C Fox

My grandma had a lot of these on the farm when I was a kid.
We loved playing under them
I'm trying to find a few to purchase and plant here where I live in Iowa.

With Lime Dust do I need to wet it after putting it down.
I want to use it with gravel for post as well as on a driveway since it sounds like it holds up well.
Just want to do it right.
Thanks

Lots of really good ideas here and appreciate them myself.
I'm soaking up all the resources I can from Geoff Lawton on Permaculture
until the online classes start since going to Australia isn't an option right now.
I've been here going on my 4th year. The first two years had been great along
with amending soil in ways that was needed and had terrific growing seasons.
There has been a lot of chemical spraying in the air and last year everything
died due to the aluminum and other things being sprayed.
So rather than stay downtrodden I'm focusing on finding solutions.
I will be using leaves as mulch and covering as much as I can with shade cloth or something I hope
will be effective once I can get the soil restored somewhat.
Also will be draining the small ponds and letting them refill again as well as covering them as well.
I don't have all the answers yet but am planning to do some biochar and
wood vinegar and do everything I can to get some healthy soil
Also growing a lot indoors.
I realize if your property is large you have to find ways to do water retention.
One way I will be trying is using two clay pots sealed together and the hole on the bottom sealed
filled with water then buried in the ground to release water
as needed in areas near the fruit trees to see if can stimulate growth and plant some carbon
producing plants near them too. I'm hopeful for some restoration.
Whoever had this property before me for some reason has tons of small rocks all over the place.
So far I've been using them in the ponds but maybe a way of retaining moisture using them will be
valuable too.
Everyone sure has me thinking now a lot more on solutions.

Thanks for sharing this cynda.
I have a small grow light for plants in the distance so it's not totally dark where the chickens are and I think makes them a lot happier to not be in complete darkness.
I like the idea of adding sprouted grains too. This is a great idea and I'm going to implement this as well.

Great topic.
This is my first year having chickens and now it's winter here in Iowa.
I only have 5 chickens. They are now inside in their larger area for the winter.
I turn the lights on in the morning until early evening and they seem very
good with the routine we have. They'd still rather go outside and when I go
down in the morning to turn on the lights they head to the steps thinking maybe
they get to go out.
They eat a bit more and I have been fermenting their food for cost and health of them.
I use black sunflower seeds, lentils, cracked corn, peas, etc
I sometimes give them sweet potatoes I've grown, bananas, apples, etc and that
keeps them busy and don't seem to get as bored. Especially when I hang a few
of them up.
I get from 4-5 eggs a day and a lot for one person so I do dehydrate for scrambled eggs,
boiled and can them with veggies and more.
I hope this might be helpful to someone.

Lots of great ideas for using garbage cans to create a root cellar.
I'm in Iowa and can get super cold with lots of snow.
Now my brain is working on how to do this hear and where
is best place.
Thanks so much for sharing!

Thanks for your response. I'm in Iowa as well and will definitely check out Craigslist and keep an eye on what's available that I can pick up.
Great idea to repurpose the underside of the kids old trampoline then wrapping with hardware clothe.
I have a lot of tarp but an old pool liner would be a good outdoor cover for a coop roof.
When I'm out and about I always keep an eye out for what people are tossing out on the curb too.  
i definitely will be keeping an eye out for winter proofing too.
Thanks again!

Casie Becker wrote:I can't help you with cold weather tips.  The whole country recently got a dramatic demonstration of how Texans handles real winter.  (For a super generous definition of handles).  

We will be repurposing the underside of the kids old trampoline as an additional run by wrapping the base with hardware cloth.  If you can get your hands on any old frames that can be a good start.  There's lots of other partial fabric outdoor structures that I have seen people toss when the fabric wears out.  Possibly even old above ground pools.  That pool rubber makes fantastic outdoor tarp material and I suspect could work well to help weather proof a coop roof.

If you can find a way to transport items, tons of usable building materials are often being given away on Craigslist.   Just choosing a random city in Iowa and there was wire fencing, lots of pallets and several windows on offer. I would expect to see similar offerings across your state.  If you can't drive this will be less useful as few people will be offering to deliver free items to you.
I am going watch with interest to see people suggest for winter proofing.  That's an exotic topic for me.

I appreciate your input.
I mostly will have to deal with racoons, possums and a few birds that would find them good for dinner.
There are also outdoor cats from a neighbor that I feed since they don't. But I imagine  they'd not leave the chickens alone either.
It's gets super hot here in the summer and very cold in winter.
Ideally I'd like to fence off an area inside an already fenced area that is for the chickens to free range some and be put in at night. They'd still need to be safe in that enclosure as well.
I can see giving them plenty of shade in hot summer months but in winter I think I may need to have a  place to put them inside another building I have and make it secure again from racoons. possums and the cats that come in and eat.
I'm only planning to have four chickens at most to start out with and a few chicks as well since the older hens will stop laying inside in the winter but the chicks will do better as they get older in laying.
I have planned to get the hardware cloth and fine wire since racoons have been known to tear the chicken piece by piece if can get a paw in or two. Also need to do a run for them as well.
I'm trying to learn now how to proceed so can get started but do do it right for the chickens safety and well being. I'm on a limited budget so won't be buying anything premade and prefer to do it on my own and learn how.
If you have cold temps in winter how do you keep them warm? I know some just use lots of straw vs a bunch of heat lamps.

Casie Becker wrote:A lot of the decisions you make will depend on how many chickens you are planning on and what kinds of predators you are fighting.  Also important is where you will be putting the coop.  Inside or outside other fences for instance.  I will give you some of my reasoning as an example but for useful suggestions I think we'll need a little more information.

I don't have to consider bears where I live but we do have foxes, raccoons, snakes, rats, and birds of prey which all have slightly different defensive needs.  Being a warm climate here and a small flock I spent most of my money on a secure run space which is large enough to entirely enclose a small coop that would not be secure on it's own.  It's enclosed in chicken wire with extra wrapping and a ground barrier or hardware cloth.  This keeps smaller predators from sliding through the holes and bored raccoons from fitting their paws inside.

A neighbor learned the hard way that this was a real danger when raccoons killed several of their rabbits. Inside a fenced suburban yard it's safe from larger predators that could just tear through the wire.

Not sure if this will be seen soon since it's been awhile since anyone has posted here or how to make it visible unless by a new post.
I want to build a chicken coop/house out back for laying chickens I'm getting soon. It needs to be predator proof without question.
I may need to do a second one in a building I have to keep chickens safe and predator proofed in the cold winter months we have here.
I'm very open to suggestions. I've never undertaken such a project and on limited income but definitely believe if there is a will there is a way.

I dress grubby and comfortable around home. I'm always working outside or building something anyhow. Maybe dress a bit better if I do have to go to the store in town lol
The bigger city I go to it's better to look like you don't have anything and safer too.
Occasionally I have a graduation party or other family function then I can pull out some decent pants and a shirt.
Most of my family thinks I'm a kook anyhow living simple, doing permaculture and the like. For the general population
around here it's just fine to look grubby and be comfortable.