At the Sebastopol Energy Garden eggs account for a large portion of the calories that we produce. Of the estimated 1,476,765,3 calories that we can produce over the next growing year, 136,218 of that comes in the form of eggs.

On average our flock of five chickens produces an egg/chicken/day, each weighing roughly 61g, and containing 93.3 calories.

Supporting a flock of chickens; however, requires energy as well. Each chicken needs at least 200 calories/day to survive, and while about 30% of those calories can be obtained by foraging, the other 70% needs to be provided for them. Our chickens are allowed access to the compost piles and obtain some additional calories from the food scraps we recycle, but this is not enough.

Because hens allocate so much of the protein that they consume toward egg production it is also essential that we support the needs of our flock by providing a protein rich feed for them. It is recommended that 16% of a chicken's diet be protein.

Recommended Daily Value (chicken): 200 cal/day (5 chickens) (365) = 365,000 cal/ year

FOOD SOURCE % PROTEIN, BY WT

Dried fish flakes 76
Dried liver 76
Dried earthworms 76
Duckweed 50
Torula yeast 50
Brewers yeast 39
Soybeans (dry roasted) 37
Flaxseed 37
Alfalfa seed 35
Beef, lean 28
Earthworms 28
Fish 28
Sunflower seeds 26.3
Wheat germ 25
Peas & Beans, dried 24.5
Sesame seed 19.3
Soybeans (boiled) 17
Wheat bran 16.6
Oats, whole 14
Rice polish 12.8
Rye 12.5
Wheat 12.5
Barley 12.3
Oats 12
Corn 9
Millet 9
Milo 9
Rice, brown 7.5

Chicken feed can be purchased from most feed stores and while this may be a simple enough solution for most, it is our goal to produce chicken feed on-site so that we may decrease our dependece upon off-site materials and reduce our energy consumption.

The majority of chicken feed is produced through unsustainable, agricultural methods which rely heavily upon the use of petroleum. The proces behind producing, storing, and transporting feed is a very energy requiring process; by producing chicken feed on-site, on a small scale, we can avoid a lot of the energy inputs of conventional production.

By calculating the theoretical calorie yield of each crop intended for chicken feed as well as their protein content, we can determine the amount of required growing space for feeding the chickens. When it comes time to harvest the grains, and process them we will already have calculated how much to allocate towards the chickens. Then all we need to do is grind the grains and mix them accordingly. In the batch that we just prepared we used a combination of Peredovik Sungflowers seeds, Sorghum, Millet, and Ground corn.

Hand powered Corona Mill

[video]

Corn Millet

Peredovik Sunflower Dale Sorghum

Chicken Feed

The Energy Garden in Sebastopol is consistently moving forward in developing a system that allows us pursue our goals of:

- To familiarize the public with energy crops and demonstrate their capabilities as local sources of fuel.

- To produce the maximum yield of food, fuel, fiber, fertilizer, and feedstock for the minimum input of resources by designing a dynamically balanced garden with compensating systems for maintenance.

- To provide instruction for the transformation of a suburban/urban yard into an ecologically conscious garden without any dependence upon petroleum.

- To consistently pursue improved methods of employing ecological services and replicating natural processes.

Most recently we have terraced the front yard and added a series of raised beds. With each pocket garden we are practicing the method of square foot gardening as prescribed by Mel Bartholomew.

We are currently culturing Shitake and Sonoma Brown Oyster mushrooms. We purchased starter kits from GOURMET MUSHROOMS and MUSHROOM PRODUCTS
and with the fruit that they have produced we have innoculated corrugated cardboard with the intention of itransfering mycelial growth to burlap sacks.

We have recently purchased a 5 gallon apple press and as well as collecting fallen apples from the trees on our property to ferment and distill into ethanol, we are collecting those from neighbors.

We have recently purchased three more Rhode Island Red pullets which aside from intial problems are now integrating into the our existing flock. We have also come upon free half-wine barrels and have planted them with runner beans that we hope will trellace the chicken wire of our pen and provide the chickens with nutrients.

We have started a food scrap collection with the local cooperative housing community, Two Acre Wood. The kitchen scraps from their community meals are put into a steel trash can which we collect each week and feed to our chickens and add to our compost piles.

Aside from recent projects the garden is growing in itself. Our corn is now shoulder height, as are our sunflowers and Jerusalem Artichokes. We have tomatoes, apples, salad greens, kale, chard, peas, peppers, and strawberries that are ready for harvest, with many more plants on their way.

1. Before building your chicken tractor, Draw up a Design of how you envision the structure; you can look online to aid you in doing so.

* We chose a triangular design after browsing through images because it seemed to offer the most structural support as well as being relatively simple.

2 . Make measurements, Cut Pieces, and Build Frame

* The wood that we had to work with was limited, and for that reason the measurements that we used were relative to the cuts of wood that we had.

Quantity Size Cut Purpose

3 2"x4"x7' Both flat (90o) Corners of Triangle

3 1"x1"x4.5" Both ends at 45o angles outward Downward Supports

6 1"X1"x42" Both ends at 45o angles outward Top Supports

3 1"x1"x20" Both ends at 45o angles outward Middle Supports

2 1"x1"x40" Both ends at 45o angles outward Bottom Supports

4 1"x1"x3'5.5" Both flat (90o) Lenghtwise Supports

2 1"x1"x40" Both flat (90o) Very Bottom Supports

* We found it easier to attatch the 1"x1"x4.5" pieces to the 2"x4"x7' that was to be the top of our chicken tractor using 1.5" screws. We placed one flush with each end and one in the very middle. We then attatched all six 1"X1"x42" on either side of the 1"x1"x4.5" supports. Before attatching the 1"x1"x20" supports we screwed on the two 1"x1"x40" bottom supports; this just makes it easier to put the middle supports on.

