It was time to move the chook dome.
The chickens had their initial rotation several months ago, before the beds were planted out. At the time, we were growing legume crops to improve the soil.
Now, for the first time, the hens will be moving onto finished beds – to eat the leftover vegetation, rotorvate the soil, and to weed, de-slug and fertilise the patch in readiness for the next round of planting. Bed number one was pretty much spent – at the back you can see lucerne, grown specifically for the chickens, as well as an old kale plant, a finished sunflower and a few straggly clumps of curly parsley.
The ladies couldn’t wait – they were clustered at the front of the dome, willing it to move forward!
Watching them on the new bed reminded me of the famous scene in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, when the visitors are so overwhelmed by the chocolate room that they don’t know what to eat first!
Clever Queenie and Bertie immediately began spuddling for worms, Francesca went straight for the sunflower seeds, Harriet and Maggie attacked the lucerne and Rosemary..well, as she does, she ran around the coop like a mad thing trying to get a little bit of everything before anyone else did. As always, it’s such a joy to watch their individual personalities shine through, and to see them so happy in their new patch!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Rock on! Congratulations on your new abode Lady Chickens! I wish someone would pick up my house and just pop it down over a nice dim sum restaurant right now :)
These are gotta be the happiest chooks I’ve met, kinda the feathered version of a pig in mud really :)
That’s so funny. It really is like Willy Wonka … they are picking at a little of everything! Happy hens.
These girls look very happy. Could this be the start of a new story series? “Tales from Chookdom”.
Wait until you see what happens when they find a mouse!
Bloodthirsty chickens!
They are beautiful!
They are really something to watch!
I love the whole movement of the dome!
Summer is so great to see, as well.- Outside I’m looking at a snowglobe -it’s pretty- but BRR- cold!
So glad you enjoyed the vids – the girls are such great fun to watch!
Jo, you should see the bed now – we moved the dome a few days ago – it’s now almost bare ground. They’ve eaten and scratched up all of it. Another week or so and it will be ready to plant up again! Love this lazy gardening method!
Anna, Gill, Peter, thank you for saying that – I really hope they are happy! They certainly seem to be! :)
Steve, no mouse yet, but I’ve seen what they do to a passing lizard! Scary stuff! :)
Maz, they’re very common chickens, but I think they’re very beautiful too! :)
Heidi, we’ve been blessed with quite good weather here in Sydney, unlike so much of Australia which has been flood affected. It’s been heartbreaking to watch. I hope it warms up a little for you soon!
Those little clucks sound so contented! It’s nice to see such serenity. Hope you get that bed cleared soon, can’t wait to see what you plant in it.
How cute! I loved hearing about how each chicken reacted. I really miss the chickens from my childhood, they were so funny to watch. I always say there is no need for TV when you have animals, and chickens are especially good entertainment!
I can’t wait till we live somewhere big enough to fit them into my own yard!
That was great to watch – it cheered me up after reading the local papers account about a couple of huge commercial chook operations up here that are struggling to get food to the chooks because of the floods – just goes to show that chooks should be kept on a small scale in my opinion.
We had a Linda Woodrow design chook dome at our last place but it wasn’t ideal as our block was very sloping and the flat bits were a bit too narrow for the dome. Still, I’d like to have one again when we settle.
I love the sound of chooks ‘talking’
Thanks for the chicken-vision – love it! Do you have any pics of your chook-dome? I’m trying to visualize the whole thing with great difficulty… I am hoping to welcome some chooks to my garden this year.
Chicken heaven, no doubt!
Your chosen sustainable garden plan is splendid – keep at it, and you’ll be rewarded – don’t know if I’d call it ‘lazy gardening’ though.
They look like very happy girls. Oh to have the life of a cheery chicken!
Chef, it will be fun planning what goes in next. Usually there’s some negotiation involved. ;-)
Amy, I hope you’re able to have some again soon! :)
Shangri La, some of the stories coming from up north have been utterly heartbreaking. Apart from the tragic loss in human life, the animal deaths have been massive and just so sad. I’m glad this post cheered you up a bit – watching our girls did the same for me yesterday!
Nic, no pictures as such, but I’d strongly recommend you get Linda’s book if you don’t already have it. It’s written for Australian conditions! Search for Linda Woodrow’s The Permaculture Home Garden..
Doc, thank you! :) It really is lazy gardening once all the initial set up stuff is done!
Claire, wouldn’t it be lovely? Only concern being who got the biggest worm.. ;-)
I so miss having chooks! We have geese at the moment and they are just as entertaining and adorable, but it’s not the same. I am still working on a new chook roosting design that will keep them safe from the carpet snakes, but I miss the dome system. It worked so well for me for so many years. Shangri La, it is possible to use the domes on sloping ground – you have to terrace to keep soil on slopes in any case – but you do need a dome or some design of chook tractor that fits your terraces. Celia, you’ll find that the challenge now is to keep keep up with the level of organic matter you need to add during the second week. If you can give them a good bagful per day, they’ll scratch it over, manure it, remove the weed seeds, and turn it into magnificent sheet compost that will see the bed ready within a couple of weeks, for another gorgeous crop.
This is just amazing! The other day, I was just commenting to honey on whether you’ll be posting more pictures of your garden. Glad that you have! The chooks sure look happy! How many garden beds do you have set up?
Just out of curiosity – do you get stinging nettles? My grandparents had chicken and I always associate stinging nettles with them.
Stinging nettles love to grow in chicken manure, and cow manure. In Tibet stinging nettle is the source of vitamin C needed to recover from a harsh winter with not much fresh veg. I think its the first thing to start growing out of the yak manure. It’s a real spring tonic.
Linda, thank you for the advice! We’ll be weeding tomorrow, and all the greens will go straight to the chooks. :)
Soy, we’ve got six rotating beds and a couple of little permanent ones for things that need longer to grow, like cucumbers and lemongrass etc. There’s also a “holding” spot where the chooks go in between rotations.
Lee, Frances, Pete says we don’t get stinging nettles here, mainly because it’s too humid and not cold enough.
Ahh roam chickens roam! I think your girls are pretty lucky things getting a change of scenery and all! New year, new view! :P
I wish I was a chicken at your spread. I hope all is well with you. The flooding is hard to watch from here. I loved Anna comment about a pig in mud haaa.B:)
Sounds like an archeological dig at Oenpilli. Someday people will carefully excavate and sieve the mysterious chook domes of NSW.
Lee: Stinging nettles and chickens? I am more a sage and onion person, myself.
Lucky chooks.
Lorraine, Deb and Beth, thank you! I think they’re pretty lucky, but then again, I think we’re pretty lucky to have them too. :)
Cosmo, I often wonder what future archeologists will think of our present day lives. Maybe they’ll think the chooks were the dominant species, and we slaves lived nearby to tend to their every needs.. ;-)
I love it when the chooks go onto a new bed! The way they scratch and peck like they’re in fast forward! Every rotation will add to the quality of your soil and your plants will reward you for this. We have a traditional vegie garden and the chook beds, and I have to say, in terms of yield and quality, the chook beds win hands down. Enjoy your chooky moments, Celia! :)