Living on One Acre or Less

by Sally Morgan

  It is also important not to dig or rotovate an area destined to become a forest garden, as this will expose the soil and just invite weed seeds to germinate. It is far better to lay down a mulch to kill the ground layer of weeds, and then plant through it. Don’t forget to plan the paths and other key structures early on too.

  Some people develop a forest garden from an existing orchard. It’s not difficult to add a shrub layer of currants, gooseberries, hazel and hawthorn, and some climbers such as roses, raspberries and blackberries. Some of the existing grassy ground cover can be mulched and planted with perennials such as artichokes, mints, hostas, ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris), walking onion, chives and violets. Even dandelions, with their deep roots, can be valuable.

  A mulch of cardboard to kill the ground layer of weeds before planting.

  This orchard on a terrace in Hong Kong has been underplanted to create a forest garden.

  Alternatively, a large poultry pen could be a good starting point. For example, plant a couple of fruit trees and some perennials that are robust enough to cope with the birds, such as comfrey, to create ground cover. The benefits are quickly realized, as the trees provide the poultry with shade and windfalls, while you get a second crop from the same area.

  Grow your own spices

  If you do a lot of pickling and cooking with spices you will know how expensive it is to buy just a small pack of spices. The good news is that a surprising number of hardy shrubs and trees can be grown to provide spices. For example, a number of plants of the genus Zanthoxylum, from Nepal, China and Japan, are great substitutes for black pepper. The best known of these is the Szechuan pepper (Zanthoxylum schinifolium): a shrub that likes a sunny position, where it will grows up to 4m (13') high. (It is pictured on page 119.) If you like ginger, try Zingiber mioga (Japanese ginger), a shade-loving relative of the commercial ginger. Its leaves, shoots and flower buds have a gingery taste and are widely used in Japanese cuisine.

  Allspice is a useful spice, especially if you like Caribbean or Middle Eastern cuisine. The main source is Pimenta dioica, which is not hardy, but there are some hardy alternatives, such as the wild allspice (Lindera benzoin), which grows to 6m (20'), and Carolina allspice (Calycanthus floridus), which reaches 3m (10'). Both have aromatic leaves and bark. You can grow your own liquorice too. Liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) is a small shrub with edible roots, and it’s also a nitrogen fixer.

  PART THREE

  KEEPING LIVESTOCK

  Chapter SEVEN

  Poultry for eggs & meat

  The chicken is probably the most popular animal to keep on a smallholding, but it’s not the only bird to consider. Ducks, geese and turkeys can be raised for either eggs or meat, and are ideally suited to small plots. Or there’s the tiny quail, which is a prolific egg-layer.

  It’s not hard to find room to keep chickens: even a limited space should be plenty for both egg-layers and birds raised for meat. Ducks and even turkeys will be happy in a modestly sized pen, while geese are grazing animals, so need plenty of grass. With space at a premium, try to include poultry in your crop rotations or run them under fruit trees, to maximize the use of the land and get ‘two crops from one space’.

  Poultry for eggs

  If you decide to keep chickens, there are many choices available. This section describes the options, and explains the needs of a laying flock.

  Choosing your chickens

  Laying hens are usually bought as point-of-lay pullets, that is, birds that are about 18-20 weeks old and about to start laying. When choosing your birds, you have a number of options: hybrid, traditional or ‘ex-bat’.

  Hybrid chickens

  Commercial hybrids can produce in excess of 320 eggs a year, and many, for example the Black Rock or Warren, are bred for a free-range system. Some commercial poultry breeders have bred their own range of hybrid egg-layers, and often the choice of the bird comes down to the colour of the egg that it produces. Although they lay well for a few years, hybrid birds are not as long-lived as a traditional breed.

  You can expect a young hybrid bird to lay well for its first year, even through winter, and then production declines through the rest of its life. Older birds still lay eggs – just not very many. Hens moult in the autumn of their second year, and then every autumn, during which laying either declines greatly or ceases altogether for around 4 to 6 weeks. They will lay fewer eggs during winter too, as there is not enough light to stimulate egg laying. You can overcome this by providing artificial lights that come on a few hours before dawn to extend the daylight hours.

  One of the most popular hybrids is the hardy Black Rock.

  Our Silverlink hybrids have mostly white feathers with some brown, and lay brown eggs. They are incredibly friendly and docile, and are happy to be picked up.

  Traditional breeds

  There is a huge choice among the traditional breeds, such as the Light Sussex, Welsummer, Maran or Buff Orpington. Over the years, poultry breeders have selected birds for their appearance and not for their egg-laying abilities, so these birds can look great, but they may only lay 60 or 70 eggs a year, during spring and early summer. You should therefore check the egg-laying records of the breeder. The darkest eggs come from the Welsummer, Maran and Penedesenca (in the USA), some lines of which lay amazing chocolate-brown eggs that are much desired and very popular with consumers. Also in demand are the blue eggs laid by the Cream Legbar, Araucana and Ameraucana (in the USA).

  A trio of Welsummers. The hens lay very dark brown eggs.

