Talk Amongst Yourselves.

Thursdays are devoted to animal husbandry and care topics.

I have been a bit under the weather, so I did not publish anything yesterday. Stay tuned for next Wednesday's installment on composting.

Now on to chickens. I think I really like these funky little two-leggeds. First of all, there's a whole lot more going on with them then one would suspect. They make over 50 different calls and sounds. Each one has a purpose. There is also a lot of nonverbal communication between birds.

Last week I mentioned that George the rooster spends much of his time looking for food and when he finds it he gives a low call to the hens. They come running to where he is standing and start pecking the ground. He stays there with them looking up and around his surroundings. He does not eat until the hens have had whatever they want and start to wander off.

Houdini Hen has a peculiar call when she is getting ready to leave the fence. It is a very loud one that she repeats as she walks the fence looking for an opening. It is as if she is telling everyone that she is attempting to leave. It is one note, no syllables. It is almost likea smoke alarm in it's frequency and intensity although not its pitch.

If I am near and the hens want something, like water or food, they crowd together repeatedly squawking. Actually, it's not just me, but anyone who walks into their general area looking like they carry a container of food or water.

The hens seem to pick out the red containers better than clear, green or blue containers. They also crowd the fence when I drive the car down the driveway toward the pen and slow down. I have on several occassions stopped the car to deliver water, feed or correct a problem in the pen. It is clear to me that the chickens associate both our vehicles with something they want.

Chicken management books stress talking or singing to your chickens and letting them know you are coming their way either by whistling, singing or calling to them. These would be those books discussing chickens more as backyard pets than commodities. But the chickens can see you coming, usually before you pay much attention to them. They will recognize what you are about and respond accordingly.

Two other things, I've noticed tounch on their eyesight. I have noticed that if I place their food passively and unobtrusively on the ground, it takes them a while to notice it. If I toss their pellets to the ground so they spread and bounce a bit, the chickens rush to them and start eating almost immediately. It appears that movement is key to their perception.

When I get ready to catch one or another of them, how they act depends on where they are. In the ten foot square pen, they will crouch down when I go to pick them up. In the larger more exposed grazing area which is 50 foot square, they will run away when I go to pick them up. Not so fast now as they did when I first put them in there. But they still run.

If you have chickens, hang out with them for a little while after you place their food. Once they settle down, you will notice all different kinds of "talking" between them. These various sounds can tell you what's going on with them even when you can't exactly see them.

Heaven on Earth?

Tuesdays are devoted to discussions about weeds, including any number of exotic invasives.

We see them all the time and don't even know it. They look a lot like sumac, but don't turn red in the fall. They grow quickly and can take over native trees in a very short period of time. And guess what? They are hard to get rid of. Another Exotic Invasive. This one is called Ailantheus or Tree of Heaven. You can even order it from some nursery catalogs. No. Don't do it. If you really want some, I'll give you plenty, but your neighbors might not be very pleased.

This tree is very commonly seen along the highway and will colonize recently cleared places. It's leaves look very much like sumac. Its rapid growth and spread can be attributed to a couple factors.

Ailantheus can spread through seed or through suckers. The suckering is it's secret to rapid establishment. When cut, the stump will send up suckers almost immediately. That way if the plant doesn't get a chance to seed, it will still spread.

If you start to cut it or dig it out, you will immediately notice a rather pungent not so pleasant odor. This is also a secret to success. The scent that repels you, repels the local plants as well and prevents other native trees from establishing themselves. Sumac does not smell the same.

Ailantheus also grows quickly, often reaching 10-20 feet within a year or two. Once the weather gets moderately warm, it's growing. Its height shades out other slower growing and not as tall species. This is one of the ways you can tell it from sumac. Sumacs tend to branch closely to the ground, while alantheus will often have a cluster of leaves and small branches at the very top of the tree. There will not be any lower branches. The tree's energy is put into gaining height. This is one of the reasons for its name.

Alantheus trees are native to southeast Asia and do not seem to have natural predators here in the southeastern United States. I did notice this year that the freeze in April, did them in quite nicely and it took them quite a while to recover. Eventually they did, but their growth was not as exuberant as it was last year.

To get rid of these pests, you will have to cut and dig them out. You can spray them with a strong chemical if that's your thing, but then you have the chemical hanging around to deter native plants. I think that watching the weather and cutting them back right before a cold snap in the spring will be the best way to slow their growth. Then if you can put in some more vigorous native species, like sumac, you can limit the Tree of Heaven that year. Like most invasives, it will take sustained effort over a number of years on your part to eradicate. And that is even if you use chemicals. Be patient and persistent, just like an exotic invasive. Only you belong here.

All Things Cheatham County

On Mondays, I will be posting notices about local events, points of interest and anything local to Cheatham County.

Did you ever wonder how you could find who has a farm locally? Do you have something to sell or a notice you want everyone to know about? Have you had trouble trying to figure out how to get your message out to folks in Cheatham County? Well, you're in luck because now all of us here in this county can use a nifty new bulletin board website to post announcements, have discussions, find items for sale or post your sellables.

Let's give a big welcome to www.cheathamchatter.com put together by Jim Day of Timbertop Farm with the excellent assistance of his oldest son, who by the way has an uncommon acting ability and is a talented writer, as well.

Cheatham Chatter is a bulletin board. In ancient computer times, a Bulletin Board existed as a dial-up number were you could download short messages and upload you own text only messages. I remember as a teenager that having a phone number and password to a bulletin board was a hotter ticket than any black market commodity. Now, bulletin boards have progressed quite a bit thanks to Internet access for all, but the concept is still the same. It is a terrific way to post messages and news.

I test-drove it and it is a nice simple friendly way to get news out. First you must register. You type in a username and password of your choice and when you've submitted your registration, the system zaps you an email lickety-split. You will be prompted to agree to a user agreement during this process.

Open the email and authenticate your password. Now you are ready to post. I found the posting form easy to use and very self-explanatory. It looks a bit like Word. I did not see any ability to post pictures per se, but I'll bet that with some bona fide actual looking for this function, it would be there. Once you click the post button, your text is forwarded for review before posting. I posted a bit about Mule Shoe Farm under Local Foods.

What are you waiting for? Go see it. Now - ish at www.cheathamchatter.com