permaculture

[Ute Bohnsack <sustag@eircom.net>]

Wednesday, November 17, 2004, 2:31:16 AM, you wrote:

RF> You must have amazingly selective chickens to only eat your slugs without
RF> scratching out seedlings, turning the mulch upside down and feasting on
RF> lettuce - you wouldn't believe the destruction they can wreck in just a 
few
RF> minutes in the vegie patch
RF> Robyn

I'd agree with Robyn. Chickens and gardens go very well together but only if 
separated in time.
I finally got birds again last year and I rotate them around the place with 
an ark and mobile
electric poultry netting, leaving them in any one place for a couple weeks
(goat pasture paddocks) to a couple months ('woodland' strip; orchard). 
We are in the wet western Irish climate with c. 1000mm rainfall and no frosts 
to speak of that would control slug populations. They are a plague alright.
Normal slug pellets of course are a no-no. There are, however, alternatives 
on the market:
Nemaslug, live nematodes, work well but are very expensive.
Ironphopshate, I forget the brand name here ('Sluggo' was mentioned in a
previous post), works ok but vanishes into the ground once it rains which it 
does a few times a day here...
But then someone improved on it by coating it:
The latest, and I've tried it - works well: Ferramol Slug Pellets
Quote:
"This is the first "organic" slug pellet on the market.
Based on the active ingredient Iron Phosphate it is completely harmless to
other animals - from earthworms to beetles, hedgehogs or dogs and cats.
It is not poisonous to fish or birs and does not require any waiting period.
This is what we all were waiting for: the ultimate remedy in the "eternal"
fight of gardeners against slugs! The bait is rainproof - it actually
requires moisture to expand and become more attractive to slugs.
If not eaten, the pellets will be broken down by soil bacteria and
turned into naturally occuring Iron and Phosphate. Apply 5g/sqm well
scattered over the total area which requires protection."
Unquote

Coming back to chickens:
Last winter I rotated them through the goat paddocks
(small paddocks, 0.5 acre in total) partly with the aim of having them
eat slug eggs, as slugs are hosts for various gastro-intestinal worms that 
befall goats.
I have no scientific proof but I have a feeling it worked as the goats
usually show symptoms by late summer - this year they don't.

If I could I would most certainly keep them in the garden area over
the winter. They'd ged rid of slugs, slug eggs, and they very nicely
manure the garden and clear the beds for planting.
Unfortunately, my garden is a good bit away from
the house, where the (much) better garden soil is, and that's by the road.
Tried it once and immediately lost birds to foxes. Even with the
electric netting I have now I'd be worried about two legged marauders
as I have good purebred birds who'd fetch a good price - or make a
nice dinner... :(

As it is I collect slugs and snails and take them to the chickens who
love them, especially since they contain a lot of protein (>20%).
A friend of mine has ducks and mixes the slugs she collects in the
evening in a small bucket with bran or barley meal. Puts a lid on the
bucket and feeds the stuff to the ducks in the morning. Great way of
turning slugs into eggs. Eating them straight wouldn't be my cup o'
tea anyway. Yuck.

Ute