  Ex-bats

  An alternative to buying point-of-lay birds, either hybrid or traditional, is the ‘ex-bat’. This is a commercial bird at the end of its (commercial) laying life. Commercial birds are not kept beyond the moult (around 78 weeks), so they are usually slaughtered at that point, although they could go on laying for several years. Nowadays, the battery-cage system is no longer in existence in the EU, so ex-bats come from colony cages (with more space than a battery cage), or even from a free-range flock. The birds will look a bit feather-bare as they are moulting, but this appearance does not mean that they have been mistreated.

  Some recently acquired ex-bats in their new pen.

  These birds require extra care during their first few weeks as they adjust to a new system. If they have been housed inside with lights, they will need to adapt to a free-range life, as they won’t be used to returning to their house at dusk, using the nest box or even perching. They can be nervous at first and not wander far from the house, but they will soon learn to scratch or explore. They will need a good-quality food to help them regrow their feathers, plus a vitamin-and-mineral supplement in the food or water. But with a bit of care and attention these birds can provide several years’ worth of eggs, so they are an option for people who like the idea of giving a home to birds that would otherwise be slaughtered.

  Moulting hens look a bit feather-bare but the feathers soon grow back.

  Introducing new hens

  Problems can crop up when you introduce new hens to an existing flock, especially if they are much younger, or there are just one or two. When introducing hens, always place them in the hen house so they can come out in their own time and know their way back. Put them in the pen in the open and you’ll be chasing them around at dusk!

  The best time to introduce the newcomers is at night, as hens rarely squabble at night. Pop them in the house, either on the floor or on an unoccupied perch, and leave them. In the morning, the flock will rush outside, leaving the newcomers, who will take their time. Outside, it’s best to make sure that there are several sources of food and water, as the bullies in the flock are quite likely to chase the newcomers away from the food. You can also hang some sunflower heads, a cauliflower or a cabbage in the pen to distract them.

  A good feed

  Laying hens need a good-quality feed, such as a mash or pellet that has been formulated for their needs. An adult bird will require 50-120g (approx. 2-4oz) of food a day, depending on its
size and the time of year. Wheat or maize can be added as energy sources in winter, especially in the afternoon to keep them warm at night, but remember that these foods are a bit like chocolate to a chicken! You can also give treats in the form of greens, seedheads, dandelions, chickweed, groundsel, etc.

  To prevent wild birds and rats snacking on the food you can use an automatic feeder, which either releases a small quantity of food at a time or is operated by a treadle on which the birds stand to reveal the food.

  In addition to feed, all poultry need grit for their digestive system, and oyster shell as a source of calcium.

  Food waste

  REMEMBER that it is illegal in the EU to feed chickens any food that has been in a kitchen or catering establishment, whether domestic or commercial (see Appendix).

  Hens love fruit and seeds, so grow sunflowers around the plot to provide a supply of sunflower seeds.

  Housing

  Hens roost at night, so they need a house or shed. If your pen is not completely predator-proof, they will need to be locked in every evening for their own protection and let out again in the morning. Most hen houses are made of wood, but there are also houses made from plastic and recycled plastic sheets. These have a number of advantages over wood, especially when it comes to the control of the dreaded red mite (see page 157).

  When making or buying a house, ensure you have enough space for the number of birds you intend to keep. You need to allow a minimum floor space of 30cm x 30cm (12" x 12") per bird, that’s about nine or ten birds per square metre (11 square feet), and if you prefer higher welfare standards then aim for the organic standard of six birds per square metre. However, do not have too few birds in a house, as they huddle together and their body warmth keeps them warm in cold weather. If there are too few birds in the house, they can get cold. Ventilation is important too, so look for vents that will provide a good flow of air. Many poultry keepers are tempted to close up the ventilation holes in cold weather to keep the birds warm, but ventilation is essential for their good health.

  Hen houses are heavy, especially the larger ones, so think carefully about where you will position it. It needs to be oriented so that the entrance is facing away from the prevailing wind. If the site is windy, provide a windbreak in the form of a screen, mesh or even a straw bale to give the birds shelter. If you are rotating your birds on to fresh ground regularly, you will have to move the house from pen to pen, so you will need skids, wheels or carrying handles. A raised house with space underneath provides shelter from the rain and sun.

  Our small flock of hybrid hens has a plastic house with six nest boxes, and a shelter in their pen made from pallets.

  Hens also need a perch to roost at night. A perch is a rod of wood or plastic with a diameter of 4-5cm (1½-2") so the bird can wrap its feet around it to grip on. Space-wise, allow 15-25cm (6-10") of perch space per bird. Another requirement is nest boxes: at least one box per three birds, lined with nesting material, for example wood shavings, straw or hemp bedding. The pophole (entrance) of the house needs to be large enough for the birds to get out easily and needs a fastening that prevents the fox from getting in. A layer of bedding should be spread over the floor to take the dirt off feet and catch droppings.

  Placing a shelter in the poultry pen provides the birds with shade and helps to draw them away from the hen house.

