My Garden, My Chickens, My Beer

[Earth Wind and Fire]

OK, whomever has ever planted a garden knows the work it takes to keep it pristine & growing well.

I also have chickens that this year Ive allowed to free range (wander) in the back yard that is fenced. They also provide a rich source of errr.....organic fertilizer which is a plus.

Today they got into the garden & pulled up all my beans which really upset me.

My wife seeing this says.....Ive been noticing those beans are being eaten by bugs.....and I correct her & say, "no there eaten by slugs & I didnt want to spray them because I want the garden organic." I told her that if you put a small boll out with beer in it, that attracts the slugs & they crawl in & drown. Well then she says....lets go get some & we do, you dont have to ask me twice.

Im sittin here now with a cold pint & there are two 'slug beer traps' out in the garden. In the morning, dead bloated slugs will be fed to those darn chickens & happy chickens produce more eggs. :laugh:

 

[Arbo]

I "appropriated" a few of Wifey's flat-bowls a few years ago for such a purpose. Of course, the idea of död slugs is so unappealing to her that I need not return them to the cabinet.

At least I try to be humane enough to send them off on imported beer. :laugh:

 

[Winman]

Do your chickens move their head?



Some don't. :laugh:

 

[Winman]

Never challenge a chicken to a martial arts contest either...

 

[Aaron]

Just spray for bugs. The beans are still real beans.

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

Just spray for bugs. The beans are still real beans.

Just when I have a ligitimate reason to have beer around the house....are you trying to mess this up for me?!? :laugh:

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

I "appropriated" a few of Wifey's flat-bowls a few years ago for such a purpose. Of course, the idea of död slugs is so unappealing to her that I need not return them to the cabinet.

At least I try to be humane enough to send them off on imported beer. :laugh:

And if you were French you would probably have them for lunch

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

Never challenge a chicken to a martial arts contest either...

My wife has a similar problem with one of the roosters...she now carries a big stick when she goes by the coop. :laugh:

 

[Arbo]

And if you were French you would probably have them for lunch

To Swedes, slugs are slugs and not dinner.

The French, well... need I say more?

 

[SolaSaint]

I think you're just fishing and nobody seems to be biting.

 

[Deacon]

Years ago I lived in a townhouse with a very small back yard, much of it dedicated to a garden.

I planted beans one year but just after they emerged they disappeared - i presumed they were eatten by rabbits - I replanted the beans and waited.

Again, as they emerged the beans were eatten - so I purchased a small 2 foot fence to protect them from the critters and re-planted.

A third time they were eatten - ugggh what's a gardener to do? I re-planted once more.

By this time it was late-May and one weekend the wife and kids left for the shore while I worked the weekend night shift.

Mid-morning I wandered out to look at the garden and found a 2 or three foot iguana sunning itself on my bean pole - happily liking its lips after eatting my bean sprouts.

It turns out my backdoor neighbor's son lost his pet early March and I'd been feeding it ever since.

The back side of the story was that I gave them an old 30 gallon fish tank to house the large iguana - the mother put the tank in the sun the next morning with the lizard in the tank and accidently cooked the critter to death. :-(

But eventually I got my beans.

Rob

 

[pinoybaptist]

try raising a rooster.
should keep those chicks busy certain times.
just make sure the rooster is drugged at nigh so it don't wake up the neighbors in the early morn.:tongue3::tongue3:
I have a Reformed friend who went to the Philippines to spread his denom and his wife didn't sleep a wink the first two
They were up in a highland barrio where the animals are free to roam, and a rooster got into their room, perched on the foot of their bed, and crowed from 3 am to sunrise.
:laugh:

 

[kyredneck]

I've done the beer trap for slugs before, it works good; I guess they get drunk, fall in, and drown.

Last flock of chickens we had I kept a baited Japanese Beetle trap, less the holding bag, in the chicken yard during 'beetle season'; them comatose beetles would drop to the ground and it wouldn't be a millisecond before they were in someone's craw. 'Free range eggs' without the free range.

 

[Oldtimer]

I've done the beer trap for slugs before, it works good; I guess they get drunk, fall in, and drown.

