Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Nature adopts

I am so in awe of nature sometimes. When you think its all about you, and how to transform the natural elements in your own space - nature suddenly adopts you, and starts showing what's, what.

We had a disturbance in Hilltop chicken coop a few months ago. One of our old dames (former Matriarch) was found with a lot of damage to her comb and wattles, with feathers plucked from her backside. She's of Australorp descent, and just like her father, she's used to standing tall. It's not pride, its a trait I have noticed from all the Australorps I have raised.

Anyway, standing tall makes you fair game in the hen-house *wink* if you're being ousted from top billing. Which is why she sustained so much damage. If she could cower, she would, and then the rest of the hens would be happy to leave her alone. So it became a management issue, I had to deal with, while David was away at Army Camp.

I wasn't going to kill her, but decided instead, to let her take her chances out in nature. It would also show those bossy hens, old Matriach, was still in MY favour. She loved it and looked forward to being released from confinement every morning. I put her in again at night, because we get foxes.


Frolicking in the grass


So it was to my surprise, when I discovered a little friend with her. A shadow. But its not another chicken. It's a baby brush turkey. This is her, defending them. I had to sneak around the back of the coop with the camera, as the baby brush turkey usually runs at the sight of me. To my surprise, it met me half way. But old Matriarch heard me, and came bolting around the corner, wattle flushed red, and posturing to confront me.

Then she realised it WAS me, and they both went about their business, doing whatever they do, during the day. I snapped away, remaining as still as possible. This was the only decent picture of them both, I could get.


Baby brush turkey, or BBT


Having eaten some of the feed I had put out earlier for my hen, baby brush turkey returned to the bush. I have been noticing this little fella, for a few weeks now. I thought it was a snake at first, because I would hear this rustling in the grass. Followed by little shrills, which told me it wasn't a snake. One day, I saw it hanging around with our hen though, and this morning, I even saw it hiding under the passionfruit vine, waiting for me to drop the feed.

So it has adopted us, for the time being. We've seen its parent, drinking from our top pond when it was full, but it disappeared before this little guy showed up. That's because baby brush turkeys have to fend for themselves, once they hatch. Read more about it (and brush turkeys) here.

So I turned an old hen, out into nature, to survive, and nature turned a baby turkey into her world. While she isn't raising it, neither does it depend on her, they do seem to like each other's company. This is (in permaculture speak) nature adopting the fringes of our endeavours, and valuing the marginals. Old domestic hen, meets, baby brush turkey.

Their relationship has actually helped me, too, because meat ants were starting to become attracted to the feed I was leaving out. Old dame, thought she would leave it for later. But then BBT saw an opportunity to exploit. Suddenly her food became more attractive to her, if it meant someone else would gobble it up. I still only put the same amount of food out, but now I don't have to worry about meat ants, outside the coop. Because they polish it off, between them.

I view brush turkeys in our environment, as a good thing. As they help aerate vegetation, which can become compacted. This in turn, improves conditions for plants to grow. We need all the help we can get, managing our degraded soils. So they are most welcome.



13 comments:

  1. What a lovely story, Chris. Do you find, when you let her out she stays near home? I'd never be game to let mine out through the day. They'd love fossicking in the bush, but I'm afraid they'd just go from one piece of wild food to the next and end up over the hills and far away, and I'd never find them again (and they wouldn't be able to find their way back, even if they had the brains to realise there's a 'back' to come to).

    I'd love to share this post on my Facebook page, but I notice you don't have a share button on your blog. (I'm just new to FB and still finding out how to do things). Do you mind if I share (assuming I find how to do it without that magic button)?

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    1. She definitely stays near the coop, most of the time, as she's a flock animal - even if her room mates haven't been accepting her of late. She still needs their company for security. If I were to turn them all out, I imagine they would eventually end up, over hill and dale. Because they have each other for security, and will find new territory together.

      Though if the food is scarce anywhere but home, they'll tend to stick around. Which is why every escaping neighbours hen, ends up in our yard. Because we manage the land to hold moisture and always have something covering the soil. Their favourite foods, love this kind of environment, lol. So they don't stay in the bush for long. ;)

      I've put a share button in now. I didn't know we could do that. So thanks for the feedback. I don't mind if you share. :)

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  2. Oh that is lovely! Brush turkeys are hilarious, we don't have them in the South Burnett, but when I see them around Brisbane I watch them dart around and laugh, they are my chicken-fix when I'm away from home.

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    1. Glad you found a fix, lol. Keeping chickens becomes addictive! Brisbane is riddled with brush turkeys. They become adapted to humans too.

      One of David's relatives in Brisbane, has a frequenting visitor, who traverses all the urban backyards for food. Doesn't care about people chatting outside, or the cat. They're funny, interesting critters. :)

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  3. I would guess it shows some things just fall into place. When you take steps to emeilarate one problem, you get a solution to a problem you didn't know you had.
    If only all the troubles that can before one be partly fixed so naturally.

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    1. That's it. :)

      As they say in permaculture circles, the problem is the solution.

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  4. That's neat! I've never lived among the brush turkeys, but there are some quail running around here. I'd never get a photo that close though!

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    1. I know what you mean about the quail Manda. We get them too. Super fast critters, with incredibly sensitive hearing. I'd need a fancy camera to capture those guys!

      How many quail have you counted in a group? Our largest group was twelve. I even saw some babies out recently. Glad to hear you have ground dwellers visiting your place too.

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    2. Wow 12 is awesome! We've seen only a few at a time, but the calls suggest that there is quite a few more hiding in the grasses. Fancy cameras all round! ;)

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    3. I used to only see a few, like you and hear the rest in the grass. But in winter time, there's a favourite spot they like to hang out together. It's just near a window, so they can't see me, lol. I used to breed quail as a young'in, so I love watching their family antics in the wild. :)

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  5. Oh how beautiful is that? It will never cease to amaze me how animals build relationships, its just fascinating.

    We too have two chooks that are separate to the rest of the flock. One has a damaged head from an injury which healed funny and so they will always be kept apart I think, they both got picked on. But they are happy together and part of our original flock. Its funny that the others never took to them.

    xx

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    1. Those relationships are great to see. Alone, they are a little more vulnerable. Together, they're a little stronger.

      Alas, the pecking order rules the roost and there's always someone being ousted. I find if they've been raised together from a young age, they get on. Introduce others though, and if they have enough numbers, they'll start breaking up the group.

      I'd be interested to know if you have a rooster? I find when you have a rooster, he keeps the hens in check so there isn't this kind of damage inflicted. He rules the roost and stops the hens from squabbling. There are a few things I want to do to our coop, before we get a rooster again.

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  6. What a great post Chris. Sounds like a win-win for everybody.

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