A Tour of the Homegrown Evolution Compound

...y hand–once again, don’t buy a house on a hill!). In the background is the chicken coop and run, with the herb garden in the foreground. Just to the right of the chicken run are several large artichoke plants. Behind that and out of sight, is a 4′ x 8′ raised bed for vegetables. Next to the shed is a small orange tree, just planted, that replaced the fig tree we tore out. Dominating the right side of the photo is the avocado tree. Next to that tre...

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Dome Building

Drop City Chicken Coop Whenever the entwined notions of sustainability, green building, environmentalism and the lingering remains of the 60s counterculture address architecture and the places we live in, inevitably Buckminster Fuller influenced forms seem to just spring from the landscape like mushrooms after a particularly wet winter. Perhaps the idealism of folks interested in saving the world, especially do-it-yourself types, lends itself to...

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In Praise of Poultry Staples

A neighborhood chicken tragedy involving a coyote reminded me of an important coop building detail worth repeating: Use galvanized poultry staples not staple gun staples to secure your 1/2 inch hardware cloth (and don’t use chicken wire–the gaps are so big that raccoons can reach right in and eat your poulrty through the wire). Poultry staples are nailed in with a hammer. I use a pair of needle nose pliers to hold the staple while I hammer it hom...

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Who’s Visiting Your Garden While You’re Not Watching?

...same direction. That raccoon pic is another reminder for me to recheck my chicken coop’s fortifications. And the rat is telling me to lock up the chicken food at night. Reviewing these images has given me a less adversarial feeling about our mammalian visitors. They are just so damn cute, especially the skunk. Next up in my CritterCam experiments will be to see who is visiting the bird bath. I’ll need some help from readers for that, since I don’...

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I’ve Flown the Coop

...cinated for Marek’s disease. This is the most common problem with backyard chickens and it’s entirely preventable. If you have a sick or dead chicken and live in California, send it to the California Animal Health & Food Safety Laboratory System (CAHHFS) for a free necropsy. Here’s a list of the labs and their contact information. Call for instructions and don’t freeze the carcass. If you bring a sick chicken they will euthanize it for you. UC Coo...

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