To: Homestead mailing list digest <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: [Homestead] Chicken Scratching Run
Date: Fri, 05 Nov 2004 20:51:18 -0800
This is not a new idea, but I think I can add some to the thoughts of
others. Someone had said a while back that chickens would derive
endless entertainment from scratching over a mulch pile. I noticed one
day that chickens were returning daily to the guinea pig litter that had
spilled on the back porch.
Now, an outdoor mulch pile is not likely to have much in the way of
insect life during winter, compared to summer. But guinea pigs have to
be kept in a warm place, so their litter pans continue to evolve flies
all winter long (thank goodness that now they just go right out the
south door of the sun porch). I'm suggesting that it's possible to time
the changing of the litter pans so that they're emptied just as larval
development peaks, and the flies can emerge in the scratching run.
I'm picturing a sort of hallway on the shady side of the barn, sheltered
from rain but well-ventilated and screened in. It could have a doorway
at each end for dumping and removing organic material. It really needs
a way for chickens to enter, perhaps a hole a couple of feet off the
ground. In this way none of the "mulch" would be lost by chickens'
scratching it in every direction.
It seems this would be an excellent device for feeding chickens during
the winter, and at least it keeps them busy. It also allows the daytime
production of chicken manure to be concentrated in one place, instead of
here and there on the back stairs.
The other trick that can be used to get chickens to eat less desirable
foods is to enclose them with the food in the morning, especially if
that food is their only source of water. I've been able to get them to
eat things like cooked parsnip peels this way, which are entirely
nutritious and even rich in calories, but which they'll normally turn
their nose up at.
Bill
S. Oregon coast
[Homestead] Chicken Scratching Run,
Bill Jones, 11/05/2004