Hey guys i think there's someone pretending to be your channel messaging about contacting them through WhatsApp. Its on my above comment. ^^^^ i reported it. Hope it wasn't you for real lol
I love the way the chicken orchard turned out! I’ve been saving up to plant a bunch of fruit trees in my bird run next spring, and I love how streamline the raised beds make things. My local soil has similar drainage problems. Hot tip if you’d like to make it easy to round up escapee chickens: start training them to come running to the sound of a shaking treat bag, or a vocal call (mine is “chick-chick-chick!”). Not only will it make it infinitely easier to wrangle them if they get out, you can also use it to call them back to their sheltered run if you spot a predator or something.
My grandpa used to have a chicken that jumped into his lap on command, they can be taught a lot of things. They also knew that if he had visitors sitting outside they'd probably get some treats if they stayed around.
My neighbor growing up did the chicken orchard thing. The chickens' run was on the west side of the yard next to the block wall. That side of the yard also had the citrus trees. The block wall protected the chickens and the tree bases from the intense afternoon sun. Summertime temps often ranged between 105-120°F. Since our subdivision was built in an old citrus orchard, all the houses had an opportunity to be irrigated. The chickens were VERY active after a flooding.. a veritable bug feast.
Edible acres RU-vid based out in New York has a similar scenario going on. They are a great resource for this style of chicken yard. They also implemented a deep mulch system in with their chickens (leaves, wood chips, grass clippings) to add organic matter which allows them to harvest compost from their chicken yard. I hope someone finds this helpful.
For anyone else looking for more content similar to this, Takota Coen of Coen Farms in Canada is also doing some great work. I believe you can find his chicken system over at Verge Permaculture here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dWglJAaqcp8.html
I'm actually getting chickens in the near future, planning on doing a chicken feeder garden around the outside of the run close up to the fencing so they can reach their side of the plant but not the whole thing or the roots... Now I may add a tree or two in the run itself... I have a bunch of landscaping rocks (too large for them to peck through) around the tree roots/trunks.
This has given me some great ideas for my tiny flock of one. She loves to work in the garden when I am in there and has eliminated my cut worm problem. I think the rotational grazing would be a nice treat for her when she is not allowed in the garden because the plants are in their tender stage. Even though we are in totally different zones (I am in Canada) I learn a lot from your canal. Thank you.
EdibleAcres has done some neat things with their open chicken compost area including trees/bushes, duckweed ponds and vermiculture all in the same place
Right from the start and all throughout, your hearty laughters and bantering are so genuine, hilarious and so relaxing and enjoyable to watch! Thank you both!!! 🐥🐥
these are the kinds opf projects I dream of for when I get my own property. I've still got a little ways to go, but you guys are keeping me excited to start putting things in the actual ground. Also, the chicken wrangling reminded me of Ocarina of Time cuckoo wrangling, and I love that
You could make the chickens a salad box where you build a frame, chicken wire the top and plant some greens in it. The mesh stops them from scratching and pulling out the greens so it continues to grow for them.
Buff Orpingtons are the best!! And they ADORE figs! (I speak from experience. Oh, and hens can jump pretty high when figs and mulberries are the goal. You've been forewarned.) Try planting some amaranth and such for them. Protect it when it's small. Good luck and have fun watching the girls!!!
At my homeland, that is pretty much standard. The chickens have free range of the orchard. They benefit from the dropped fruit and leaves. Though its not a design by purpose, could probably modify the system to be a bit more intentional.
I did something similar for my Rhubarb plants in order to raise them off the ground level because they were suffering from crown rot. But, I used galvanized fire rings from the local farm store - they are a foot high and 3 feet diameter, so they worked perfectly.
@@cristallaprade5487 Fortunately, chickens are smarter than humans - they don't eat anything that is toxic to them. :-) We only use the stalks of the rhubarb, and the leaves go into the compost bin where the oxalic acid breaks down and is no longer a problem.
