy of surplus killing.
I’ve seen many ways of mitigating the risk of a fox attack, everything from fencing techniques, to mannequins carrying movement sensitive lighting. In most cases these additional measures can avoid a clash between the predator and poultry keeper, but on occasions the boundary is crossed, and co-existence is compromised. Pragmatism in these situations is called for, and whilst the current legislation does provide for lethal and non-lethal management techniques these are not that easily executed by the backyard poultry keeper.
This information pamphlet from Natural England does however offer some excellent insight and guidance on how to best manage your stock but also what can and cannot be done in terms of management of the problem.
Poultry keepers over the centuries have always had to struggle with a level of predation, particularly if you elect to totally free range your stock.but by deploying clever management techniques to protect your stock it is possible to minimise their risk of encounter with predators such as the fox, and by the same measure reduce the need for you to have to manage the predator.
The Rhode Island or “Rhodie” is quite possibly one of the worlds most well known and greatest of dual-purpose breeds of chicken. Its also perhaps better known as the Rhode Island Red on account of its rich brown/red colouring although it is in fact found with white plumage though rarely seen these days.
Developed towards the end of the 19th Century by poultry breeders in Rhode Island of New England on the east coast of America, it stemmed from a desire to produce a genuine breed that would both lay plenty of eggs but also produce a good sized bird for the table. Despite its American name the breed is constructed from many breeds from around the globe including Leghorns, Malays and a number of indigenous breeds.
As befitting a laying breed the hens can lay on average 250 eggs of a light brown colour each year and will do so for the quite a few years making them a worthwhile investment for both small and large scale keepers.
They are also a heavy breed of bird which means they do tend to be calm around keepers and have little desire to take to the wing. They are happy to be kept in a enclosed run or are equally good as free rangers with excellent foraging skills.
The chicks are fast growers and pullets can be in lay by the age of 20 weeks, they are also very hardy birds perfectly adapted to our climate and this combine with their friendly nature make them a great introduction to chicken keeping for the beginner.
The concept of a New Years Resolution can be crap can’t it? People set off with a vaguely positive intent then in the end, more often than not, it gets forgotten after a couple of weeks and you slink away trying to remember who you told about it, feeling slightly uncomfortable that a resolution of creating a resolution you could stick to would have been more appropriate.
Perhaps the solution to the resolution conundrum is to not make a resolution at all? Perhaps it should be to support somebody else in ensuring they achieve theirs, that way you don’t get the mild embarrassment of failing to stick to yours, but you do get the benefit of knowing you are doing something to help someone else with theirs. It’s an interesting concept filled with positives and I know just the person…. the EU.
Sometime ago the EU brought in legislation to outlaw the use of barren battery cages for egg laying hens. The legislation was passed and out of the idleness/goodness of their hearts, the EU made the deadline for the removal of battery cages 12 years after the date the it was passed. That’s T W E L V E long years…. Well 1st January 2012 marks THE date when battery cage systems for poultry are illegal…… but guess what? There are EU member countries that have still not fully implemented the ban or even made any effort to implement it, and those lovely fuzzy people in the land of the EU are still now debating the regulations concerning the legalities of exporting battery eggs across Europe, and worst still allowing the export into those member countries that have fully conformed!
This EU legislation has to be potentially one of the most public New Years Resolutions in existence. 12 years ago 1st January 2012 marked the end of all battery caged systems for chickens, and just like so many other people, the good old EU is in very really danger of slipping up and failing in its resolve. But they said it, and unlike some of us, it wasn’t whispered to a few close friends just in case it couldn’t be kept. No, it was VERY public and there’s no ‘slinking away’ from this one.
You can perhaps sense the of spitting of feathers and potential of a soap box rant about to start but no, I’ve ranted for many a year already and busted many a soap box. I’m not going to go on about welfare, besides if you give a jot about animal welfare you’ll be fully versed, and already avoiding eggs from such farming methods. The same applies if you actually think about what you eat, you will already be making sure the eggs you consume are not from battery systems. In fact it’s distinctly likely that if you frequent this blog then you are probably an advocate of non-battery systems for egg production already….. but if, and its possible, you stumbled on this blog and are reading this for the first time and you’ve not really considered this issue in any depth then be a good person, and help the EU from stumbling into the new year and screwing up the New Years Resolution its spent 12 years building up to.
Make 2012 will be the year where you ask about the source of the egg products you are about to purchase and don’t buy battery.
If the vendor doesn’t know then don’t buy it, you could (as could the vendor) be inadvertently supporting a battery farm from the EU member countries who obviously have little or no care for poultry, agriculture, food, the law… the list goes on. Vote with your feet and go buy from somewhere that does know and be confident that you are not supporting the sale of illegal eggs.
12 years is a long notice period but a deadline is a deadline. If the politicians don’t have the back bone to make it happens across the board as promised and are that incompetent that they can’t legislate against illegal egg producers and support those who remain legal, then it’s down to the food producers and consumers to make damn sure they do.
2012 – The End Of Battery Cages, make sure THE END means THE ABSOLUTE END and don’t allow illegal eggs into your food chain.