Last flock of chickens we had I kept a baited Japanese Beetle trap, less the holding bag, in the chicken yard during 'beetle season'; them comatose beetles would drop to the ground and it wouldn't be a millisecond before they were in someone's craw. 'Free range eggs' without the free range.

You may have been better off to put that trap in your neighbor's yard to feed his chickens. Those traps ATTRACT beetles from a wide area. Depending on distance, you may have been feeding your chickens with all your neighborhood's beetles.

FWIW, one of my neighbors learned that the hard way. He put a bunch of traps near his grapevines & garden. He had many more beetles munching on his garden than we did. Thanks, neighbor!





PS: Posted that bit of info incase someone else is considering using those traps. Put em as far away as possible from what you're trying to protect. Best option is to buy them and give them to surrounding neighbors. :smilewinkgrin:

 

[Aaron]

Just when I have a ligitimate reason to have beer around the house....are you trying to mess this up for me?!? :laugh:

Just trying to make it easy.:tongue3:

I planted begonias last month. First time I ever planted anything. Saw that the leaves were being eaten. Sprayed with Sevin. $4.99 and five minutes later no more pests. Still had time to sit on my butt in my airconditioned home, eat popcorn and watch Doctor Who.

Now, if I had tried to do this au naturel not only would my neighbors been incensed, but I would have had to indentify the pest, research it's natural enemies and repellents, procure them. Five weeks and five hundred dollars later, a new pest would be eating the leaves. Doctor who?

 

[kyredneck]

You may have been better off to put that trap in your neighbor's yard to feed his chickens. Those traps ATTRACT beetles from a wide area. Depending on distance, you may have been feeding your chickens with all your neighborhood's beetles.

FWIW, one of my neighbors learned that the hard way. He put a bunch of traps near his grapevines & garden. He had many more beetles munching on his garden than we did. Thanks, neighbor!

PS: Posted that bit of info incase someone else is considering using those traps. Put em as far away as possible from what you're trying to protect. Best option is to buy them and give them to surrounding neighbors. :smilewinkgrin:

You are correct OT, the traps bring the beetles in even more and increase the threat to crops and trees in the area; we learned that the hard way back in the late 70s early 80s when the beetles first appeared on the scene here. My Dad actually did gave his traps away to his neighbors to get them away from his fruit trees.

But there has actually been a major reduction in the Jap Beetle population in this area, I think mainly due to droughts in the late 80s and around 99-00, which kills the eggs/larvae in the ground.

Anyhoo, the traps will feed the chickens for about 4-6 weeks, it's up to the user to decide if it's worth it or not.

Another use for them is to hang them on a Black Willow limb overhanging the river bank; makes an incredible bluegill hole.

 

[Oldtimer]

Another use for them is to hang them on a Black Willow limb overhanging the river bank; makes an incredible bluegill hole.

Now that's the best idea I've heard in a while. :thumbsup::thumbs::thumbsup::thumbs:

 

[kyredneck]

A dead possum in an onion sack will do the same thing, if you can get past the smell while fishing.

[add]

I actually had the intent to do the same thing to feed the chickens but the wife wouldn't hear of it. Since then I've learned about the black soldier fly maggots and if we ever go the chicken route again I probably would rig up a black fly composter to put kitchen refuse in and just let the maggots drop to the ground like the jap beetles.

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

try raising a rooster.
should keep those chicks busy certain times.
just make sure the rooster is drugged at nigh so it don't wake up the neighbors in the early morn.:tongue3::tongue3:
I have a Reformed friend who went to the Philippines to spread his denom and his wife didn't sleep a wink the first two
They were up in a highland barrio where the animals are free to roam, and a rooster got into their room, perched on the foot of their bed, and crowed from 3 am to sunrise.
:laugh:

Tim...I have two...LOL.

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

I actually had the intent to do the same thing to feed the chickens but the wife wouldn't hear of it. Since then I've learned about the black soldier fly maggots and if we ever go the chicken route again I probably would rig up a black fly composter to put kitchen refuse in and just let the maggots drop to the ground like the jap beetles.

You should go the composter route (& throw the opossum in there as well)! I do have a suggestion though....spread food grade diatomaceous-earth.
no more flies, you worm the chickens & it keeps down the smell & its organic.

http://www.richsoil.com/http://www.richsoil.com/diatomaceous-earth.jsp.jsp