Free Chicken Food from Logs and Rocks!

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Edible Acres is a full service permaculture nursery located in the Finger Lakes area of NY state. We grow all layers of perennial food forest systems and provide super hardy, edible, useful, medicinal, easy to propagate, perennial plants for sale locally or for shipping around the country…
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Happy growing!

[@thenextpoetician6328]

Two things I've learned about chickens - they're part puppy dog, and they have a beautiful language.

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Oh wow those hens. Exposed worms for 2 seconds and they went all velociraptor

[@FilippaSkog]

Well, they are descendants of the dinosaurs after all 😍

[@trollmcclure1884]

If I was a mad scientist, I'd breed gigantic chicken to grant them revenge, laughing franatically while releasing them on villages and unsuspecting cities 🤣

[@edibleacres]

They are fast and intense about it!

[@snuugumz]

You’d be impressed with what mine can do to a potato bug (Jerusalem cricket) when they find (or are given) one. It ain’t pretty, but it is certainly entertaining!

[@snuugumz]

You’d be impressed with what mine can do to a potato bug (Jerusalem cricket) when they find (or are given) one. It ain’t pretty, but it is certainly entertaining!

[@fredflintstone1547]

i used to raise mealworms (darkling beetle larvae) for treating my hens and raising them to be hand-fed and friendly. I would also keep them for my aquarium fish. keeping mealworms requires the most minimal of care and its very good protein and fat

[@gaevren]

This is so brilliant. Not just flipping the stones and logs for food for your hens, but the fact that they protect your perennial plantings as well until they can get established! I loved watching your hens crowd around the logs as you reach for them...they know what's coming!

[@fallenangelwi25]

I absolutely love the Dynamics of your relationship with the chickens. I did a full belly laugh when that chicken got rude with you 😂!!!! Your knowledge and experience is truly a delight to learn, thank you so much!!!!

[@carennorthcutt7724]

Your Hens are so glossy and colorful.

[@andrewsackville-west1609]

I'm looking forward to the video where the hens have learned to turn the logs and rocks themselves :-D

[@edibleacres]

That would be a real upgrade :)

[@socloseagain4298]

LOL!

[@eunicewairimu5990]

Andrew what are you smoking 😂😂

[@andrewsackville-west1609]

@@eunicewairimu5990 nothing at the moment...

[@SimonHaestoe]

​@@andrewsackville-west1609 whatever it is, start sharing 🤠💩🤠💩🙏🙏🙏

[@siamstation]

What a food feast the girls had in the video. Your girls have a great life. Blessings from Australia ❤️

[@edibleacres]

Thanks so much

[@Celladorzz]

i saw you doing this years ago in your chicken yard with logs and started stacking up logs all over my run! They all thank you :)

[@mikkeljylland9153]

Love to see how you went all in on that chicken system. You can also use old pallets. Let weeds grow in them protected from the chickens. And worms and insects when you move it.

[@edibleacres]

Nice suggestion, thank you.

[@alcrz3943]

love the immediately positive reviews from your chickens! lol

[@QuestionThingsUseLogic]

My son, who is called Chooka (in Australia we call them chooks, not chickens..), would recommend having Chooks!! Lol.

[@rosea830]

Our creek floods twice a year and when it washes wood onto the bank, those pieces go into the chicken pasture. When I go to plant seedlings and shrubs for them, they follow me because I have "The Shovel" and they know they'll get treats.

[@simpleperrydiselife]

.... and they lived to see another day. I love how you are also concerned to not wipe out the little critters population. All about balance.❤ Lol. I love how excited they get when you flip stuff. Thank for sharing! 🙏❤

[@bobow7227]

I could watch these chickens all day! they look so happy.

[@ParkrosePermaculture]

I’m a bit fan of stacking rotting logs in my chicken run and flipping them every week! So many slugs, worms, beetles, centipedes!

[@LanceMcCormick]

Nice job with the birds! We had hundreds of birds when I was a kid growing up on the farm. Everything from chickens, ducks, peacocks, etc, they always following me around when working or mowing! We never really had a mouse issue either!

[@RavinderSingh-wb4pp]

You are a zero budget poultry farmer 👍 teaching people just understand nature, it gives us everything free if you want to understand with using simple common sense

[@cookingclassics]

I just got a couple chickens and they are very healthy and happy thanks to these videos. Thank you for sharing your knowledge over these many, many years. Your kindness and thoughtfulness are an inspiration.

[@MyHumbleNest]

What a wonderful idea! I am just starting my chicken journey on my 1/4 acre suburban garden. This will give the chicks and myself some entertainment this summer.

[@rachelbrady7404]

I’ve done this for sure but I like the fact that you just let them have some. That way those creatures can keep reproducing and your not starting from scratch each time. Something I hadn’t thought about. Thanks!

