This Sustainable House

Archive for the ‘Chickens’ Category

For me, one of the downsides of the ‘country life’ is that death is always so near. When we live in a city we don’t see a lot of death, at least overtly, but in the country you come face to face with it daily.

Everything from possum carcasses left by foxes, to kangaroos killed by cars, to the gruesome scene to greet me this morning… My whole flock of chickens dead.

It appears that the pen had a spot where the wire wasn’t as securely tied as elsewhere. Something, presumably a dog due to the strength required, has torn the wire at this location and used the hole to enter the run.

At that point my girls, and a couple of boys, didn’t stand a chance. Of the 16 birds, 15 bodies were recovered suggesting that one was taken or made it out itself. There was no sign of this bird this morning.

The real loss of this is that not only have we lost production capability, but that I have also broken my promise to protect them. They were totally reliant on me to keep them safe.

So the next step is to rebuild. First the pen, to make it like wormwood scrubs, then the flock.

The guilt however might take longer to disappear…

One of the major differences between standard gardening and permaculture is that the latter put’s great emphasis on design and planning. It can seem that ‘permies’ only ever talk about design however it is often easier to correct a deficiency in garden design prior to it’s implementation. This is especially true if you site something in the wrong location… in that case moving it is a drag!

The video below outlines the new Mandala Gardens being set-up at TSH, and the reason they are laid out the way they are. The system being adopted was originally designed by Linda Woodrow (The Permaculture Home Garden) so credit where credit is due.