Okay, not everything I write is going to have the word shade in it. But seriously, if you are going to have shade than animals are an easy way to boost the productivity of a space. And chickens are one of the easiest animals to have on a small scale and not give up your prime garden area.
On our old property our hens were located in full sun. Their new location is under the trees butted up against the woods. And guess what? If I moved tomorrow and it didn’t matter where I placed them, I would put them even deeper in the woods.
The ancestors of most chicken species today lived in the jungle. So that tells me they could potentially thrive there now. And oh how they do.
During the heat of summer my chickens (nine and one rooster) always seem relaxed. We don’t have those days anymore where they just hide out undercover all day until the weather cools. They are busy hunting grubs in the leaf mulch under the trees. And when they escape from their area, which is more often than I like to admit, they run up the mountainside, not into the sunny grass.
Now I’m not saying this is the only way to do it. Chicken tractors are amazing, and if you have the right setup for it then you are entering into a whole system that doesn’t always work for those of us with slopes and trees. But if this is sounding more like your setup than I invite you to give it a try. Our egg yolks are orange. Our hens our happy. And those we have allowed are living into ripe old ages.
Chicken of the woods is not just a mushroom.
Made In The Shade 