Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Harvey Ussery <huboxwood@earthlink.net>]

> is it your opinion that someone needs to be present
> every day to care for the poultry?  the way our
> project will proceed, it won't be a homestead at
> first, so there won't be constant caretaking for any
> poultry there, although i would be sure to have
> housing for them before trying to start any flock...
> anyone else have any suggestions on this question?
>
> bobby g

Bobby, I've never had to put this to the test, but I gave it a lot of 
thought when a friend with a weekend place in the country considered it. 
I think it's do-able--maybe. Whether you are there or not, the birds 
have to be protected from predators (and the neighbor's dog may be the 
worst predator of all). Some people allow free-ranging in the day, shut 
up at night, and do okay with escaping predation. That's not an option 
for you. So to make it work, you'd have to have either a predator-proof 
conventional fence for the outdoor run (remember that a number of your 
potential predators are diggers)--BTW, I don't like conventional static 
fencing and urge you to avoid it if you can--or use electronet fencing, 
which would be my choice.

If you have electricity on the place, you can run the electric fence 
from household current. Otherwise, solar-powered units with backup 
battery are available and should do the job for you.

So if you've covered protection with electronet, and have decent housing 
[could have just a little pop-hole for the birds if nights are cold], 
then your main concern is adequate water and food for the week or 
whatever you're going to be away. Automated watering is easy to set up 
if you have electricity/pressurized water. If you have natural water on 
the place, just divert some to be available to the flock 24/7.

That leaves feed. You can get big hoppers that are both protected from 
the weather if outside, and will hold a week's worth of feed for any 
size flock. I would opt for placement outside. I don't like free choice 
feeding inside--it's a way of saying to the rodents "Be fruitful and 
multiply!"

Could be a problem with eggs: If left in the nest a week, there will get 
to be a lot of them in each nest. That's when you get breakage, then egg 
eating, a habit which, once learned, is hard to break.

Is there a nearby neighbor who'd be willing to come over to do a little 
light daily maintenance--once you're set up, just *minutes* per day--in 
exchange for the best eggs she's ever eaten? Might be your best solution.

See my "Managing Poultry on Pasture with Electronet" (Backyard Poultry 
April/May 06) and "In the Shadow of the Hawk," re our experiences with 
predators over two decades (BYP, Oct/Nov 06). Both will be up on the 
revised edition of the website, coming soon to a computer near you.

~Harvey in northern VA
www.themodernhomestead.us