One thing about your chickens in there, is they can fly up into those trees as they grow and get out of their pen. Here we have raccoons and many other predators, so my coop run has to have a cover.
I have those tree surrounds they are great, my chickens dug off the mulch on top so I've ended up putiing the wire around the tree surrounds instead of on top to keep the chickens off and protect my fruit trees.
I did something similar after six Jersey Giants killed all 6 of my fruit trees. I tried rocks, DIY cement rings, hardware cloth fencing…nope. They never touched the Fig Trees or the Passion Fruit vines though. Then we built a 2 foot high 3x3 raised bed to plant a River Birch in, we used hardware cloth layer around the tree and held it down with landscape pins. Worked like a charm. I may try a few more fruit trees this year.
You will either have to cover the entire area with some bird netting to keep them in or you will have to trim their wings so they don't reach the lower branches of the trees and end up in your neighbor's backyard. Chickens can fly pretty high and love to roost on trees.
I love the idea of that! My husband and I bought property a year ago and had our first small garden. We are working on a urban homestead on 1/3 of an acre. Love your channel you inspire us every more and more.
Nice sharing,love to see your video, love to see all your chicken and you guys have very creative mind. Thank you for sharing very practical video. Stay blessed and live happily 😊😊😊
Growing microgreens from whole seed feeds doubles the feed. Also black solder fly larvae.... you could arrange to get foodwaste, feed chickens with it, or give it to the larvae and have a higher protien bug feed.
I have chickens out here in Temecula!! They are so much fun!! Epic gardening NEEDS some 🐔 chickens!!! However, I severely misjudged their rate of destruction and sacrificed my entire garden last year to the chickens. 😭😭 Keep your garden fenced! Chicken gardens are a thing, lol. I Planted my chickens their own garden so they leave mine alone this time. I should add some trees too. We also have hawks. Caught one chilling in the pine tree behind our house watching 👀 figure our who is the smallest so..... we only let them out watched now. Trees would do some good 100% Enjoy the orchard ladies!! Omg, you are getting chickens 🐔 yaaay!!! They are soooo much fun!! Next you'll wanna be a mealworm grower. Don't ask me how I know 🤣🤣🤩
@@Punkini yeah, I've done a lot of research. It's just finding the time and available money to get it done. I really like Jacques' design because underneath the coop is part of the run to help lower the total footprint and the full roof only has one drop edge for rainwater catchment. I also like the design of an inner and outer run, though with the regulations in my city I might not be able to implement something like that.
If there is a next time bend/fold the metal wire first and pour soil thru it. But actually stabbing it into the soil doesn’t look that difficult. Great back yard. 👍
So when the trees are bigger, will the chickens jump up in them and eat the figs? I have run out of room for more fruit trees and it would be awesome to plant some inside the chickens run.
parkrose permaculture on youtube does a chicken orchard in her backyard permaculture garden. She talks through the benefits to the chickens, to the trees, and some of the things she wishes she did slightly differently.
A chicken orchard is not a new concept by any stretch. Lots of people do it. It's actually a very old concept. You see it all the time here. As for planting the trees close it's not necessarily a problem. I've a chicken orchard with a number of trees in a small space. Mine are all standard trees not dwarf ones but I keep them to a certain height. Mine are double planted with two trees in one hole in slightly raised beds. Close double planting of fruit trees is another old concept of planting a lot of different varieties in a small space. They do they great and fruit beautifully every year. I put mesh around them for the first six months to allow the trees to settle in and there's been no issue. The mesh was removed and the hens now scratch around the bottom of the trees now with no issue.
Great information, you comment brought me new found knowledge. Thank you for posting it. When I plan my orchard I will think about double planting. Are there any specific tree that you have had great success with this technique?
