A mother Earth article lied

[Barry42001]

I distinctly remember in the reading where they said chickens were very good for your garden they will keep the bugs and pests down. Somewhere along the line they forgot to mention they will also keep your vegetables and crops down along with digging everything up and making anti-tank traps in the middle of the yard as I allow them to totally free range. Is there anything I can do to curb this Behavior to a degree so I can actually try and plant a garden that won't get rototilled

 

[duluthralphie]

I distinctly remember in the reading where they said chickens were very good for your garden they will keep the bugs and pests down. Somewhere along the line they forgot to mention they will also keep your vegetables and crops down along with digging everything up and making anti-tank traps in the middle of the yard as I allow them to totally free range. Is there anything I can do to curb this Behavior to a degree so I can actually try and plant a garden that won't get rototilled

No.....

If some things are established they do fine, but otherwise, I need to fence mine out of the garden and new grass.

 

[Dayrel]

Fencing, fencing, fencing...

Let them rototill your garden when it has died out for the year.

 

[Barry42001]

You see Mother Earth News failed to mention anything about fencing your garden away from the chickens rather the opposite they were to be the savior of your crop there seems to be a conflict of interest I don't think the chickens read the same article I did

 

[Dayrel]

I don't think the chickens read the same article I did

Well, they only read Mother Earth News for the pictures...

 

[lazy gardener]

Chickens are not compatible with a growing garden IMO. However... that being said, I got chickens for the express purpose of helping me with my garden. And I consider their contributions to my gardens to more than compensate for the many anti tank traps they have created in my yard! The way I manage them: my garden(s) are fenced during the growing season. As soon as the crops are harvested, I take down the deer netting. The flock has access (during their free range time, which is limited due to hawk predation) to the garden from mid/late Oct. through early April. They turn the soil, eat bugs and weed seeds, eat any remaining vegetation. They actually seem to enjoy eating rhubarb leaves, in spite of all the other greenery available to them. Then, the deer netting goes back up. Year round, their coop and their run are managed with deep litter. My ground is frozen from Nov. through mid April. But, even then, the girls stay busy making compost. I build them a 4' pile of garden debris in their winter run/sun room. In addition to that pile, there are bales of hay, and a section covered with 2' of leaves. Any time the outdoor temp is above 15*, the girls are lounging in the sun room - digging in the leaves, dust bathing, finding all sorts of goodies to munch on. In the spring, I can haul many loads of black gold from their sun room to the garden.

Some people are able to allow their birds into their growing gardens for short periods of time. Others fence individual beds and let the birds roam the paths. Some folks divide their garden in half, and have their coop in the middle. Garden and run alternate from one side of the coop to the other. Still others build tractors that fit over individual beds. These tractors can be moved from bed to bed as crop harvest/planting dictates. I'd love to be this neat in my gardening approach. Not gonna happen, thus my name!

 

[lazy gardener]

Well, they only read Mother Earth News for the pictures...

Not my chickens. I put that article in the coop, and they pooped on it.

 

[BantyChooks]

I distinctly remember in the reading where they said chickens were very good for your garden they will keep the bugs and pests down. Somewhere along the line they forgot to mention they will also keep your vegetables and crops down along with digging everything up and making anti-tank traps in the middle of the yard as I allow them to totally free range. Is there anything I can do to curb this Behavior to a degree so I can actually try and plant a garden that won't get rototilled

Let me know if you find a cure. I go to great lengths to keep my birds OUT of the garden.

 

[Latitude33]

Let them out to your garden at the end of the day just before the Sun sets. Just my $0.02

 

[sawilliams]

My fried let's her chickens in the garden and i plan to do the same, but there are rules at her house. They never go in the garden of there are sprouts or freshly moved plants, they aren't allowed in the garden as a free choice or daily passage. And they always have other areas they can explore in addition to the garden. She will only pen them in the garden if there is a huge bug issue where she's losing crops anyways. I on the other hand only had a small garden and my chickens only free ranged in the evening for 2-4 hours, they had run of the whole yard and the garden was maybe only 2-5% of thier space. They did like to dust in the softer dirt, so i would put rocks near any plants they were dusting to close to.

My new garden will be fenced eventually, with a gate straight from the chicken run so i can let them free range in there full time after the growing season, but they will only have limited access during growing.