graibeard's The Chook's garden
Garden Type: Wildlife | Sun: Full Shade | Soil: Combination | Established: 2009 | Organic
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Ah, the Chooks thought we’d given up on them, and we had, but we miss them too much. Come back girls, we’ll build you a new shelter.
They are willing workers that will busily chase down and eat the bugs, enthusiastically scratch the ground and turn it over while looking for seeds & seedlings (it’s up to us to make sure they are the weeds.) They’ll kill off any wandering jew and other nuisance plants that are surface rooted and, admittedly, anything else that you don’t fence off.
They’ll happily turn over the compost heap, eat the scraps and mix it all in while breaking it into smaller, well aerated bits. They are one of the few ways that you can recycle meat and dairy products too, they package them up in pellets of powerful fertilizer and will even mix them into the compost heap or deep litter that you provide for them.
They’ll do all this while asking for nothing more than food, lodgings and a safe environment. Do this right and they’ll reward you with eggs that have rich yellow yolks and a taste to rival the best free range eggs.
If that’s not enough, they’ll entertain you for hours with their antics and social interactions. If you’ve never seen a happy chook, pay attention when they are luxuriating in their dust bath.
An outdoor organic garden located in Carnegie, Melbourne, Australia, graibeard's The Chook's garden currently contains 4 plants.
This is a Wildlife garden that is known to be in USDA Hardiness Zone 10. It has mainly Combination soil and receives Full Shade light.Photos
Plantings
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Chook Eggs - 2012 Day 328
Gallus gallus domesticus
Sown on 30 Jun 12 A planting to track the eggs from the girls, wh...
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Gallus gallus domesticus
Sown on 17 Dec 10 One persistently broody mum has won the contest...
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Purchased on 13 Apr 10 A second batch of Partridge Wyandotte Bantams (...
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Sown on 06 Nov 09 We had 12 eggs to place in the incubator in...
Comments
seajda wrote:
When I first joined myfolia and started ‘visiting’ the gardens in Australia, the word chooks showed up alot. I wondered what a chook garden was and finally realized they are chickens! Are they a special kind of chicken? Please excuse my ignorance…this is a learning experience that I am really enjoying. Someday I would love to visit your country.
Posted on 18 Feb 10 (over 3 years ago)
graibeard wrote:
I’ll certainly excuse you ;) There is no way known that any one can keep up with all the phrases and colloquialisms that are used across the planet. Or at least, I can’t!
There’s nothing special about a chook, unless it’s an old chook (in which case the woman you were talking about – or too – would attempt to give you a quick backhander for being rude and cheeky. That’s one use. ;)
If the word is used sociably, then these chooks are Wyandotte bantams.
Chook (pronounced as you would, book) is just an Australian and New Zealand term for chicken. I believe it is also used in Britain but, perhaps, not as frequently. Call it slang I guess but most people I know use it, especially when they are calling them for their food. Mind you our younger Australians probably call them chickens, or whatever the TV has “educated” them to call them :-(
Posted on 18 Feb 10 (over 3 years ago)
seajda wrote:
Love it! Thanks for the explanation!
Posted on 19 Feb 10 (over 3 years ago)
ClarendonFlower wrote:
Do you have a problem with rats and mice because of your chooks? We seem to have them burrowing under our chicken coop and run. I am really scared that this will bring out more snakes.
Posted on 01 Apr 11 (about 2 years ago)
graibeard wrote:
@ClarendonFlower. No problems now, but they are around. Anywhere that chooks are present then rats and mice seem to naturally follow, the food possibilities and the environment are too tempting.
This shed sits on a floor of concrete pavers that extend further than the shed itself. Burrowing under is too much effort and no reward for them. The run itself is exposed and is constructed to keep the girls out of the garden, more than predators or scavengers out. At night they are locked up in the shed, the main door and entrance are closed and are made to exclude vermin.
That shed is a total exclusion zone! :-) When I put it together I made it from mouse wire – 6mm – and covered the frame completely with it. Then I put on the walls, roof etc and I now rest easy knowing that the only thing that can get in or out are the flies. While that might seem like overkill it’s worked a treat in keeping the land and winged rats out as they have no access to the food scraps, eggs, or litter when it’s locked up.
The other thing that is different with this shed (this time around) is that the chook feed is not on open display. It’s available all the time via ‘nozzles’ but only land based birds can activate them, we’re not the local diner any more.
I share your concern with the snakes, not just looking for the mice but the eggs as well.
Posted on 01 Apr 11 (about 2 years ago)
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