We will not be able to make the hostel truly self-sufficient as we don't have a big enough garden but the term helps to explain the general idea, and the experience should be well worth the effort.
We try to catch fish in season, which we do with respect and in a reasonable way. Our organicaly managed garden is making some headway and our hens supply us with lovely fresh eggs (the hens arrived July 2009). We hope to add a bee hive very soon.
When the hens arrived they had to go under a strict training regime - new hens need to be shown how chickens are supposed to behave. At bed time they are gently guided into the hen house and then placed on to the perch and in the morning they are removed from the perch. Within a few weeks they are fully trained and now go in and up on to the perch by themselves and, in the morning, they come down by themselves - clever little chickens.
Initially we had a few problems getting them to lay their very small first few eggs in the nestbox. One chicken insisted on laying from the perch, which resulted in a 2ft drop for the egg. So we removed the dropping board and perch each morning - they still had to be placed in the nest boxes but finally got the message and are now all laying where they should. They have two nestboxes to share but often we find all the eggs in one nestbox.
When we had finished the run we were very pleased with ourselvess but were deflated when Maggie the chicken turned out to be a bit of an escape artist and can easily get over the 5ft fence. I had to increase the height of the fence and put a little sloping section at the top to stop Maggie from escaping.
Bees: Not started yet.
The organic garden is well underway but we have been seriously sidetracked by refurbishing and decorating the hostel. Once we have finished the work on the hostel it will be full speed ahead in the garden. Sorry about my attempt at a drawing of a bee, it looks like it has been caught by the dreaded veroa mite.
Here are a few interesting links:
http://www.biobees.com/
http://www.poultry.allotment.org.uk/
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