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#1
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Chook dome questions
Hi everyone,
Would anyone have any suggestions on building a chook dome? I have Linda Woodrow's book "Permaculture Home Garden" which outlines using one in a mandala garden, however I have since read (from other sources) that the design is not stable enough in high winds and doesn't offer enough protection in the weather for the chooks. Also, PVC piping apparently is not a great choice of material as it breaks down quickly? (Damm, I was going to use it to create makeshift gazebo's etc!) Someone has suggested using a yurt design or teepee - however the structure needs to be moved every fortnight. Any feedback would be appreciated. Tracey |
#2
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Chook dome questions
"KingLillis" wrote in message
Would anyone have any suggestions on building a chook dome? I have Linda Woodrow's book "Permaculture Home Garden" which outlines using one in a mandala garden, however I have since read (from other sources) that the design is not stable enough in high winds and doesn't offer enough protection in the weather for the chooks. I've never built one as I have a house for them, but I do have a friend who made many of them. She always had at least 3 on the go and was constanatly moving them around the village on the back of her ute. (Don't ask why -it's one of those really complicated life stories that make one shake ones head in wonder at how others live!) She built them from all sorts of materials usually found at the tip. The materials list included PVC pipe, electrical conduit, old curved bits of metal that fitted and all sorts of tying, binding, holding together agents. She covered the outsides with everything and anything including old sheets, polytarps, chicken wire and bird wire, old feed bags and anything else that could be tied to the surface. I always viewed then as being both and eyesore and so flimsy that they'd fall apart at the drop of a hat. I was wrong as they were surprisingly sturdy (given the rattyness of the building technique and the makeshift look of them). She did lose some choks to a fox but then not as many as I have over the years when I've forgotten to lock the night house. The one thing I never liked about them though was that they don't give good shelter in our cold climate. In a warmer climate (or if only used in summer) they may be OK, but here where it is so cold in winter, I think it is rather cruel and especially given the nutritional needs of layers who also need to keep warm. Also, PVC piping apparently is not a great choice of material as it breaks down quickly? ?????? I think this is an odd statement and have never had any polypipe break down quickly. Even in the stock yard where it is left leaning up against a fence in the full sun for years on end. (Damm, I was going to use it to create makeshift gazebo's etc!) Someone has suggested using a yurt design or teepee - however the structure needs to be moved every fortnight. Sound like a lot of hard work. Any feedback would be appreciated. Tracey |
#3
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Chook dome questions
Thankyou for your reply.
I guess I will give the dome a try with the polypipe and try and cover it over with some tarps. I live in Brisbane so our winters are not that cold. I really want to try this design as it utilises the chooks as tractors for the mandala garden. I do have another book that uses strawbale as housing - but you can't make a round chookhouse out of strawbale! grin Tracy "Fran Higham" wrote in message ... "KingLillis" wrote in message Would anyone have any suggestions on building a chook dome? I have Linda Woodrow's book "Permaculture Home Garden" which outlines using one in a mandala garden, however I have since read (from other sources) that the design is not stable enough in high winds and doesn't offer enough protection in the weather for the chooks. I've never built one as I have a house for them, but I do have a friend who made many of them. She always had at least 3 on the go and was constanatly moving them around the village on the back of her ute. (Don't ask why -it's one of those really complicated life stories that make one shake ones head in wonder at how others live!) She built them from all sorts of materials usually found at the tip. The materials list included PVC pipe, electrical conduit, old curved bits of metal that fitted and all sorts of tying, binding, holding together agents. She covered the outsides with everything and anything including old sheets, polytarps, chicken wire and bird wire, old feed bags and anything else that could be tied to the surface. I always viewed then as being both and eyesore and so flimsy that they'd fall apart at the drop of a hat. I was wrong as they were surprisingly sturdy (given the rattyness of the building technique and the makeshift look of them). She did lose some choks to a fox but then not as many as I have over the years when I've forgotten to lock the night house. The one thing I never liked about them though was that they don't give good shelter in our cold climate. In a warmer climate (or if only used in summer) they may be OK, but here where it is so cold in winter, I think it is rather cruel and especially given the nutritional needs of layers who also need to keep warm. Also, PVC piping apparently is not a great choice of material as it breaks down quickly? ?????? I think this is an odd statement and have never had any polypipe break down quickly. Even in the stock yard where it is left leaning up against a fence in the full sun for years on end. (Damm, I was going to use it to create makeshift gazebo's etc!) Someone has suggested using a yurt design or teepee - however the structure needs to be moved every fortnight. Sound like a lot of hard work. Any feedback would be appreciated. Tracey |
#4
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Chook dome questions
"KingLillis" wrote in message
Thankyou for your reply. I guess I will give the dome a try with the polypipe and try and cover it over with some tarps. I live in Brisbane so our winters are not that cold. I really want to try this design as it utilises the chooks as tractors for the mandala garden. I do have another book that uses strawbale as housing - but you can't make a round chookhouse out of strawbale! grin I'd like to hear how you go with the construction as I'd really like to get some geese and would like to have them out in a paddock rather than in the chook orchard. I've thought that a dome would be a good idea for geese but have always been a bit too idle to bother to build one and then it's the usual catch -22: can't get geese till I have accommodation, don't have accom so can't get geese. I've just spent the last day building chook nests made out of lawn mower grass catchers which sit up on a stand. A lot of fiddlefaddling about for such a simple thing but hopefully it will work. Because of the drought I have rats around the chook pen and the chooks ill only use the high nest box and the pressure on that has been too much. I must go back out there now and install the unit into one of the sheds (an old half tank on its side- this MUST go when I get out of hospital as I'm sick of the sight of it). Report back please on the success of the chook dome and how effective they are at clearing the beds. |
#5
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Chook dome questions
Quote:
Have you looked at http://members.iinet.net.au/~helcree...f/geodesic.htm It's a great design for a geodesic chook dome. Far more stable than Linda Woodrow's original design. The webpage gives instructions, measurements, and pictures as well as some feedback from others who have built domes using this design. cheers, RR |
#6
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Hi all, my name is Lee-Ann, I am learning about Permaculture and the book i'm reading talks abopt chook domes. I have no idea what these are or what they are used for. I have seen photos now so have a slightly better idea of what they look like, but what are they used for? I hope this is not to beginnerish a question, and look forward to your replies.
