Veggie Patch gone to the chooks

I've decided that not weeding for a couple of months during winter may have been a bit of an error. Possibly. Now, I could have got down to do some serious maintenance, and I must admit I did approach the patch with the Whipper snipper in hand, but it was just too much for me. And there's the whole snakes out on sunny winter days issue as well. I'll admit, when it comes to snakes, I'm a bit of a wuss.
So, my new heros are the chooks. We have 20 odd chooks, and they are just wonderful. You may not be able to see clearly, but the I've put a fence from the gate to their pen, around half of the veggie patch and back. When that's eaten and dug over, I'll move it to the other side. Good plan, huh?


It's official! The weeds have control ( photo / image / picture from debbieteale's Garden )






The team, hard at work ( photo / image / picture from debbieteale's Garden )






their yard denuded, need more room ( photo / image / picture from debbieteale's Garden )






Red Mustard leaf, and celery behind still growing ( photo / image / picture from debbieteale's Garden )



Now all i have to do is go collect big, beautiful eggs before the big beautiful crows get them!



Bantams with guinea fowl & bantam eggs ( photo / image / picture from debbieteale's Garden )



Here are the bantams, hard at work. Those eggs behind are half guinea fowl, then she's laid enough eggs, and will sit on them to hatch. They're great little mothers.

 

A nice display of your chooks and their introduction into the veggie plot.
I know what you mean about not wanting to deal with snakes there...some of the snakes in Oz are very dangerous and aggressive as well. I don't know what kind you have living on your place, but why take a chance...let your feathered friends do the weeding for you--smart move.

What a cozy little nest of eggs you have there.

 

I'm always looking for new ways to get the garden weeded!

 

Good chook work! I love it when plan comes together!
Yes, I'm up here in roleystone- jarrah forest- and we've found in our yard a tiger, death adder, dugite.. so far. Do snakes go after your eggs? Enjoy your vegie growing! spring has truly sprung here

 

Thanks Guys.
Sjoerd, we've got Tiger Snakes and dugites mainly. The dugites usually stay out of your way, but the tigers are more aggressive. I was once weeding by hand in the flower garden, and one of the kids panicked. There was a baby right under my hand, curled up into a ball, basking. didn't even move. yeesh!

Eileen, yup, a couple of chooks make a great addition to any garden, and not only for the eggs! If I go out and pull a couple of weeds every day, it sends them into a scratching fury in that spot. Very satisfying!

Netty, it's the best way to weed. It's just that usually it's only a small patch that needs weeding, but this time it all got away from me.

Thanks Toni, they have done a great job, haven't they. Hope they're not full yet!!!
There's plenty more.

Hi Brombear, Roleystone is a great place from what I've seen of it. I've never come across a Death Adder, except for the odd trip to the Reptile park down here in cowaramup. The eggs are the main attraction for the snakes, but the odd tiny chick would probably be equally tasty to a snake.
Ever heard the joke about how to catch a snake?
Put one egg outside the chook pen, and one on the inside? Wait for it to eat them, and it's caught with an egg on each side? I think we originally got so many chooks because the few we had couldn't keep up with all the Kikuya grass, and it had a big snake living in it. It grew to about a metre high through the fence, with little sounds coming from inside whenever we walked along it. could have been rats, mice, bandicoots(but I doubt it!). Most probably the snake who got our eggs.
It was a big Tiger snake, with a very shiny coat!
Now there's no grass, and the snake would have to live a lot further away, as there's no cover for it.
Another plan coming together!

 

I think that one of the most impressive thing about Oz is the the great variety of animals there Animals like one sees nowhere else in the world.
The number of poisinous beasts there are also numerous and I found that I was constantly looking out for them. So careful that in a sort of Darwinian way...I developed a third eye to help me whilst there.
I recall when a tiger snaks passed through a campground that I was on one could tell its traject by the screams and yelling. It passed through the uppper corner of my little camping bay and was away. I have indeed heard how the Tiger snake can come after humans in a very agressive manner.
You mentioned Bandicoots, but I can't imagine one living in that clump of grass though. Curious beasts, bandicoots. I saw a very tame one aty a campground there in WA once and he came to scavenge birdfood that the owners put out. The owners had many, many colourful Rosellas and blue-winged wrens coming there. I was able to just sit and snap fotos one after the other. The rosellas would even eat from your hand. Marvelous place, that. I think that it was in Denmark....yes, the "Rudyard Caravan Park" the place was called. I had to pull out my old journal of the Australian trip.

At any rate...thanks for this posting.

 

thanks Debbie. aaah..nice snake methodology. i like it. I love all your chook photos too. have a soft feathery spot for chooks so your photos hold much magic for me :-D

 

Debbie, your hens (oops, chooks!) are lovely, and so hard working! I like your moveable fence idea to give them an area of garden to work on. Our Australorps will eat anything in their path, including squash, lettuces, ripe tomatoes and beans. Bugs, not so much . . . . They are picky about the weeds they eat, also. I think I need to talk to them about pulling their weight here on the farm.
We have snakes here, too--prairie king snakes, Texas rat snakes (I love those guys!), and of course rattlers and cotton mouths. Most of our snakes are non-venomous and all are shy. Since a rat snake has been encouraged to live in the barn, we have no mice and no rats, and so far he/she hasn't snitched any eggs.
I must confess, I like snakes. They are mostly beneficial, lovely to see, and better ratters than a cat!