Best breed for gardening. .

It's hard to find a chicken that will stay in a fence. Once they get heavier, they will stay inside, or you can coop a wing. But if they free range I prefer then to be able to fly up in small bushes and trees to Safety, away from dogs and other predators. Its less frustration for you and then to just fence off a portion of flower beds or garden that they may get into, let them wreck that area and keep the others nice. It's so ingrained in then to scratch for insects and pebbles and to cool off and do their dusting that is near impossible to train them not to. Good luck in your decision!
My current chicken yard (1/3 acre) has plenty of trees bushes and some "play equipment" we built for them out of pallets. The compost bin is also in there along with their coop. They seem to have plenty of cover , shade and enrichment. They really dont even try to escape anymore since we raised the fence to six ft. We tried clipping wings when the fence was only 4 ft and that didnt work at all lol
 
I saw on a homesteading forum thread someone mentioned using their chickens for gardening and i was like "How?" I tried and failed a couple years ago....and i think there they mentioned guineas. But i figured id come to the best place for chicken questioms and i got my answer. :)


So unless i want more layers. ( i dont im hoping they slow down on production soon. A dozen eggs a day or close to it on average is just too much for me)

Ill look into some small breeds to keep as pets. I think id like tjem in a small coop witha covered run. With the option of putring them in the garden a couple hrs a day for their enjoyment.

Thanks for the replies.
 
One thing DH and I have read about and want to try is having multiple chicken pens where you can rotate the chickens and the garden. The theory being that the chickens destroy the weeds and bugs in an areas while fertilizing it, you grow your garden, then the chickens return and clean up the aftermath.
 
Ill be perusing the general breed discussion board and figuring out which hobby/pet breed i will be getting in the spring. Looks like silkies might be out due to heat tolerance. Id like a flashy bread but i dont want it to be uncomfortable in our souther n summers.

Excited to start new coop plans. I think we will stick to bantam breeds .
 

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