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Welcome to
The Chicken Yard at Harmon Park
Two "Large" OverEZ Chicken Coops comfortably accommodate the flock during the night and provide nest boxes for egg laying and easy collection. We use sand on the coop floors which allows for easy frequent cleaning- droppings are scooped off of the surface with metal perforated shovels (like giant cat litter box scoopers) and added to the composting piles for later use as organic fertilizer in the gardens. A natural mixture of calcite (lime), citric acid & sulfur is mixed into the sand and dusted around the interior of the coops and nesting boxes to keep pests and parasites at bay. The coops are fitted with automatic doors that open daily into the kennel (which features a dig-proof border and bird netting overhead, providing access to a small protected outdoor space until someone arrives (around 7-8 am) to let them into the rest of the yard for the day. When the sun starts to set, the birds all head back into the kennel, and as it gets darker, they move into the coops and settle into their favorite nesting positions for the night. The automatic doors close at 9 pm. This set up keeps everyone safe from evening predators like coyotes, foxes, racoons, and opossums. Snakes could get in, but they would only be interested in stealing eggs, so are not a major concern.
The birds spend their day foraging in the yard, scratching at the leafy ground searching for yummy bugs and nibbling on grasses, clover, chickweed, and other plantlife. They play the occasional games, their favorite being follow the leader, and take lots of naps, perching in the branches of the magnolia tree or around the perch bars provided. They even have a playground!
Water access is a top priority! There are three 16-gallon OverEZ waterers placed around the yard, each with 7-8 water access stations (cups). The covered platforms keep the cups clear of debris and provide protection from overhead predators (hawks, owls, and eagles) while the birds are busy drinking.
Did you know.... Chickens bathe in DIRT!?!
However counterintuitive, dirt baths are important for skin and feather maintenance. It cools them, absorbs excess moisture and oils, and helps repel pests like flies, mites, and lice. Dirt bathing is often a recreational and social activity for chickens as well.
Our dirt bath area is large enough to accommodate several birds at once and is covered to help keep it nice and dry. It is filled with a mixture of dirt with sand, gypsum, calcite, and sulfur to enhance it's pest-repellent effectiveness. A blend of chicken-preferred/pest-deterring herbs is also added weekly!
So, what's the deal with all the...umm... decorations?
Birds of Prey Dislike Objects that Move in Unpredictable Ways & Unpredictable Light Reflections
Harmon Park is a wildlife sanctuary; we love our wildlife as well as our domestic animals! Among the many birds found around the Park are several species of raptor, including Red Tailed Hawks, Red Shouldered Hawks, Rough-Legged Hawks, Barred Owls, and Barn Owls. Bald Eagles are found earby, around Lay Lake and the Coosa River, and several more species of hawk are native to the area. These birds of prey commonly take free-ranging chickens for meals. Rather than cover the entirety of the Chicken Yard with bird netting, we have elected to employ a variety of deterrents such as reflective and kinetic items like the shiny pinwheels, ribbons, mirrors, and windchimes.
In addition to the "decorations" and covered waterers, we have added hides which the birds can utilize in the event of a hawk scare (such as these planters Loren cut in half)
and "decoys" like this solar-powered kinetic owl (which may deter competing birds of prey)
and these chick & Duckling figures (which
may tempt an overhead predator in place of the harder-to-catch real birds).
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