Yeah, because even when it comes to "space" we're thinking of the permaculture principle of stacking functions...
OK so, we have these grown chickens we were to us back in the fall of 2022. They went through the usual shock of moving from one home to another, they weren't laying many eggs at all, then as the winter was approaching, they started molting. While they make new feathers and down to get ready for the cold, these little gals aren't producing eggs, their energy is focused on preparing themselves for a cold few months, so no eggs or very little as they're not quite molting all at once. How dare they get ready!!!!
And now, well, it's winter and so again the energy that would normally be used for laying eggs is being used to keep warm! Have you ever noticed in the winter when you work outside, the body work double time to stay warm?
Here are a couple of our girls with feathers all over the ground:
At first I thought something was wrong with them. Yes this is our first time having chickens.
So here's our dilemma and how we're stacking functions in utilizing the space in our back yard.
The back yard is fenced in so that we can let the dog run around, do his business, and we don't have to walk him around the neighborhood all the time. Though it is something we should do more often, at the moment he is terrible on a leash! So it's first of all for convenience, but we've also decided to share that space with the chickens, the kids play back there, our firepit and BBQ are in the back yard too. The problem is that Zion (our dog) unavoidably tracks into the house whatever he runs around on... including chicken poop! When it's wet out, we got into the habit of wiping his feet, but other times we don't, and of course he is one of these dogs, or even better said is that we are one of these families who let him sleep on the bed with us.
So yeah... no good something had to done about sharing that yard with our birds.
First we automated the way these chickens can eat and drink, again for convenience (but that is another permaculture state of mind). Then, before the holidays I built a small fence that cut the yard in two, but it was too small and one of the birds showed the rest how to jump over it, the second one wouldn't quite make it over but she managed to flatten it, and the rest at that point could just stroll right over it as if there were no fence there! They're clever little dinosaurs.
There's a spot close to the house, sheltered from the rain they turned into their dust bath area, so I made sure the fence went around that so they could still use it. But you see in that picture above, that fence is only a foot and a half tall, so no wonder they could jump right over!
Yesterday, I finally made it taller. It's now a three foot fence that goes from their dust bath spa, to the trampoline where the kids play, around it and to the entrance of their chicken run that used to be a dog pen.
I had this bamboo privacy fence I salvaged from a film set last year, it was 6 feet tall so I cut it in half, and wrapped it around the legs of the trampoline. It looks alright doesn't it?
Stacking functions:
A principle or design where something serves more than one function. simultaneously. Such as running the kitchen tap water to heat it up for washing dishes, but capturing it in a watering can for watering plants instead of just letting it run down the drain.
source: permies forum
That dead space below the trampoline, is used by the chickens for shade, and a little rain protection. Now that only the chickens have access to the space, the fence serves as a barrier to keep the dog from trying to bite the ball (he loves balls) every time it touches the trampoline when the kids are playing gaga ball!!!!
So the fence is good for everyone, no more chicken poop in the house, no more chicken poop on our feet, no more chicken poop on our firewood, or the chairs around the firepit!
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