* Perpendicular to the 1"x1"x4.5" downward supports we attatched 1"x1"x3'5.5" lengthwise supports. We placed these in a fashion that was flush with the 1"x1"x20" middle supports. It is to these pieces that we later staled the shade cloth to.

4. Attatch Wheels and Handles

* The wheels that we purchased are entirely galvanized steel and only cost $5.00 at the local hardware store. We attatched them to the corner of the bottom 2"x4"x7' corners of the triangle with two screws and to the very bottom 1"x1"x40" support with a third. A wheel was attatched to all four corners. To the front and back faces of the triangles, where the top 2"x4"x7' beam and the 1"x1"x4.5" supports meet, we attatched handles so as to push and pull the chicken tractor.

3. Attatch Shade Cloth, and Chicken Wire

* So as to provide the chickens with a source of shade we attatched cloth along the upper portion of the chicken tractor's frame. Pulling on the cloth while using a staple gun, we made sure it was as tight as possible. On the triangle fances we had to do some bunching to make it tight. We then cut the remaining fabric off.

* We obtained chicken wire for $1.00/1'x4' at the hardware store. We stapled the chicken wire over the fabric on all but the triangle face where the door was to be placed. Using wire cutters we removed the remaining chicken wire.

4. Build the Door

Quantity Size Cut Purpose

4 2"x4"x14" Both flat (90o) Vertical part of frame and door

1 1"x1"x14" One flat (90o) One 45o outward Next to frame; to staple wire to

2 2"x4"x20" Both flat (90o) Horizontal part of door

* To build the frame of the door turned out to be the most difficult part. We used 2 hinges which came in a pack together and cost $4.00 at the hardware store. We first built the frame using two 2"x4"x14" vertical pieces then built the door using the two remaining pieces as well as the two 2"x4"x20" horizontal pieces (For this it required 2.5" screws). We attatched the door to the frame using the hinges and then sandwhiched the hinges between one of the 2"x4"x14" vertical pieces from the frame and the 1"x1"x14" piece.

5. Finish off the Door Side Chicken Wire

* Staple chicken wire to the door and to all the parts of the chicken tractor's frame.

6. Let the chickens roam the yard without having to worry about your crops

At present, the plan is to raise twelve chickens on the farm site at Brookside School. The purpose of raising chickens is to create eggs for local buyers, demonstrate a system that can provide for the food needs of poultry, and, where possible, control insect populations. The site will include an enclosed coop and small chicken yard, with the option of allowing the chickens to both pasture and range as they forage for a majority of their sustenance.

As a general rule, the nutritional needs of chickens include:

1. Grains (a mixture of whole grain, un-cracked grain is good and mixed grain is better than pure corn).
2. Greens (grass, weeds, fresh berries, and other vegetable scraps).
3. Protein (in summer, ranging they get enough bugs -- but in colder weather they need protein supplementation, including soybeans or fava beans, worms, milk, and seeds).
4. Water (chickens need plenty of water and need to have it not only in their pen, but additionally in chicken tractors and near their forage).

There is a special opportunity at the Willits Energy farm to demonstrate a planting arrangement on the western perimeter that serves the dual function of windbreak and forage crop. The western fence line stretches 150 feet and borders a fallow pasture. While designing our annual beds, we have allocated a width of 10 feet from the fence to create the windbreak and forage section. Perennial trees and shrubs will be spaced and interplanted with ground crops that should provide a variety of food from late spring to the middle of October. The plan is that some of the crops will be immediately consumed by the chickens while other crops will have the advantage of storage.

Below is the list of crops that are intended for the western windbreak and under-story:

-Trees:

These will provide the bulk of the windbreak and will be alternated in sequence.

• 5 Mulberry Trees (This tree is wind resistant and provides edible berries as early as the first year).
• 4 Honey Locust Trees (A fast growing tree that provides large, edible seed pods and hard seeds that can be collected and stored for winter use. It also attracts bees).

-Shrubs:

The selected shrub will be spaced between the trees and provide added windbreak for the area left open between trees.

• 8 Siberian Pea Shrub (This shrub is hardy and grows well in drained soils; it requires full sun and will be backed away from the trees. With a large number of them it should provide a certain amount of storable seed if the chickens don’t get to it first.)

-Understory:

These plants that will be sown to provide ground cover and compete against grass under the newly established trees. They will address all three dietary needs and provide greens, additional forage seed, and some grains:

• Clover (It will compete against grass, attract bees, and provide a choice of greens).
• Borage (This flower will also provide greens as well as yield seed).
• Comfrey (It has deep tap roots that bring potassium from deep in the soil. It will be used in the understory of trees and can perhaps be used for composting and green feed).
• Buckwheat and Rye (These grains will be row seeded in various short lengths both in the fall and spring and may provide added material to be composted).
• Favabean (Fava may potentially provide more storable protein for the winter and food in the earlier part of spring).

To support pastured egg layers, we are considering the implementation of various “chicken tractor” designs. A chicken tractor is a movable floorless chicken coop for the purposes of pest control, protection of annual crops from hungry chickens, fertilization, and sheltering the chicken as they forage. Chicken tractors allow the birds to feed in precise areas and can potentially be a useful way to manage forage resources. However, they need to be moved throughout the day and may be too tight a quarters for more than two birds, thus requiring more tractors and more effort to move them. If we don’t use chicken tractors we may consider fencing the forage section with extra wire left over from the perimeter fencing project.

Way Down There is the Western Fenceline 

Northwest Corner Behind the Backstop (Potential Coop Location)

 
Example of a Very Nice Chicken Tractor