When the heat is on: chooks & worms

Our house doesn't have evaporative cooling, but our chooks and worms do!

The problem with hot, dry heat like we experienced over summer is that even in the shade (or the chook shed) it was very hot. Up to a point, chickens are quite capable of coping with heat. Their feathers not only insulate them from cold, but also protect them in hot weather. They don't sweat, instead they pant in response to hot temperatures. They struggle when the mercury climbs into the mid-30's and beyond.

To assist, we not only wet down the dirt where they were hanging out and kept up lots of water for drinking, but we provided them with their own evaporative cooling system. It's not nearly as flash as it might at first sound.

Some removalists' felt was draped over structures that the 'girls' could hang out under. We wet it down periodically and the temperature under there was four to ten degrees cooler than nearby in the shade. Not bad! We would re-water it several times a day on hot days. Suggestions online are to use frozen water containers to more slowly release moisture to do the same job, if you're not at home throughout the day. Note that this approach isn't suited to humid conditions, but it worked a treat in our dry heat.

Photo: Felt draped over the fox-proof tunnel that links the chook shed and the mini-orchard. A subsequent structure was more of an 'A' frame from mesh, to allow cooling on three sides. 

Photo: Looking into the 'tunnel' with felt covering toward the back. This chook wanted to find out why I was taking pictures, while the other two are sipping water as it drips from the wetted felt.

We also made frozen 'pecker blocks' and even fed them cooled food (think grated carrot, zucchini, lettuce, cucumber, etc) to help reduce their body temperature and keep them hydrated. I know others who hose their chickens down with water, but ours really don't seem to like that. If we do wet them, it's by giving them a cool (but not too cold) bath in the outdoor sink. The girls also seek out cooler soil to dust bathe in, and even dig themselves holes to sit in.

Photo: digging in to create cooler spots to sit.

In the week we hit 43 degrees (according to the BOM), I moved the girls into the bottom of the shed for a few hours in the afternoons. The relative oasis of 23 degrees in there gave them a break from the heat (and we considered joining them, as the temperature in the house was nearly 10 degrees warmer than that, at times in that same week). Side note: I don't think Build-It Bloke was convinced that 'chook respite centre' was consistent with the functions of his 'man-cave'. But then consoling me, had we lost chooks to heat-stroke, probably wasn't a particularly appealing proposition either.

Incidentally, we used similar techniques for our out-of-ground worm farms as for the chooks. We gave them cool food and water, and wet down felt that was draped over their homes, which in turn were located in the shadiest spot we could find for them. 

We heard some sad tales of chooks and worms that did succumb to the heat this summer. Have you got other suggestions for helping them to cope when the heat is on?

Note: this post is part two of a little series, if you missed the first one, head here to read it. Next up, honeybees in the heat.

Who raided the chook food?

It seems to have been a good season for blue tongue lizards this year. We've had at least a few frequenting our backyard. I like that you can often tell it's a "bluey", rather than a snake, just by the rustling sound they make as they move. Snakes tend to have a smoother sound, if that makes sense. If I see an unidentified reptile sitting still, I will tend to do a quick check for legs before getting too close.

This blue tongue was spotted passing through the chook run a few times in recent weeks. And then one day I caught it eating from a bowl of chook food. First, it lent into the bowl. Then it put its two front legs in, for more reach.

And the next time I passed, it was even using its legs to tip the bowl, for best access the tucker! 

Update on 2013-02-28 04:20 by Karen

A timely reminder from a friend, Marian, who noted that an absence of legs doesn't necessarily mean you're looking at a snake. She wrote (and said it was ok to repeat here):

This legless lizard was only identifiable by its snout which is lizardy not snakey. He appeared near the house at dusk during watering one evening. Luckily we'd seen one or two before but not so long and serpentine. He needs a 'Not a Snake' tattoo. 

This ripper of a legless lizard was about 45cm long. Fantastic, thanks Marian.

Hello 2013, where did 2012 go?

Happy new year to all! Phew, last year seemed to fly. Was it just us, or did everyone feel that way? Blog posts here were a bit thin on the ground, so below are a few highlights and perhaps 2013 will see some further explanation of some of these and more that we've been up to.  

The year started slowly for Build-It Bloke, with an injury providing a hindrance rather than a highlight.

Surgery followed by a few quiet months saw the tendon in his thumb almost back to normal. How did he go with 'doing nothing' you ask? Well let's just say we were both very grateful for i-view - thanks ABC tv. He was a surprisingly sensible, if not always an entirely patient, patient!

After that setback, he got back to building (read 'crafting') the shed as well as paid work. We had the usual mix of wins and losses in the garden across the year. And in-between working three jobs, doing some consulting and various volunteering, I managed to squeeze in some attendance at the conservation and land management course, which was fantastic. Click the text or images to view PDFs of the compilations below.

 

Gee, and I nearly forgot ... I also met the Prime Minister at the Lodge and toured the garden there, as well as those of Parliament House, Government House and the rainforest garden at the Botanic Gardens in Canberra (by night!). It was all as part of our region's launch of the 25th year of Open Gardens Australia in August.

I thought being a selector of gardens for the scheme was reward in itself, but this was a big additional perk this year! Here's an ABC report on the launch. For the record, I reckon there's a great opportunity for adding a vegetable patch and perhaps some additional bee-friendly plantings (for native and/or honeybees) to any and all those locations. 

Hmm, maybe I know why the year disappeared so quickly after all - it sure was a busy one.

Sustainable House Day - Sun 11th Sept 2011

The disappointing news is that The Border Eco-Living Program are not opening any homes in Albury Wodonga for this national event this year due to unforeseen circumstances that occured late in our planning for the event.

The good news is that means we can be visitors at other houses and see what else is on offer regionally!

The Wangaratta Sustainability Network have put together a wonderful mix of offerings for the event. I, for one, will certainly be making the most of the opportunity to take a squiz. They will open four homes in and around Wangaratta, as well as the Wangaratta Eco-Living Centre (a converted community centre dedicated to education around sustainable living in various forms).

 

Regular readers may recognise Mary Anderson's home among the Wang offerings. Also note that those with bikes could easily get to three of the openings very comfortably on two wheels from central Wangaratta (and what a great way to act sustainably, not just 'see' it!). You could make a trip of it and include all five, if you wished.

For more information, visit the national event site (www.sustainablehouseday.com) where you can find the details for more than 300 homes across Australia that will open on Sunday. The Wangaratta Sustainability Network website provides more detail about each of the openings they are co-ordinating, including the key features as well as the full address of each location. Keep an eye out for Saturday's Living Lightly column, too, which will also have details about the Wangaratta event.

Sustainable House Day homes and ancillary events will be on offer across Australia from 10am to 4pm on Sunday 11th of September. Entry to all homes is FREE.

Perhaps we'll see some of you in Wang on Sunday?