Hello from West Texas.

Zilch

Hi, everyone!

I transplanted myself from my native Florida to the high desert of West Texas near El Paso. What a difference...

Since I miss the green lands and water of my home state, I thought I'd liven up my house with a lovely growing system. There are a few roadblocks here, which I'm hoping to overcome eventually (the biggest being huge night/day and seasonal temperature swings, and the very dry air sucking the water out of the plants.)

I also had a crazy idea today...I have been adopted by a lovely pigeon, who isn't happy unless he's hanging out in the living room with us. Cleaning his cage is a daily chore, so I was thinking of rigging the bottom bin in his cage with a trickling sheet of water that will catch his copious bird droppings (the only problem with pigeons!) and flush it into a grow bin of some type.

I was immediately thinking of some herbs, but because my pigeon does take daily exercise flights around the neighborhood, I can't control his diet 100% and therefore won't be eating anything from the plants he helps fertilize.

If it works, I hope to eventually scale it up with several pigeon homes arranged in a backdoor hut or canopy, which has living exterior walls with vines that grow up the sides that are fertilized by the birds inside. Ideally, it'll be almost self-cleaning, green and shady with the pleasant sound of cooing birds and running water, to boot.

We'll see if it works...

I'll be looking around here to see if anyone else has used birds in their systems, even if not to produce food. It'll be an experiment, for sure!

scotty435

Welcome to the forum Zilch :wave:

nosliwmas

Zilch wrote:

I also had a crazy idea today...I have been adopted by a lovely pigeon, who isn't happy unless he's hanging out in the living room with us. Cleaning his cage is a daily chore, so I was thinking of rigging the bottom bin in his cage with a trickling sheet of water that will catch his copious bird droppings (the only problem with pigeons!) and flush it into a grow bin of some type.

Bird manure is used a lot in farming. Pigeon manure in particular has long been considered a top-notch fertilizer. With aquaponics you'd have the same issues with applying any sort of compost fertilizer, i.e. you probably don't want to just dump a few shovels of it into the fish tank... :naughty:

Vegetable Gardener - Using Manure to Fertilize Your Garden

Quote:

Bird manure is premium stuff
Of all the animals on my farm, birds produce the most valuable manure of all. Pigeon guano, for instance, has been prized in Europe as a super-manure since the Middle Ages when folks kept dovecotes and pigeon lofts atop their houses, growing the squabs for food and using the manure to fertilize gardens and fields. Pigeon manure rates higher than other fowl at 4.2% nitrogen, 3% phosphorus, and 1.4% potassium. It is harder to find and gather than other manures, and is best if composted thoroughly before using.

Pigeon tea?

--
Sam

Backyard Aquaponics A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello from West Texas.

Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics