Chicken Yard - Integrating Fruit and Nut Production

[@coloradogardengal]

I just added several of these to my food forest this year. It's nice to see them at a more mature stage. Thanks

[@castleofcostamesa8291]

I LOVE your exciting videos! You inspire me so much!

[@Daniel-nf8pp]

Very nice. Thanks for the video. Here in Denver I'm allowed to have 6 🐔 chickens 4 ducks 2 🐐 goats and 2 bee hives. ✌

[@edibleacres]

Hope you hit all those limits !:)

[@robinsnestfarm7322]

This looks fantastic! More great ideas! Thank you for sharing!

[@PermacultureHomestead]

i really like those currants, such abundance.

[@nilasspasov8417]

I love this video. Great ideas and inspiration as well. Thank you.

[@ingridskitchengarden]

We have a nice big yellow plum tree in the center of the chicken area. It’s works.

[@TwinCitiesAdventures]

Hi there, I am trying to build an edible garden for my chickens. Why does the internet say that currant berrys and leaves are poisonous to chickens? What are your thoughts?

[@edibleacres]

Currants seem very enjoyable to chickens in our scenario! MOST importantly, we've seen that our chickens will eat what they want to, and ignore what they don't want to eat, so long as there is enough option around, so it seems reasonable/safe to plant for sure.

[@zianitori1565]

i wonder if having an overstory for chickens might make them a little less anxious in general cause i'd imagine wild chickens would probably have an axnious response to not being under cover since that makes them targets for predatory birds

[@zianitori1565]

with that logic i'd imagine they might like a good understory too

[@Squick99]

I'd very much appreciate if you could tell me how you keep your chickens in their designated area? My free range chickens will not stay in an area even if it has everything they want. They will eat until full and then will spend hours trying to get out of a fenced area. Unless I built a 6-sided fenced box I do not think I could keep them in an area. So their scratching ability and nutrients get spread over massive acreage instead of where I would like them to work.

[@edibleacres]

We have a fence around the whole yard, so that keeps them in.

[@arnoldromppai5395]

simply clip the flight wing feathers so they cant fly over

[@leevandyke4562]

I'm surprised you haven't started growing sunflower seeds in the chicken yard that are protected so they can drop their seeds in fall

[@poodledaddles1091]

beautiful!

[@ToddMagnussonWasHere]

Where do you get Siberian apricots? All I’ve been able to find online from nurseries are the Japanese Mumes.

[@edibleacres]

I found a person through NAFEX on Facebook who was selling seeds a few years ago, and now we are up and running.

[@bigal7713]

any concern of using the berries fresh for human consumption from the inside of the chicken run in terms of chickens dust or you would only do it after a good rain?

[@edibleacres]

I have no concerns there, we are in a wet enough climate that there really isn't 'dust' being kicked up that i can see... But certainly a thought if you have that concern. Perhaps focusing more on nuts or taller fruit bearing plants could be appropriate if that is a concern for you...

[@mycedarridge]

I have my still chicken pen under the cedars... I wonder if anything would grow under them...?

[@gelflingfay]

I love this idea!

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

visual barrier from the road, but not a noise barrier. that road noise would drive me nuts!

[@edibleacres]

Its not ideal, thats for sure. But its what we have. I could go deeply into debt to buy a different place but we are here now so thats what we're working with!

[@ceselb]

Having those two choices I would also live with the traffic. Saving up is the way to go.

[@innasingley1764]

That was very timely! Have been considering putting some trees and bushes in the chicken winter yard. It would get east sun, there are dwarf apple trees on the south side and neighbors shed blocks west side completely. So it would need to be either an overstory or shade tolerant plants (zone 6b). Any suggestions? I was considering propagating service berry, elderberry and mulberry.

[@edibleacres]

All those should be good fits. We love using currants for this design as well and hazelnut seems willing to grow in a very wide range of conditions.

[@davidkehr4730]

Where can I get a start of the seedless golden table grapes like you have? They must be cold Hardy or you couldn't grow them. Dave in northern Indiana

[@edibleacres]

I am trying to root them out right now and maybe offer them for fall 2020 on the website... They might be 'Niagra' but I'm not sure. You may be able to find them elsewhere easily for spring.

[@billhiggins3845]

Can you plant hazelnut from store bought nuts

[@brian4479]

Well done

[@dhsneed3]

How big is that area and how many chickens are in there

[@edibleacres]

Roughly .1 acre or so, and about 40 chickens.

