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Chicken run & vegetable garden.....

Discussion in 'Coop & Run - Design, Construction, & Maintenance' started by fizzy, Nov 11, 2008.

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  1. Nov 11, 2008 #1
    fizzy

    fizzy Out Of The Brooder

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    Nov 11, 2008
    middle Tennessee
    I have been thinking about designing a henhouse with 2 fenced yards. Run the chickens in yard A and grow a garden in yard B. Then, the next year, run the chickens in yard B and the garden in yard A. It seems to me the chickens would fertilize the soil & eat all the weed seeds & scratch it up good so it would be ready for a garden.
    In turn, all the garden surplus & waste would be there for the chickens to finish off. The henhouse would be in the middle, to make it easy to divert chickens to either yard.

    So, what am I missing? Is there a reason this wouldn't work? The only drawback I see is both yards would have to be in full sun (for the garden). My girls are used to big trees for shade, so I'd have to go with artificial shade of some sort. What do you think???

    Wendy
     
  3. Nov 11, 2008 #2
    Omran

    Omran Chillin' With My Peeps

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    I think it is a great Idea and I did read in one of the old gardening books that man should make to gardens any how to let one of them rest for next year.
    And I think your chickens will get used to full sun may be put just a little area with a shed if it get real hot then they can go and hide there.[​IMG]
    Omran.
     
  5. Nov 11, 2008 #3
    hcammack

    hcammack Overrun With Chickens

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    I see no reason it wouldn't be great !!! is sounds good my hens get to go into the garden sometimes and also I use their composted poop and shavings for fertilizer.

    Henry
     
  7. Nov 11, 2008 #4
    gottaknit

    gottaknit Out Of The Brooder

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    I think it's a fabulous idea and would definitely do it if I had more space in full sun!
     
  9. Nov 11, 2008 #5
    peeplessinNC

    peeplessinNC Chillin' With My Peeps

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  11. Nov 12, 2008 #6
    MojoWorkin

    MojoWorkin Out Of The Brooder

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    That is genius!!! I am so impressed with the cleverness of this idea! If we ever build a house we will need to incorporate this into the plan. Right now we don't have enough property and our garden is already in place, etc. But man, that is super-smart! :)
     
  13. Nov 12, 2008 #7
    Weasleymum

    Weasleymum Chillin' With My Peeps

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    That's a great idea, and quite similar to what I'm planning to do as well, except that I'm using a portable coop/run to move my girls all over the backyard, which will eventually all be garden. I'm also composting the litter/manure for later use in the garden.
     
  15. Nov 12, 2008 #8
    fizzy

    fizzy Out Of The Brooder

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    Nov 11, 2008
    middle Tennessee
    I just sent you a private message -- I meant to post a reply. Sorry! I am really new to this board & trying to figure out how it works.

    That article is EXACTLY what I had in mind! Thanks for posting the link.

    And what about this Backwoods Home magazine? I need to find one of those....never heard of it. Is it like Mother Earth News *used* to be???

    Wendy
     
  17. Nov 12, 2008 #9
    fizzy

    fizzy Out Of The Brooder

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    Nov 11, 2008
    middle Tennessee
    OK, I'm not stupid, really I'm not. I thought I could post a response to someone else's post -- but apparently I can only post again in line after the last post?? Bear with me! Wendy
     
  19. Nov 12, 2008 #10
    Reinbeau

    Reinbeau The Teapot Underground Premium Member

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    Quote:Backwoods Home is a fantastic magazine, I like it much better than MEN - and I love MEN so you know it's good! I also like it better than Countryside, another favorite. [​IMG] I've just purchased a three year subscription.
     
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