Jennyhenny Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Hello, I joined the forum yesterday asking about keeping chickens on slate chippings. Probably being too eager as Im very eggcited about getting the girls ordered. My garden is not the biggest in the world, it has no lawn , it has a patio area and the remainder is laid to slate chippings. Will this be ok for the girls. I have looked at the gallery and have spotted some photos with an eglu sitting in bark chips with an edging around. This looks very easy to do and would fit in nicely in my garden. Obviously when free ranging they would be on the slate chippings. Do you think the girls would be ok in this type of garden (no lawn) I'd love to hear from you all with all your eggsperience. Please talk to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Not to sure about the chippings tbh. The poo would probably accumulate in a smelly mass underneath. I recall one Omleteer had his/her hens on pea gravel, and had to get rid of it for that reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Hi Jenny We're all very friendly and really happy to help newbies, but I don't think many people have slate chippings which is probably why you didn't get many replies . I reckon you'll just have to go for it and see how you get on. If you find the chippings a problem you could create an area within netting for them with no chippings. They would be happy with soil to scratch about in but it might be a good idea to give them some greenery to eat (veg etc) if they have no grass to eat. Hope that helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Thought of you when I saw this picture of Sheik's on the forum. Not sure if they're slate chippings or not but you could maybe ask him how his hens manage if they are? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennyhenny Posted January 20, 2009 Author Share Posted January 20, 2009 Well done Ain't "Ooops, word censored!"ody Here It looks exactly what I've got, i'll give him a quick email (if I can work out how to do it). I'll keep you informed, thanks for looking out for me. Jennyhenny P.S. Going next week to look at a cube , one of you friendly folk out there is having one delivered on Wednesday and has asked me if I want to go and have a look - can't wait am so eggcited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennyhenny Posted January 20, 2009 Author Share Posted January 20, 2009 I'm probably being very thick but can anybody help me "Ain't "Ooops, word censored!"ody Here" very kindly sent me a picture of a hen on slate (my garden is slate) . I'm probably being very thick but how do I find who posted it, I'm quite new to this so its probably looking at me right in the face. Jennyhenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennyhenny Posted January 20, 2009 Author Share Posted January 20, 2009 Update on my previous post. I've managed to find the member who posted the picture but they haven't got an email address. I assume the only way to talk to them is by putting up a new post and hoping they spot it - Am I right. Probably got this all wrong and made a complete idiot of myself Thanks everyone for taking the time to read this. Jennyhenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 If you go to the top of the page and click on 'members', then 'find a member' then type his name in the box marked 'username' then click 'search', his name should appear at the bottom of the page. There will be a button marked 'PM'. Click it and type in your message. He should pick it up next time he logs on. It will stay in your outbox till then. I hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennyhenny Posted January 20, 2009 Author Share Posted January 20, 2009 Thank you Egluntine, I thought it must be quite simple and I was being a bit thick Jennyhenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 Glad it is slate chippings, I wasn't sure . Hope he logs on soon and can tell you what you need to know . And good luck visiting the cube . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Hi and welcome Jennyhenny! Although I don't have slate chippings in my garden, I do have a patio area with slabs interspersed with large areas of 25mm gravel. They do love to dig it up to find the bugs underneath, so it gets spread everywhere and (as said above) mixed with chicken poo (although most of it washes out, trouble with washing it out at this time of year, the ground is so wet anyway the water doesn't run away ) You also have to be very careful around them when they are scratching - flying gravel really bruises the shins Sorry if this sounds a bit negative, but I hope the info is useful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheik Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Sorry for the delay in responding, that was indeed my pic of slate above. Bear in mind we have grass area for our chickens to free-range on as well, but I can't see any particular reason why they shouldn't just free range on slate. Definitely use bark or aubiose for their main run though. Our chickens very much like the slate area, as Snowy says, there are lots of insects underneath the surface so they will do some serious excavating to get at them. We don't really bother poo-picking on our area, we let the rain handle that! If they were on it all the time though then maybe we'd have to. You definitely wouldn't want a layer of muck between your slate membrane and the surface, as you'd end up with loads of weeds. That would probably take a few years though, and the chickens will eat some of them! (the weeds, not the poo ) If possible, I would try and add some larger plant pots that they can jump on for interest (choose a sturdy, woody plant and cover the soil surface with a generous layer of slate to prevent them ruining it. Also, you can buy larger lumps of slate from garden centres that look nice and again add interest for the chickens. Maybe even add a low wooden perch for them, which you can move around. Here are some pics as requested: This shows the area of slate we have. As you can see, it has a few features for chickens to jump about on / shelter beside etc. They don't like the fountain much though . An example of the mess they make! But it's not difficult to repair obviously, you just kick more slate over the top of whatever scratching area they are currently using. This Acer seems chicken proof so far... And below, some evidence that they like things to jump on Let us know how you get on! /\dam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennyhenny Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 Thank you so much Sheik, this is a great help. Your chippings are exactly the same as mine, i'd post a picture but I cant understand how to do it I noticed you have quite a few plants, I thought the girls would destroy them. I can see you have put large stones at the base of your climbers, I assume this is to protect them from little beaks Good idea regarding placing large stones and wood perches for them to jump onto. We have definitely decided on an eglu rather than a cube as the garden is quite small, but need to get OH outside to sort a bed for the eglu to sit on (wood chippings) but with the weather so cold I'm not having much luck Fingers crossed the weather will get better soon so I can get my order in to Omlet. I will keep you informed, thanks again. Jennyhenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheik Posted February 14, 2009 Share Posted February 14, 2009 I noticed you have quite a few plants, I thought the girls would destroy them. I can see you have put large stones at the base of your climbers, I assume this is to protect them from little beaks As long as the plants have woody stems and you slate over the earth in their pot they will be OK. The stones at the base of our arch is actually to stop the whole structure from blowing over - we put it up *after* laying the slate and it is pretty much just resting on the ground with some token support on the brick wall. The girls love perching on those stones though and use them to get extra height when nibbling the jasmine leaves. This isn't a problem though, it's taken them all winter for them to strip a small section of leaves and come the spring they won't be able to keep up with the plant . /\dam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