[@devonh2290]

These chickens are treated so well. They all look really healthy.

[@edibleacres]

Thanks, we try to give them a nice life as much as we can.

[@jillhoward1452]

The chickens think you are the most amazing rooster. You are always sharing and never having any treats for yourself!

[@karenbuckner1959]

Love it! We're putting our fencing in for chickens and food forest. As I move things around the perimeter of our vegetable garden, I turn things over and wish chickens were here already... abundant food. Soon. Very soon.

[@Grizzlox]

Logs split down the middle and laid flat work really great for this. Keep them nice and moist and partially rotting to get all the big fat grubs your chickens will love

[@MrMontyFontaine]

Such a simple but effective use of debris. Many indie farmers/homesteaders in the British isles and northern Europe use this to lure slugs which can be a real problem due to the damper climates. Most of the time they tend to have ducks have a go at them because they are a bit more respectful of plant life than chickens :) Do you find your chickens like slugs? Do you have much of a problem with them in NYS? Another really enjoyable video! That's why I love this channel; you have lots of videos of differing lengths but always packed with helpful advice or just some cool footage of chickens.

[@edibleacres]

We get slugs but they aren't too too bad. The chickens will eat slugs but would destroy our plants if we let them get in there.

[@davidchester429]

This works amazing for slug control if you have an allotment. Lay pallet boards near your plants and the slugs will hide under the boards. Scrape the slugs into a bucket and put them in your chicken run

[@russlee650]

I'm design a coop based on yours. I've watched all 91, well now 92 vids on it. I'm going to start with 50 with plans up to 200. Do you know how I know your systems work? Your chickens are quite and don't mob you screaming for more food.

[@patriotteacher7254]

I found a way to get a GINORMOUS number of worns:) I have a garden blender in the kitchen and toss in my kitchen scraps with paper. The worms apparently think white paper tastes like white sugar. It is remarkable how much of this blended stuff the worms can process. An added benefit is having them turn hard pan clay into loam in short order as well as feeding the ducks. The blended paper REALLY is a powerful garden tool.

[@edibleacres]

Probably helps get the ratios right for Carbon and Nitrogen I would guess. I wonder if you could switch paper out for leaves?

[@Mary-had-a-lil-farm]

I love that idea!! Instead of just burning the wood up. I like the naturalistic way it looks also. I have much wood from a couple of pine trees that were cut down, waiting to be burned. Now I have a better use for it. Thank you!

[@edibleacres]

Sounds great!

[@craigpalmer9196]

wood stepping stones

[@zachlloyd9392]

I can see my creation now, logs laid in a line, eyebolts screwed in, rope attaching them to a long metal shaft hinged at one end about 5 feet off the ground sloping to the ground on the other. Raise the end on the ground up on your shoulder, lifting all the logs and whammo, Smorgasbord, when done just lower the pole replacing the logs, fiddling with the length of rope could leave the logs within the reach of the chickens on the underside. That or pulleys on a length of rope, undecided.

[@wolfebilt]

Man logs are the best!! Want to point out also that those stacked containers in your yard with built in lids seem like a nice upgrade over many farm totes/containers that have separate lids. One piece is better than two, especially when its sturdy. Not sure if you have a video on them but I will certainly be checking on purchasing some. Great video, very original as always

[@holisticheritagehomestead]

This is the video I tell everyone about! Genius. Simple. This is so valuable. Thank you.

[@edibleacres]

So glad to share with you!

[@MK-hs9pl]

such a fabulous suggestion! looking forward to your video on planting perennials with your chickens.

[@JackHackaday]

Love your videos! Calming and informative, very approachable and relatable and homegrown. Thank you for sharing.

[@scrapzwtf]

Awesome ideas with the logs and boards!

[@conradhomestead4518]

I picked up this tip from you a few years ago. Thanks for sharing!

[@lucky13farms99]

Eggcellent concept. We do something similar with left over trees we cleared. Got lazy about the final clean up and had lots of tree pieces pieces left laying around. Moved them and the chicks came running. Now I just go out to that spot and simply roll the logs over a bit. The chicks clean it out and then a week or so later I just roll them back where they were. Works great. Does not look good but the chicks love the fresh food.

[@edibleacres]

What 'looks good' is up to us and the chickens to decide :)

[@twigandroot]

using vegetable oil as bar oil in your chainsaw has to be one of the best tips I've heard in a while. I will convert to doing this immediately

[@edibleacres]

Hope it works well for you.

[@michaelripperger5674]

I have some carpet squares down. And I just go through and flip those over and there all kinds of bugs

[@eljardinperdido]

I get a lot of mushrooms leaving logs around too! Great that the logs can slowly rot down and feed your soil too.

[@edibleacres]

For sure

[@SerratedAMG]

This is truly ingenious.