  The poultry pen

  Your hens need to be contained: if left to range free, they are not only at risk from the fox but are also likely to demolish any vegetable beds. There are a number of options to consider. On a small plot, it is feasible to erect fox-proof fencing around the perimeter of the whole site (see Chapter 1, page 30). Although expensive, this could be a good investment. My own plot has perimeter fencing with tall stakes supporting three lines of wire to deter the deer, and two electric lines near the ground to stop rabbits and foxes getting in.

  My poultry pens are fenced using panels, each about 3m (10') in length and 1.8m (6') high, constructed from a wooden frame and chicken mesh (pictured below). These panels are easy to make and erect, and are supported in place with a wooden stake and plastic ties. To secure this against the fox, an electric line could be run along the top and bottom of the fencing. Another option is electric poultry netting, which consists of a plastic net supported by plastic stakes, and a battery unit. This is an easily moved system (see Chapter 1, page 24).

  These poultry pens are easily erected and dismantled, so they can be moved regularly.

  Hens don’t need a huge amount of space, but if you put too many in a small area they will quickly remove the vegetation, leaving your soil exposed, so every time it rains you get a muddy mess and dirty eggs! Then when you move the pen, the bare soil is quickly colonized by weeds rather than grass, and you end up with a weedy patch. Ideally, you should aim to provide at least 10m2 (108 sq ft) per bird, which should be sufficient to ensure good cover year-round and give the hens something interesting to investigate, where they can scratch and find things to eat.

  In the wild, the ancestor of the domestic hen, the jungle fowl, hunts for food on the forest floor, feeding on spiders, beetles and other insects as well as leaves, shoots and seeds. One way to encourage a rich diversity of invertebrates is to allow the grass to grow long and to incorporate flowers that attract insects, such as yarrow (Achillea millefolium). Such a meadow-like habitat could supply up to 20 per cent of the birds’ nutritional needs. Alternatively, you could provide more of a forest garden for the poultry, similar to their original jungle environment, by planting trees and shrubs (which would provide leaf litter for them to scratch) and including log piles to attract beetles and spiders. The trees will also offer shelter from the weather and protection from aerial predators. A willow coppice grown for fuel or a nuttery would also provide an excellent habitat for hens. (See Chapter 6 for more on tree crops and forest gardens.)

  If you have less space, then you will have to move the pen regularly to keep the ground covered. Don’t forget to make use of your perennial vegetable beds, orchard and fruit cages during the autumn and winter months, as the birds can range under the shrubs and trees, gaining shade and eating any fallen fruits, but not damage the plants. If you only have a few chickens in a house and run, you can rotate that around your vegetable beds, so that the chickens clear the beds of pests before being moved to fresh ground.

  Hens, like all birds, suffer from intestinal parasites, such as roundworms and tapeworms (see page 158), so the other important reason for rotating pens is because it will reduce the worm burden. The eggs of roundworms can survive in the ground for at least 3 months, especially in shady places and in the damp areas around water troughs, so the worms’ life cycle can be broken by resting the ground for several months, or longer if possible. Once the ground has been used, move the birds to a fresh pen, rake the surface of the old ground and lime it to adjust the pH of the soil, as chicken droppings acidify the soil. If the ground cover is patchy, consider re-seeding with a poultry seed mix with grasses that can withstand the scratching of hens.

  Going broody

  A broody hen is one that sits on her nest, even when it’s empty, and pecks at you when you try to reach the eggs underneath her or move her off the nest. It’s not such a problem in hybrid hens, as they have been bred not to be broody, but it is common in the rare breeds and particularly in bantams such as Silkies. It becomes an issue, as a broody hen will sit all day and may not feed or drink, even in hot weather. Broodiness can last for 2 or even 3 weeks, and if you allow her to sit she may die of starvation. Remove her from the nest and put her outside, closing the pop hole if necessary to stop her slipping back. Check that she has taken some food and water before opening the pophole. Never encourage her by feeding her inside the house or leaving water beside the nest box. If this doesn’t work, you may have to remove her and keep her in a cage away from the flock until the broodiness passes. Of course broodiness can be useful at certain times of year, for example if you wanted to hatch a few eggs, and Si
lkies are excellent mothers.

  A broody hen refusing to leave the nest box.

  A chicken scavenging system

  In many countries, chickens roam around settlements and exist on waste domestic food. While this is not possible in the UK and many other parts of the world, due to rules regarding catering waste (see Appendix), there is no reason why chickens should not be allowed to pick over the weeds and other green waste from the plot. Their pen could be used as a compost heap, and you could drop off barrowloads of green waste for the chickens to scratch over. Their faecal deposits aid the breakdown of the waste, while the abundance of invertebrates and seeds provides part of their diet. Once enough waste has built up, the birds can be moved to a new pen and the process repeated.

  Speciality eggs

  Hens are not the only birds that can be raised for their eggs. The eggs from ducks, geese, turkeys, quail, pheasants and rheas are all options. Quail eggs (see page 144) have long been sold on supermarket shelves, as have duck eggs, and while the others are more of a novelty, they are just as tasty. In North America, turkey eggs were widely eaten until the turn of the twentieth century, when they fell out of fashion.