@@throlyhd9448 All the trees I've planted have done just fine. Only one died, a plum in the first year because it never broke dormancy in the first summer for some reason. I just replaced with another and the new one is fine. All the other have done great. I've got apple, pear, plum, peach and pleach (peach x plum) as well as apricot. You can double plant any fruit tree but don't double plant a standard with a dwarf tree. you need to be able to grow about the same size. You can let them get pretty big but I don't have the space for that so I keep mine trimmed to about six feet. they're all healthy and loving life but going dormant now as it's autumn where I am.
Hey Kevin :) so excited to see the chicks ! I have to ask you something, even if it is not at all the topic of the video (I feel like I am trolling). But the question I have would be sooo helpful to a lot of new gardeners that do not have an extensive gardening infrastructure that I think it is worth bringing it to your attention. I have been lent a small plot of land with a big water tank on it. I would loooove to cultivate it but the land is not very close to my house, so I would not be able to go there every single day and water. Do you happen to know if there is a good automatic drip system that can be set up from a water tank ? I have seen low pressure programmers (Hozelock programmers) + gravity-fed drip irrigation, but not a single video with the two combined. I am so sure that if you did a video about that (on Epic Homesteading for example), it would be sooooo helpful for a lot of people :) Anyways, sorry for "trolling", and thanks for the great content you create ! I love seeing you and Jacques together, you make for a funny pair. :)
Are there any updates on how your chicken orchard is growing a year later? I’ve looked on. The site and I can’t find any I was wondering if I missed it!
Ive wanted to try having chickens but am in Michigan n the cost of keeping them heated in winter stops me. Can you give advice or make a video on colder climates n ducks n chickens?
You might want to check out the Simple Living Alaska You Tube channel, this video in particular- ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6l53Rsd6HMg.html&ab_channel=SimpleLivingAlaska Ariel does a great job explaining why they started with Icelandic chickens, and they tolerate even below zero temps in the coop that she made for them.
question....i have a gated orchard of about 15 ground level stone fruit, citrus, apple trees all over 5 years old at this point....because its gated in already it feels like the perfect area to turn into a chicken run and have them keep all the weeds down. I was told however that they would cause nitrogen burns on the roots from the poo.....seeing this tho, is that why these were planted up in these basins to keep the poo off of them? would you consider it generally safe to house 5-8 chickens permanently within the trees? id absolutely would love to get chickens but because we focus so much on fruit trees in our yard we are out of space, so if i cant let them live in amongst the trees then i wont be able to have chickens
I was thinking the same thing; that fence is really low. My one chicken still hurls herself over the fence I increased to 8 feet so she can lay eggs in my driveway.
I only have the one chicken cos the other one died, a Plymouth rock called Virginia. Remember that orpingtons brood and different breeds lay different amounts of eggs.
Quick question guys, do I have to worry that my plant roots will get damage? By the heat if they are made from aluminum . I would love to order some but in a gardening forum someone said it would kill my plants 😞
No it won’t! Gardners everywhere use these! The guy in Australia-Self sudficient me. His whole garden (which is huge, is pretty much all these same beds but bigger. ) Look em up. My sisters raised beds are like these types too.
Also Gardner Scott has a video on this very thing. Soil temps with all the different type beds. With a soil thermometer. I live in South Florida and my beds are made from aluminum. Whoever told you that about the temps is wrong. Here’s a link to that vid. Hope it helps 👍. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2cVoOgNik5M.html
@@FloridaGirl- I live in the southwest Texas area . I went ahead an ordered three as a birthday gift to myself. I usually make them myself with crisscrossed bricks and lumber. But I rather have something that will last longer. Thanks for answering . Happy holidays and gardening
Do you clip the chickens’ wings? I’m afraid to let my chickens out because we have coyotes and I’m also afraid they might leave the immediate area and get onto the road.
Love the video mate 👍 Love watching the chooks scratching around Would love if you could check out a few of my videos and give me a few suggestions of plants I could plant into my chicken coop. I would also need to protect the plants from my chooks with wire like you did. Thanks 👍