[@MammaBean0617]

How did you touch them like that without being stung???

[@kahae9858]

My question too.

[@edibleacres]

I asked them not to sting me.

[@kahae9858]

Urtica gracilis? Thanks for that, I learnt something new about nettles. Now to go and speak to mine nicely. I don't think they're gracilis though.

[@MammaBean0617]

😂 no help! Lol

[@kahae9858]

Good intro to nettles - stinging and otherwise - here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d3-9Z2OBaM1lpdk

[@carolfreeman2962]

How can you touch the nettles? They sting my skin!

[@edibleacres]

My hands are so caked in dirt and callouses they don't seem to get it anymore (for better or worse!)

[@ingridskitchengarden]

Did you plant the alders? We call them tree weeds. Lol

[@edibleacres]

I put in a few alders just to have a fast tree that can be used as a trellis. Seems to be working really wonderfully.

[@cuttinglooselivinglife]

Thank you for all your incredible content. A wonderful resource and inspiration. All those berry plants and no trellising. I thought trellising vining plants was unavoidable? Love that you haven’t. Do you plant all your berries without trellising?

[@edibleacres]

We grow a lot of plants that normally call for trellising without trellis. That said, a lot of the time I find myself wondering how much better they would yield if they had some support!

[@cuttinglooselivinglife]

@@edibleacresCool! I think I’m going to let a thornless loganberry that I’m planting in an extended chicken run be wild and trellis free and see how it goes. Cheers!

[@krisyallowega5487]

It is amazing how you have been able to grow that bush from seed. Bio-dynamic soil would be an understatement! Fruit and nut bearing trees and bushes produce biannually the majority of time. Have you broken that rule? I just think that there is such a diverse fungal dominant soil that the rule book is thrown out the window. Leaf fodder is the ultimate food for ruminant and non-ruminant animals. High protein and high mineral content. I think when trees are pruned in a pollard or coppice the pruned residues are tied up in bundles (faggots is the term I think) to feed them through the winter. I may be mistaken though If I may ask, are you going to pollard your alder tree? Or is it too old to try? What is it 12' already, maybe it's too late? I just like the look of a pollarded tree, it is an eye-catcher. But it is not that you do not have enough wood for all of your needs. I think the type of Monarda I have in my garden is Bee Balm, wonderful flowers and attracts the butterflies and bees. But you are using it as a ground cover so it may not bloom. Thank you for your response in advance.

[@edibleacres]

Thanks for all this. Yes, we plan to pollard the alder this spring. In fact I'm going to do that to a fair number of the bigger trees, including a white pine that is about 30' tall to get more light into the scene. Should really stimulate some massive new growth this year!

[@bodo9387]

@@edibleacres What the heck is the name of the aromatic plant, which is planted under the hazel, used to stop the chickens scratching around the roots of the hazel and currants? Can't quite catch it in the video

[@KatheeDemontforte]

I love your videos, but every time I watch I can't help thinking about the yad. The yad is the little silver hand (index finger extended) that jewish rabbis use to read their torah with. You should do a video, in which you do your pointing with an index finger erect doll hand on a stick. Comic gold.

[@giancolabird]

I watch all your videos and do not understand how you have protected the chickens from raccoons! All my neighbors chickens have been killed by them, it is a battle.

[@edibleacres]

The raccoons, when they come, come after dark... Our coop is very very thoroughly secured with hardware cloth and such so (at least for now) they have not been able to get in. Plus there is a lot of food for them if they want to explore the compost areas!

[@CorwynGC]

Keep getting Scotts 'No Weed Policy' ads before your videos. Don't know whether to be amused that they are contributing to your income, or appalled at their attempts at brainwashing that somehow dandelions are a problem (rather than a solution, or at least indicator).

[@michaelripperger5674]

CorwynGC they don't have any control over he videos. Those chemical companies target "garden" type videos.

[@CorwynGC]

Yes, I know. That, in no way, diminishes my ambivalence.

[@edibleacres]

Strange the targeting on the ads would be so poor... The problem is, though, that the people that are generally attracted to my channel are people that are interested in growing more of their own food, and detaching more and more from the capitalist model so what key targeting strategy works with that!? :)

[@keya31gville]

They trying to brainwash the ones who are in the beginning stages of crossing over from the big ag church of chemical dependency.

[@Gulnazsalami]

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