Nirvana Biodynamics

Its often hard to convince customers that eggs have a season as we all know there is always a plentiful supply in the shops all year.   But like all things in nature, when left to live as naturally as is possible while still being in the care of us humans, our humble chooks fit into the rhythm of the solar clock .   As the Autumn Equinox approaches (By the way that occurs on March 21or 22) The day length begins to shorten the birds lay fewer eggs or stop laying altogether and go into a moult. During the moult a hen will stop laying and shed its old feathers which are replaced by new feathers. After the Winter Solstice  (marking the shortest day)  The days start to lengthen and the hens start laying again. By Spring there are abundant eggs for all to share.   As the days lengthen a little more moving into September the hens start to look for nesting sites so they can secure a clutch of eggs to brood,  then  hatch chicks.

Nirvana gardens and orchards are truly poultry heaven where the poultry work together as part of the MFP for the benefit of the garden   Sunrise is heralded in by Robert Rooster Early Morning Calls and after a delicious breakfast of bran and Deb’s mix of special chooky herbs like nettles,rue,wormwood, comfrey and chard its time to concentrate on the tasks at hand in the garden.       On arrival at our r garden you will be Greeted by Honky Tonk Alarms                   And then checked out by the staff of Black Bitch Security Tails Up Mowing and Fertilizer Service are out tending to the orchard ground covers overseen by Black Bitch Security Around the MFP headquarters you will find the Speckley Egg Co operating at full capacity. Red Hen Hatchery has hatched a dividend and they will soon be being trained to be valuable members of the MFP community   Amongst th...

According to this young goslings the shahtoot mulberry near our veranda, along with another tree in the mixed fruit orchard, belongs to it.It spends its day alone cruising between the two mulberries trees.It is not alone in liking these sweet fruits as the tree is constantly visited by wattle birds, silvereyes and blackbirds.These birds are quite clumsy and knock the mulberries down to the delight of the gosling.The gosling has also learnt to jump up and grab lower limbs and shake off the mulberries. These are the sweet yummy mulberries. The red shahtoot mulberry is popular as well but we have it netted this year.

A couple of days before the heat wave really set in the large twisted willow that shaded the ‘west wing’ poultry house broke in two halves and fell down . Wind and the Willow There was an urgent need for shade and cooling as it housed some new pullets, a mum with 8 chicks (1 week old) plus a broody hen that where not yet ready to free range and keep cool under the trees. I fitted a mister in each pen and a mini wobbler sprinkler on the roof. All these put out very low volumes of water and cooled the area very efficiently. The morning sun was very fierce as it shone directly on the pens so I fixed some hession and shade cloth around the pens while I designed some simple awnings that would provide shade and ventilation. Here’s my simple awning. It is lightweight yet strong and has not moved in strong winds. Using 15mm PVC water pipe and elbows make a frame to fit the area required to cover. Sew on shade cloth. Strong thread or fishing line is best. Attach a length of timber using a small...

Against my better judgment I gave a fist time broody hen a clutch to sit on mid January. The summer had been very mild and a clutch of 8 had just hatched. Since the hen was very determined and so few hens go broody nowadays I thought it worth the risk. All was going well until the tree shading the pens fell down and the heatwave set in. Up to then I gave the hen a light spray with water every second morning. I built some shades, turned on the misters for periods through the hottest part of the day and in the late afternoon when the sun hit the shed put a sprin kler on there. I really did not expect any chicks. But after the usual 21 days, 4 chicks where spotted and where quickly out and moving around. A 50% hatching rate. They are busy eating, drinking and learning how to scratch so all is well for their future.