Purchased manure producers today

minervalong 4/7/2012, 6:01 pm

Today was the mennonite sale in my neighborhood. Went at 7:30 am, hundreds of crates of fowl and bunnies. Chickens of laying age, and roosters, were going for 18 to 20 bucks a pop. No way was I going to pay that. Went back this afternoon and got 5 Buff Orpington pullets for 3 each. Oh, and I bought my youngest a bunny. So, now I must rig up a hen house and a bunny house until the greenhouse gets build this summer, but on the up side, I now have two of the best kind of compost manure providers.

minervalong 4/7/2012, 6:03 pm

Oh, I forgot, saw my first baby llama too. She was so sweet, cream colored with light tan dots. Husband said I could not have her but just laughed when I brought the chickies home.

plantoid 4/7/2012, 6:50 pm

If you bed the rabbit and chooks on straw ( not hay ) their poop 7 urine on the straw will give you a better material to compost than if you house the rabbits on wire and the chooks over a wire floor so you get neat poop from their coop/ hutch

minervalong 4/7/2012, 8:00 pm

Thanks plantoid, i have old hay down in the barn, but thought i would get straw to avoid the seeds. When I keep chickens, I use the deep litter method. I keep it filled with bedding, adding fresh on top, then a few times a year scrape it all out and toss on the heap. My old coop was in the old barn, it is no longer useful and as the real coop will be on the back of the greenhouse, I will probably end up with a chicken tractor type of thing until the permanent house is done.

plantoid 4/8/2012, 4:24 pm

minervalong wrote:Thanks plantoid, i have old hay down in the barn, but thought i would get straw to avoid the seeds. When I keep chickens, I use the deep litter method. I keep it filled with bedding, adding fresh on top, then a few times a year scrape it all out and toss on the heap. My old coop was in the old barn, it is no longer useful and as the real coop will be on the back of the greenhouse, I will probably end up with a chicken tractor type of thing until the permanent house is done.

As a kid my parents used to run 2,000 chooks on deep litter , once a year dad sold the muck heap for a weeks wages to a local farmer who also gave us free straw for the year .. it contained rabbit , chicken and pig muck with their straw beddings plus the weekly contents of our " honey bucket " toilet .

Old Ron used to reckon our muck heap was far better than his made from crewyard over wintered cattle. He used to pint out which field ours was on and come potato pcking time woud tell us kids we were on our fields so don't leave any of those magnificinet spuds behind.

minervalong 4/8/2012, 5:57 pm

You know plant, the more I hear stories of mine and other peoples grands and greats, the more I realize that "science" sort of short circuited gardening and animal husbandry. Old methods were abandoned for the "newest" and the art was lost. I think that is a lot of the enthusiasm of SFG, old ways are becoming new again, and I LIKE IT!!!! lol

**llama momma** 4/8/2012, 6:17 pm

If you ever reconsider the llama when it's weaned, they make wonderful manure, you can use it fresh or composted as it is not "hot". But since they are highly sociable animals, you must get two of them or at least give them something to guard, like goats or sheep.

minervalong 4/8/2012, 10:22 pm

llama momma, this little girl was sooooo sweet, cream and tan dots. she was already weaned, i wasn't at the ring when she sold so didn't hear how old she was. top of her head was about 4 foot, how tall do they get? i was pushing it with the chickens so soon, and let's not mention the bunny lol so unfortunately she was out of the question. but i can sure see the appeal, besides the fertilizer factor.

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