[@PetalsonthePavingSlabs]

Im sure my chickens follow me round on purpose when I'm moving pots in the back garden to get those worms, they're not daft!

[@maryhoffman9551]

Thanks for another great video. I would love to see information about planting perennials and shrubs in a chicken run.

[@Heather-xm9ul]

I really enjoyed this video! It made me jealous though. It's so dry where I live, that the boards in their run have been there for months, totally unchanged! I am thinking of dumping half my compost bin in their run, when the weather gets cooler, or them to dig around in

[@edibleacres]

I hope things move more towards moisture for you soon!

[@niccoetzer8552]

Hey mate... sorry to be so informal but your name escapes me in this moment... I have been watching your videos as long as I can remember but you have made me unpopular because I have decided to grow my hair organically as well!!! Love learning from you... everything you have demonstrated over the years has really changed the way I garden... thank you from the bottom of my heart.. ❤️

[@edibleacres]

(It's Sean, but seriously no worries in not remembering! ha!) The long hair and beard are from Sasha's influence. She wanted me to grow my hair longer a ways back, and then once it started growing I just let it keep on growing! Once you can pull it back it's pretty nice actually :)

[@clarkl4177]

What a great, concise tutorial 👍

[@edibleacres]

Glad you think so!

[@xX4estXx]

High quality video!

[@arwakaderbhai3486]

This is fabulous - thank you for such an awesome tip :)

[@edibleacres]

You are so welcome!

[@nareshlaxamanpatil2050]

Very Good

[@yeschefwithchadkubanoff]

Loved this video, thank you for sharing

[@siddharthkumar4452]

Thank you very much sir

[@StillSwirling]

My chickens love this too!

[@JeremyAugustus]

I love the simple solutions. When you first transplant a perennial into the chicken-accessible zone, do you still use the fencing rings, or are you getting right into the stone/log cover? I'm nervous about a perennial being so young and not lignified enough that the above-ground part would be tasty eats for them as well. Thanks, I've been ravenously devouring your videos- as if someone lifted a stone and I found them all underneath...

[@edibleacres]

This is all still experimental... If I had a bunch of extra plants from the nursery and they aren't precious, I certainly would try just planting with stones around them... If I bought in a nice plant, spent 5 or more bucks on it, or have very few... rocks woudl go around the bottom and a wire ring around them to keep browse off until they are nice and tall (at least 3 feet).

[@JeremyAugustus]

@@edibleacres Totally makes sense. I figured the more important specimens (grafted, unique varietals) should still get babied, but I just wanted to double check with your experience. Ironically, I'm reverse building your system, making the rings *first* to hold compost in winter, and then come spring/summer I'll move them to protect perennials. Whatever works, right? Thanks for the reply!

[@agaba5500]

those are some happy hens, you eco-wizard

[@edibleacres]

:)

[@yolylacy5416]

😂🤣😂 your chickens made me laugh! Thank you, Sean.

[@blissfulacresoffgridhomest2098]

Thanks!!! Love your videos!!! Wondering how we can incorporate on our desert property?

[@GryleStyle]

Amazing video! I love watching my girls hunting worms and bugs!

[@QuestionThingsUseLogic]

We call our chooks (chickens in your lingo) our little tractors..

[@karenaleccia9137]

Good idea 🌻

[@3dreamsPermaculture]

Love it!

[@bgh8904]

This channel is a treasure of ideas and insights. Did you ever follow up with black soldier fly larvae from an old video? or is the cold too much an issue for breeding them up North?

[@edibleacres]

This was a reminder to order them again for this season. I didn't follow up with documentation since I got busy with other things, but mainly they die off completely up here in the cold north winters...

[@annapry3456]

Simple and effective!

[@terrynoraturner1848]

Good video a stack of card board draws the squash buds for protection. Unstack the card board and if you don't have chickens stopmp.

[@johnscarboroughregenerativ7240]

I appreciate the video I have tried this myself and I do like the results. I do think that I should caution you On using vegetable oil as a lubricant in your chainsaw. Vegetable oil has certain compounds that unless cleaned out Will cause your chainsaw to get gummed up and basically ruin it.

[@edibleacres]

Thank you for sharing these notes, I appreciate it.

[@klarag7059]

“Spaghetti factory!” LOL!

[@RR-vg5hg]

Brilliant

[@multi-transportationsystem11]

Love it spaghetti warms hey that one hen is a gritty one like a boss

[@Green_Heart_Family_Farm]

Looking forward to using this! I've got an excess of logs and I'm considering all sorts of options, and this will be one of them. By any chance, have you tried growing mushrooms on logs near your chickens, and if so, do they eat them before you can harvest them?

[@edibleacres]

We have. We actually put old mushroom logs into the chicken yard and they generally fruit a few more times. The chickens don't normally eat them it seems.

