Cleanliness Is Next to…
High Security…
In an earlier blog (in Meet The Girls), I shared the hair raising tale of how my ruthless, bloodthirsty dogs broke into the fenced chicken area and committed an act of terror (here I am unabashedly using inflammatory phrases to try and obtain more blog followers…homeland security, the CIA, the FBI, HUD? and other agencies who do NOT conduct domestic surveillance…wink…wink…joking?) I’m sure a few of these folks must raise chickens. No. I’m not desperate. Getting back to the story….
I just feel a little guilty because I may have given the impression in that blog post that the singly focused, highly intelligent dogs figured out how to break in, implying that there was a measure of sufficient security in place. In reality, the “fence” between the dogs and the chickens is a bit of green 2″ x 2″ garden wire hooked to one side of the gate by a loose bungee cord at the top, as seen in the picture above. You’ll notice from the middle on down, any 4-legged creature can just stroll on in.
Yes. I did expect my dogs to obviously figure out NOT to go in the chicken area, but not for the primary reason that continues to be implied (chicken safety.) No. The real reason I don’t want them in the chicken area is because I don’t want doggy doo-doo everywhere. I saw what one hen did with chicken poop and it was disgusting concerning….
I mean, I cook and eat the eggs from these very hens…sometimes right out of their little vent. Egg is still warm. Delicious. I haven’t gotten ill yet, but I don’t want to worry about canine poop and where that might end up.
Which brings me to the point of this blog post, and that is – I’m definitely doing something wrong. All my fellow tweeters and chicken bloggers show idyllic photos of beautiful, thick, robust, house-trained, loving companion chickens taking spa baths and hanging out in the kitchen or on a lap (Mine screech, flap, and kick), immaculately clean coops, runs and yards you could have a picnic in -AND- bring the small kids too, blooming flowers and green overflowing gardens lining every nook and cranny of perfectly pristine paths of mulch, dirt, wood, or paver. This is NOT my experience…
From dawn to dusk, I’m dealing with, not only coop poop, but with poop virtually everywhere…Yes, they do have an uncanny ability to NOT perpetually step in it, but nonetheless — it’s not all that easy and, well, it’s just alot of shit to deal with. I spend much of my time spraying it down or picking it up. If it were just those little marbly turdy things with the white cap, things would be easier, but it isn’t always so…contained. I truly thank the folks who insisted that wood shavings are spread across the floor, NOT the straw! But no-one really discusses the yard / run cleaning issue or how even just 5 chickens can turn a large green, lush yard into a sort of wasteland. If anyone has tips or insights on how to keep ALL the open chicken spaces clean and sustainable…please do leave them here. I desperately need help!
Reblogged this on lindas- gardening journey and commented:
good blogger
This post made me laugh and laugh. Loved it. Maybe people people are just clever at taking angled shots so as to leave out the pooh. And maybe shots of chicken runs are taken just after it has been moved o fresh grass, which I do once a week now that they are free ranging all day (from 6:30am to 6:30pm). But yes, the pooh is in the back yard and I don’t go out bare foot either, which is hard when you live in New Zealand as we were all brought up to walk bare feet at home
The chooks also spend a lot of their day in the bush by the house so that pooh never gets stood on. Yay.
Thanks for the thought provoking and fun post.
Thank you for your kind remarks. It really makes me feel much better. I was beginning to feel like a failure at chicken-keeping!! But it seems like the poop exists and we all have to handle it with grace!!
I have one sure-fired way to deal with all that poop – don’t look down.
No kidding about the poop-o-rama back yard. I’m with you, that nice, marbly stuff is nothing. It’s the ceacal poo that is hard to take. Peeeuuuuuuuwwww! Oh, and have you had worms yet? If you look closely, I bet the answer is yes. Sometimes you don’t even need to look closely. I have a rather terrifying post about worms here http://laurarittenhouse.wordpress.com/2012/07/14/my-chickens-have-scratch-that-had-worms/
Seriously, at first I was out in my backyard every day scooping up the poop. Now I go out every couple of days and get it off the hard surfaces (stairs, slab near the watering cans which is where the girls prefer to drink, concrete slab under the house) and up off the main human walking/sitting area. When it rains (if it rains – Sydney is very dry right now) most of it goes away. The flies have discovered the ceacal poo and can go through a dropping in a day. The rest gets spread by the chickens (yours don’t step in it? mine sure do) and the elements.
The best chook poo removal tool is the chicken manure spreader, aka the lawn mower.
Yes, you eat the eggs, the chickens eat the poop and such is the cycle of life. Sometimes when I see the creatures they eat I think I’d prefer them to stick to their own poo.
For the record, I never go barefoot in my backyard. And, if I sit on the grass, I look closely first and change my trousers before I sit on any furniture.
Isn’t this a small price to pay for such nice pets? Mine do like me, follow me around, don’t like to be touched but I can catch them and pick them up (until they flap at my face), chirple happily and give me eggs. Poopy grass isn’t too high a price.
Wow..what a great post!! It gives me hope that all might be OK after all. I know all about poopy clothes from trial and error. Now I just wear old sweat pants and a sweatshirt when I’m “farming…” We can do that in the upper midwest (wear sweatshirts!). I’m thinking that once the temps hit below 30 ish…we’ll have what I call chickenpoopsicles, which will be quite a bit smaller than caninepoopsicles. It’s the best part of winter!! Thanks for the likes and great comments!! BTW, I did view that chicken poop website about a month ago and it was very helpful…