HI Janet

On Wed, 28 Feb 2007 17:37:39 GMT, Janet Galpin
wrote:

The message
from Adrian contains these words:

Hi Chris

On Wed, 28 Feb 2007 09:12:54 -0000, "Cerumen"
wrote:


"Adrian" wrote in message
.. .
Hi All

On Tue, 27 Feb 2007 19:29:22 +0000, Sacha
wrote:

......who did what today in their garden? Nobody here I can tell
you. We
have had high winds and rain, then everything went a bit sunny and
then it
all started again in a minor key. No gardening but some
satisfactory time
at a potting bench for me and away from the desk!

Windy & rainy here also (S/W Ireland) - but spend a happy couple of
hours with a borrowed rotovator getting some drainage into the soil
inside the new polytunnel.

Rotovators have moved on a bit, it seems - this one is a German 'AGRI'
- 6hp '2-wheeled tractor' - made short work of the somewhat claggy
soil. Have left it all to dry out some more before spreading some
peat-free compost on top and turning that in...

Looking forward to our first growing season here in the Emerald Isle !

I wish you well and hope you grow as much as I was able to when
gardening an
acre here with polytunnel, chooks, ducks and so on. These days I am on a
different acre here which is mostly what I call "natural".

Thanks for the good wishes !

We're n 2 minds about chickens, ducks & so on.
Had hens at the last place (Suffolk, UK) - and while they were
great fun to watch, and produced lovely banty eggs, the were bit
of a problem on holidays (getting neighbours to look after them) and
with general ailments..... - I'd like ducks, but I guess they're
likely to be as much of a 'bind'.

I'm in exactly the same state of doubt. I'd love to keep chickens and
have inherited a rather splendid chicken-house, but just worry about the
problems of not being able to stay away over night etc.
I'm wondering about getting some moveable electric fencing so that I can
vary the area the chickens use, but keep hesitating because of these
doubts. I'd be interested to know from anyone who keeps chickens whether
it's OK to leave them occasionally to put themselves to bed if the
fencing is good enough to keep foxes etc out.

Janet G

Don't get me wrong - it's great fun keeping chickens
(though I had my doubts as to the economics of the project !)

Chickens are smart enough to put themselves to bed, mostly -
but not smart enough to shut the door behind themselves g
I've heard of folks using electronic timers & motors to clost the
hutch door at predetermined times...

We used to let ours free-range (within a fenced-off part of the
garden) whenever we were in the house or garden. If we were going out
then we'd chase them back inside the hutch / enclosed run.

Never lost one to foxes - but just down the road they had a fox break
into a netted enclosure and caused a right mess -
guess it depends on how hungry / smart the local foxes are...

Regards
Adrian