Regards, Lee-Ann Quote:
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#7
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Hi all, my name is Lee-Ann, I am learning about Permaculture and the book i'm reading talks abopt chook domes. I have no idea what these are or what they are used for. I have seen photos now so have a slightly better idea of what they look like, but what are they used for? I hope this is not to beginnerish a question, and look forward to your replies. Regards, Lee-Ann KingLillis Wrote: Hi everyone, Would anyone have any suggestions on building a chook dome? I have Linda Woodrow's book "Permaculture Home Garden" which outlines using one in a mandala garden, however I have since read (from other sources) that the design is not stable enough in high winds and doesn't offer enough protection in the weather for the chooks. Also, PVC piping apparently is not a great choice of material as it breaks down quickly? (Damm, I was going to use it to create makeshift gazebo's etc!) Someone has suggested using a yurt design or teepee - however the structure needs to be moved every fortnight. Any feedback would be appreciated. Tracey -- Lee-Ann ----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups ----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =---- |
#8
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"Lee-Ann" wrote in message ... Hi all, my name is Lee-Ann, I am learning about Permaculture and the book i'm reading talks abopt chook domes. I have no idea what these are or what they are used for. I have seen photos now so have a slightly better idea of what they look like, but what are they used for? I hope this is not to beginnerish a question, and look forward to your replies. They're light weight (pvc piping and chicken wire mostly) and made so to carry around by one person in a mandela system (that is a rotating garden) I read it recently in a permaculture book (the permaculture garden?). It's used so the chooks can cultivate the soil and distribute plant mulch and manure after the crops have been harvested in that circle and then moved on to another circle after that in a rotating pattern of six or more circles every two weeks or so. The dome shape allows for the fact that chickens can't harass and kill each other by trapping them in corners and has a roost a metre above the ground so foxes and dogs can't get to the chickens. I hope to make them some day soon. |
#9
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Janet Baraclough wrote in
: Take a closer think about that supposed bed rotation "moving every two weeks around 6 beds". That means that each bed is hen-dug every 12 weeks throughout the year and by implication is, it's also re-planted and harvested every 12 weeks throughout the year. Is that feasible in your climate? This sounds very like the system proposed by Linda Woodward(?surname) in _Permaculture Home Garden_. In this case, IIRC, there were 12 revolving beds in a mandela, and the chooks were moved each two weeks, allowing one month for each bed between chook visitation. The chooks would only go around the system for 6 months of the year and would then go off either to another mandela of garden beds or to a safe spot under a fruit tree to allow the garden beds to rest. The idea was for there to be quite a bit of greenery and such remaining for the chooks to eat - in fact any empty spaces in garden beds were to be sown with mustard and similar as extra nutrition for the chooks. The system involved a bit of waste but was desgined to catch pests before they became a problem. Of course, your point about speed of growth is stil valid Janet - the system was designed for a wettish, subtropical climate. Tara |
#10
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Janet Baraclough wrote in
: I don't understand what you mean by "allowing one month for each bed between visitations". ? 12 beds used for 2 weeks each sounds like 6 months to me, and if the hens were in an orchard the other 6 months of a year, then each mandela bed got just one hen-visit per year, with eleven and a half months between. That's a very different proposal from the one ManickZe described. Er, yeah. What you said. Sorry - that's what I get for posting before drinking my morning coffee. That is indeed what I've seen suggested. I had thought that perhaps ManickZe had confused those instructions with a shorter time frame. Geodyne |
#11
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"Geodyne" wrote in message ... Janet Baraclough wrote in : I don't understand what you mean by "allowing one month for each bed between visitations". ? 12 beds used for 2 weeks each sounds like 6 months to me, and if the hens were in an orchard the other 6 months of a year, then each mandela bed got just one hen-visit per year, with eleven and a half months between. That's a very different proposal from the one ManickZe described. Er, yeah. What you said. Sorry - that's what I get for posting before drinking my morning coffee. That is indeed what I've seen suggested. I had thought that perhaps ManickZe had confused those instructions with a shorter time frame. Yes that was exactly it. |
#12
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"Lee-Ann" wrote in message
Hi all, my name is Lee-Ann, I am learning about Permaculture and the book i'm reading talks abopt chook domes. I have no idea what these are or what they are used for. I have seen photos now so have a slightly better idea of what they look like, but what are they used for? To find out all about it, try he http://members.iinet.net.au/~helcree...f/geodesic.htm The thing wrong with the ones illustrated ehre si that they wouldn't have enough protection for the chooks in a cold or windy climate. A friend of mine made and used several of these and as she had limited land she used to move them around the village in the back of her ute (pick up) to various locations where people let her run her chooks - she had a sideline selling eggs. Very funny seeing these essentially very flimsy things wobbling in the wind as they were transported. They worked well for her (in a climate where it gets to +40 degrees C in summer and -10 degrees C in winter and bloody wind non stop). She used old solid shaped plastic grass clipping catchers from rotary lawn mowers as nesting boxes (the sort of grass catchers used on Aussie mowers - about 2 ft long and one ft high and made of black PVC). I still use these for my chooks as I thought they were such a good idea. |
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