Sustain Myself

At last, after months of convincing, years of unit dwelling and a decade since my last chooks, I am please to introduce the Pecker Sisters, Pamela and Rosanna:

They are two Isa Brown chickens around 18 weeks old and are beautiful. They are so soft and already very friendly (apparently the breed is known for being more relaxed). Abbey loves them to death and is constantly asking to go and see the ‘Chitcha’. The dog also loves them but in a very different way, initially they were terrified of her but now they just ignore her and I think she doesn’t like it.

They are living in the coup I made (Casa de Chooks) and have also got a big ‘run’ down the back of the yard that I leave them to explore during the day.

As you can see, their run is completely fenced off, so they are happy and safe in there. They retire to their crib at dusk so I go and lock them in there and then let them out again in the morning (they’d probably be safe over night, but I am worried about cats or war-hungry possums getting to them).

Now, anybody that can tell me what popular 80’s big band had two hit songs that these chooks were named after, gets an egg. (We haven’t had one yet, but when we do – its all yours).

Well, my amazingly cool chook coup is now complete (bar a small addon that needs to be planned a bit more.

(No, the dog is not part of it)

I know she doesn’t look like much, but this is the greatest thing I have ever built. I’m not great with wood work, so I am extremely happy with the outcome.

This end opens to allow the chooks to roam free (which they will do during the day). The coup is also bottomless and I still need to add wheels to it at one end so I can wheel it from place to place.

The roof is slopped to one side to allow for easy water run off, which will soon be collected in a gutter and used to keep the chookies’ water container filled. This is the part that still needs planning, I haven’t worked out how to do it yet.

The nesting ‘box’ is actually just a long bedding piece to allow for the 2 chooks to have a bit more room and will be filled with hay. Its also removable for cleaning.

The whole coup uses stainless and galvanised metal bits to prevent rusting and the coup is also painted in a few coats of weather shield (by far the most expensive part at around $40).

It didn’t come in much cheaper than buying one, but I did it myself and I am seriously happy with the results.

If anybody is interested, I could draw up the plans in Google Sketchup and provide a list of the tools I used.

Next step: Find some chooks! (I can source some Isla Browns from

RentAChook, but if anybody else knows of where to get some other varieties in Sydney, I’d love to know!)

When we decided to get a dog, my biggest concern was that I love my gardens and I didn’t want them littered with little smelly landmines. I regularly kick the rugby ball around the backyard with my brother in law and didn’t want to have to give that up because of the dogs’ business.

We are slowly training Baci to go in a particular corner of the garden where nobody goes. The problem then is, what do we do with the waste? There is much conflicting information out there about dog waste in compost or worm farms. The waste can introduce a bacteria which will throw the compost system out and worms simply to not eat it quick enough (Requiring a much larger worm farm). Then, because of the excess time to break down the waste in a worm farm, you run out of room for your vegetation waste and start seeing problems with a slow down in the cycle.

So, after some researching and a few enquiries, I decided to get a Doggie Doo Digester. There are a lot of products like this on the market now and they all seem great. The idea behind this is that the digester contains water and an enzyme which breaks the waste down into liquid, then monthly, you pull the plug out of the bottom (on a long handle so you dont get goo on your hands) and it drains into the earth. Easy, clean, safe. You can get a better idea of how it works at the digester site.

Anyway, we installed ours over the weekend. I will post pics and updated info on its ongoing use as we eliminate our waste with it.