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stumbling self sufficiency in a small space
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12:33 pm
Wed 2-Nov-11
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Hi Everyone
I have just bought my first four chickens. I still have them housed and will be letting them out tomorrow, great expectations that they will enjoy there freedom in a large garden area.
My worry is when I have cleaned out the chicken house, where is the best place to put debris?
They have not laid any eggs as yet, but reading up it looks as though it is because of the daylight (lack of) hours.
1:44 pm
Expert
New members
Fri 8-Oct-10
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HHmm personally, I would have waited till the winter was over, you will be feeding them and getting few (if any eggs). Personal opinion only! When the garden is full we put our muck in the compost heap, but now just chuck it in the polytunnel and dig in. Enjoy.
1:57 pm
Supreme Being
New members
Sun 2-Oct-11
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it goes in the green johanna and becomes compost!
Trying to enjoy life as it is
2:32 pm
Supreme Being
New members
Mon 21-Sep-09
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Hi Anne,
Welcome to the forum. Glad to have you with us & hope you will enjoy being a member.
Do you have a compost heap or compost bin? If not you can dig a pit & put the chicken litter in there, covering it with some soil. If you are clever & mark where it is, you can plant vegetables like tomatoes or courgettes in this area in late Spring & they will thrive on all the nitrogen. Do not put fresh chicken poo on any plants while it is fresh; it needs time to break down.
Nadine/aka Hattie
"The beautiful is as useful as the useful...perhaps more so."
from Les Miserables
4:47 pm
Expert
New members
Fri 8-Oct-10
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I do apologise, I should have welcomed you initially, I hope you enjoy the forum and all the expertise on offer, they are a helpful bunch 
6:22 pm
Moderators
Tue 22-Sep-09
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Anne, why not go to the thread 'Introduce yourself and say Hello' and tell us a little about your day to day life? We are all nosey here.
I'll try that again!
7:00 pm
Supreme Being
Mon 21-Sep-09
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Hi Anne . We had chickens a few years ago and our cleaning out went on the compost heat and boy did it get it steaming. We will get some more chickens next year and one reason is to add nitrogen to our compost heap. 
12:10 am
Supreme Being
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Tue 22-Sep-09
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Definitely compost heap - wonderful stuff
9:12 pm
Councillor
Wed 30-Dec-09
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Yep, I'll 3rd that - when we clean out the birds (or even the hamsters) most of the waste goes on the compost heap.
Also you may be right about them not laying because it's too dark. Our quail stopped laying a over a month ago when the days started to get shorter.
Visit my blog for food, drink, photography and hamsters.
7:03 am
3rd Grader
New members
Wed 7-Jan-15
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After reading all your posts I feel really guilty as I burn ours in a huge oil drum
When we moved here it was our plan to grow as much veg as we could and live the good life, as it turns out somehow we both have fallen into jobs and have no time to do the above. We are very lucky though as where we live(France) there is very high unemployment, all the locals work on the Farms or Factory's Pork & Salmon or Veg.We do plan however to stop work and do what we came here for!
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