Chop Wood Carry Water Plant Seeds is a blog about Self-Sufficient Homesteading. How can we live by creating a sustainable bio-diverse world, instead of by consuming and destroying the only one we have? What kind of teaching have you got if you exclude nature?

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Chopping wood, fixing chicken coop, collecting an egg

I am planning to have a both green house and a small kitchen garden on the south side of the workshop but a large Ash tree is covering most of the sun casting a large shade onto this part, so I decided to take it down and use it as fire wood. I didnt cut the tree all the way down to the ground. It is still alive and able to grow new branches which I will use to feed our sheep (if they like it).
I collected the first egg :) it is tiny in comparison to the ones we had last year from the industrial breed called Lohmann.
I have decided to add a thick layer of saw dust in the coop. I have read somewhere that people use this method so chicks have something to dig around and also for less need to clean often. One person cleans the entire coop once every 3-4 month and she uses this as a cover material in her garden. One can also use it for the compost.
I also introduced an artificial light so chicks get approx 12 hours of it every day. This may trick them into laying an egg every now and then during the cold winter.
The only issue I have is the freezing water. I need to empty the water holder every day.
I also decided to have a hanging feeder to reduce mice and rat problems.

11 comments:

  1. Lovely chicks! What sort is it?
    best wishes
    Maria, almost neighbour.... :-)

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    1. Hi Maria :) those are Dansk Lant Høns both brown and black.
      If you live close to Hårlev I would realy like us to meet. I can either come to visit your farm or you can visit us for a coffe/tea :)

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  2. Farm and farm... It's just a small homestead actually... :-) Yeah we should meet someday. Are the chicks the large or small breed?
    Where do you live, more exactly?
    You two look real ambitious - we dont have any large scale plans - just some earth friendly attitudes and off course the hope for a better world ;-)
    But we have talked about having bees for a while now. Do you have already?

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    1. Yes large Dansk Landrace. The brown hens are short legged Lutterhøns and the black are long legged.

      Yes i do have bees which are in our summer house in sweden. I have 6 colonies but I dont know if they have survived the winter. I will check on them in 2 weeks. I plan to move them to Denmark in April.
      If you want to keep bees please talk to me first :) because my beekeeping method in top bar hives doesnt cost much.

      I live on Alminde 19 Hårlev. You can come and visit us whenever you have time :) this week or next week Im home most of the time.

      When I say farm I do mean a Homestead :) i only plan small-scale farming based on biodiversity and organic-no dig gardening. Something like Bønderøven ;)

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  3. Really??? Thats just neaby my parents farmstead - they live at Hestehaven 18!

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  4. Great! :) I only met one person from Hestehavehuse. His name is Erik and his house is called Virkelyst or something like that :) So I guess you can visit your parents soon and come by our gård as well :)

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  5. yes yes, that's their "in front of" neighbour... He and his wife is very sweet - use to be a postman, so he knows a lot of the area. They are really good with their garden... :-)

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  6. I have had Gammel Dansk Landrace a few years ago. I would love to have again, so please say so if you get any chickens up for sale! I like the large breeds the best.

    Sure it could be great to hear about your experiences with the bees.

    How long have you lived there? I remember that the house or was it the neighbour house has been up for sale for a while?

    I love Bonderøven! ;-) Both me and my husband. Do you have any kids?

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    1. No kids just yet but we are trying :)

      I will try to get some chicks this year so will keep in mind that you want some. We moved to DK in December last year, so just over 2 month here. Yes the house was for sale for 3 years.

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  7. OK - good luck ;-) We have a really great kindergarten in the forest :-)
    Hope that you will both settle well here - it's a nice place... though a bit conservative - but we'll manage...

    I just told my mother about you moving in - she was most concerned about you two having passing by car's flashlight in your living room... ;-)

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    1. Thank you :)
      The lights are not a problem, not many cars pass by. But I do plan to grow a tall fence on that side of the house

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