Hi all,
I'm new to permaculture, and I don't own any land or garden. I would like to get my feet wet with permaculture to see if it's truly something I'm passionate about, without making any big investments. In this case I would like to do something with raising chickens.
So I came up with plan A and plan B:
Plan A: ask someone who owns a bit of land to grant me permission to raise a small amount (1-10) chickens on their land.
Benefits for landowner:
-free eggs/meat
-fertilizing their land
-reducing the insect hindrance for the owner's animals
Downsides for landowner:
-noise concerns?
-random person visiting their land every once in a while
Benefits for me:
-free eggs/meat
-experience in raising chickens
Downsides for me:
-costs of buying the chickens
-costs of feeding the chickens in the winter
-upkeep
-chicken-life long commitment to take care of them
If they also allow me to use some portable fence, I was thinking of raising egg chicken breeds with a paddock shift system. If they don't allow me to use some portable fence, I would resort to the truly free range method and have meat chickens since the area is too big to find eggs.
I did some scouting for suitable places within 5km of where I live:
Area 1: Next to houses unfortunately, noise may be an issue.
Area 2: Right next to area 1, separated by a little canal on one side and fencing on the other. Seems to have been in use earlier in the year considering the patches with less vegetation.
Area 3: Mostly empty stretch of land, 3 sheep
Area 4:
A dyke with sheep, not very wide but goes on for like a kilometer or 2, separated by water from both sides. This might be publicly owned as it borders a recreational park/forest. Can chickens swim?
Plan B: worst case scenario, if I can't find any landowners who allow me, do some guerrilla chicken raising, 1-5 chickens
Benefits of this over plan A:
-I get to keep all the products
Disadvantages over plan A:
-I could get fined maybe?
-It's more stressful
-I have to find a place that's in the middle of nowhere, yet close enough to the suburb in which I live, and isn't all covered by weeds that are too tall, or I have to put in work to cut down all the weeds
-People could come in and steal the chickens/eggs
-I can't keep watch over it
-Bigger predator threat
Area 5: in a recreational area, only reachable by a small footpath through the vegetation
Whether it's plan A or B, I intend to do it next spring, and in the meantime learn as much about permaculture and chicken raising as I can.
Questions:
-Is plan A reasonable or am I in need of a reality check?
-Which area is most suitable?
-How much noise do 1-10 hens make?
-What happens if you don't have a rooster? Does it mean you get less eggs/chicks?
-What to do in the winter, I take it they can't stay on the field in this temperate climate? How much will it cost me to keep them fed for a full winter?
-Can chickens swim?
-Are these fences too low?
Thanks in advance