[@christinemadrazo6755]

Bravo!!

[@sooshrholes647]

hahahaa 6:14 "hey i wanna see too." and it made me realize i was moving my head trying to see around the chickens to see what they got!!! Hahahaha.

[@tonstril]

Thanks more please we've waited all winter lol

[@edibleacres]

You got it!

[@daisygurl3601]

Thank you for taking the time to make your videos. I find them fascinating and educational. What you do matters. Continued blessings, daisy@MapleHill101.

[@carriedulaney2191]

And your hens will follow you everywhere, because you are the bringer of good things 😂

[@cosmicvagrant3980]

Veg oil as bar and chain oil? Wow! Gotta remember that!

[@edibleacres]

I don't know if it's the best thing, but it works for me. Could be rough on the saw for the long run, but this is a low cost plug-in electric saw and so far it has been fine.

[@KeikoMushi]

Some rather happy ladies running about your property.

[@georgefeliz7875]

Muy bueno!😅

[@aron8949]

I like to do the same thing with my potted plants.

[@edibleacres]

Moving a potted plant will reveal a huge pile of soil life!

[@Daniellevoices]

"wo no need for rudeness " haha my chickens are rude gangsters they would peck me

[@Dinosaurwarlock]

I didn't watch the video, but I tried to blend logs and stones to make chicken feed with no success :(

[@BiggestNightmareJim]

It's best to water the stones first en let them sprout

[@michaelripperger5674]

Have you tried using any essential oil’s?

[@edibleacres]

Hmmm... Not sure what went wrong, you did everything I described in the video...

[@rodneyjack3309]

Awesome ideas! Great use for canola oil, it's sure not edible, maybe not even for chickens. LOL Thanks for the ideas.

[@edibleacres]

Better use for vegetable oil than cooking, thats for sure :)

[@michaelsnader5028]

Put a handful of leaves under those logs. It will be more food for the critters.

[@edibleacres]

Good call

[@benneb663]

woah man...i see what you did there

[@SpiritusBythos]

Found this out last year. Kiddos love to partake in flipping over the objects and watching the bugs

[@edibleacres]

This seems like a great family activity!

[@lucyenemaku8801]

I have problem with termites as far as dead woods are concerned. How do I handle the termite issue?

[@edibleacres]

Definitely not an issue in a chicken yard, they'd eat them all up.

[@TwoHams]

I was just thinking about this designing my run and the video pops up. If I'm going to have bricks and wood laying around anyway it might as well be in the run

[@edibleacres]

Great timing!

[@robertoler3795]

well done...just super if you have any spare Paw paws let me know

[@JourneyWithUs13]

❤❤❤ What a great idea 💯🙏 I just got 11 girls today, And have heaps of bricks I can use 😊

[@edibleacres]

Congrats and wishing you wonderful adventures with your new friends!

[@howtowithhank4791]

How do you sell your eggs? Farmers market? Neighbors?

[@edibleacres]

We don't sell eggs actually. We share with folks and do some barter/trade with eggs and that seems to use up all the eggs we get!

[@kylecrusch2804]

I have about 20 hens and I trade my eggs to a friend for beef cattle, works for both of us

[@jaxsong1409]

Can I do this inside of my chicken run?

[@edibleacres]

That is what we do, I believe it would work for you too!

[@christineortmann359]

We do the same thing- even cardboard works

[@edibleacres]

Pretty much any random thing will work!

[@f_youtubecensorshipf_nazis]

I feel like you are missing out not growing mushrooms.

[@edibleacres]

We do grow mushrooms!

[@MrRJS27]

Yes, that totally offends my esthetics and sensibility!

[@edibleacres]

Oh well :)

[@reogrande8020]

And I see this the day after I give my compost its final turn only to release countless slaters and baby centipedes and other tiny creatures to the questionable mercy of my hens, it's autumn too so they are knee deep in leaves.

[@mcrage81]

I was expecting a magic trick. Jk. Great tips

[@scotthuey1981]

😃😁💚🙏✨

[@mvogelmeier1]

:)

[@herewardthewatchful1014]

I would definitely do this if my wife didn't have OCD and could stand me have a bunch of stuff laying all over the yard.

[@edibleacres]

You may be able to do it with a more regular pattern, perhaps paving stones or some sort of standardized brick that gets moved once a week?

[@dersturmerofjewery6038]

1:39 ww1 in a nutshell

[@kenneymatz]

Kind of feminine but informative

[@edibleacres]

What a weird thing to say. Should I have yelled more or punched stuff to convey more manly vibes?

[@RagbagMcShag]

arent you releasing a lot of carbon by slowly letting all these logs rot?

[@edibleacres]

Strange question as logs will rot in the woods or in the chicken yard equally... Seems like we'd be obtaining way more total yield by having them break down in a space where more interactions and life can thrive...