acreage, weeds & chickens!

[alfalfachick]

This is our first spring with chickens on our acreage. We usually put Casoron out at least twice a year for weed control, but I'm worried about my chickens. I know to wait until it rains to put on the Casoron, but how long should I wait till I let my hens out? Thanks for your help!

 

[donrae]

Try letting the chickens eat the weeds?

 

[greenSearcher]

If you have large yards for your chickens, don't use an herbicide, and if you are letting them forage, try using vinegar. It is a indiscriminate broad spectrum herbicide. I put it around the outside of the fence of my gardens. It does kill, I trim down the mesquite twigs coming out of the ground (will do the for years after the ground is cleared) and pour 1/2C or more on the root crown sending up the growth. It is 80% effective, the wood/root in the ground no longer tries to grow trees. Other than that, I know nothing about organic herbicides, and I won't use Round Up or any other chemical poison. The migraines are not worth it.

 

[donrae]

Quote:
Hey, does the vinegar work on blackberries? I'm serious, I'm gonna have to try that! I'm in the PNW and the berries get scary at times. We hack them back but they just send out new canes and I don't want to use the really nasty poisens to kill the root. Any experience?

Sorry OP for hijacking your thread

 

[HogbackMtnChickns]

Quote:

I am curious to hear responses. We have been fighting the cheat grass, Russian thistle, and kochia on our acreage. I would like to hear if the chickens will help us out, and what we should avoid spraying to protect them. In the past we have used Plateau (for the cheat grass) and Range Star.

 

[chickened]

It should say on the bag or contact the county extension agent.
Quote:

 

[chickened]

You may consider goats
Quote:

I am curious to hear responses. We have been fighting the cheat grass, Russian thistle, and kochia on our acreage. I would like to hear if the chickens will help us out, and what we should avoid spraying to protect them. In the past we have used Plateau (for the cheat grass) and Range Star.

 

[jossanne]

In my experience, goats aren't great weed eaters. Ours really preferred to strip bark off the trees. I've heard sheep are way better.

With free-ranging chickens, I wouldn't use any chemical herbicide at all. We've got 5 acres, and our 40+ chickens don't do much to keep it clear. They eat some weeds, but not the amount that our property can produce. They prefer to eat the flowers that I plant...

 

[newbiechicken]

I use vinegar on thistles and other weeds. I'm a beekeeper as well as chicken keeper so I don't use chemicals and the vinegar does not bother either of them. I buy the cheap white vinegar at walmart and go around in the spring and pour a few "glugs" on the thistles that are just emerging and pretty flat on the ground. Yes, it kills a small patch of grass around them but the grass comes back and the thistle does not. For other weeds, if you pull the weed and then pour a bit of vinegar on the root, the root will die. I don't kill dandelions because I want them for my bees, but my friends have used vinegar on dandelion roots and it works great.

For the more stubborn weeds, you can use vinegar and salt.