Chickens in the orchard...a bad thing?

[Big Bubba]

Not that it is important. But, today I found some tomato plants growing in an odd spot next to the coop. I wondered how they got there and then remembered I was feeding them some of my tomatoes last year.

You might end up with some apple trees growing here and there.

 

[Red-Stars-in-RI]

Not that it is important. But, today I found some tomato plants growing in an odd spot next to the coop. I wondered how they got there and then remembered I was feeding them some of my tomatoes last year.

You might end up with some apple trees growing here and there.

They will plant stuff in oddball places.

There is a peach tree at my parent's house that's growing out of the foundation of their old chicken coop...it was planted there by a chicken and since it was stuck in a crack in the foundation, we could never cut it out. It's now grown to the point where it's been producing fruit for a few years and completely blocked the coop door.

 

[alearningsam]

I agree that you might notice an improvement in your crop, especially if you thin as wombat suggests. My neighbor swears that the only cherries she ever gets to eat are the ones that overhang the chicken yard. For some reason she says the wild birds don't take those. I have also read of orchards that are running chickens through in the fall and winter to clean out bug populations. I myself have recently started an experiment. I planted two cherry trees inside the chicken run and one outside where even the free ranger gals are not allowed. In only a couple years we should know if the chickens really help or not

What happened with the cherry experiment?!