Coops inside vegetable gardens

[fortkevin10]

Hi. I have a good size vegetable garden and I would like to keep the chickens fenced in their with a coop. Is that a good idea to do? Are there anything I should avoid planting?

 

[conny63malies]

How about a chicken moat?
http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/garden-pest-control-zmaz88mjzgoe.aspx

 

[Highcotton]

Hi. I have a good size vegetable garden and I would like to keep the chickens fenced in their with a coop. Is that a good idea to do? Are there anything I should avoid planting?

I can't think of a thing they won't eat. The main problem I see is that the chickens will eat everything in the garden before you get anything. Mine have foraged in the garden and they will eat bugs but they will also eat anything green. Mine ate all of the Kale, Radish tops, Rutabaga tops, Spinach and quite a bit of Mustard and Turnip Greens. They will also eat weeds like Dandelions and Henbit. But they prefer your vegetables.

 

[rottnwarrior]

It seems like a great idea at first. A wonderful way to keep the slugs and other critters at bay. Until you start noticing that they have killed half your plants and pecked up pretty much all the veggies. I wouldn't allow them to have full time access to the garden.

 

[Pilze]

We had a bunch of escape artists that pecked up my tomatoes and kale. And they scratched up my cardboard and newspaper sheet mulch.

 

[marktoo]

Chickens need to be contained in some fashion to be able to use them to their full potential in the garden, otherwise they're gonna eat your whole garden & you get nuthin. The chicken moat above is a good idea, otherwise use them to assist in cleanup only.

 

[needmygiants]

Has anybody build the chicken moat? Any pictures? I love the idea!!

 

[marktoo]

Too much trouble & expense to revamp my garden to make it work. The chickens are experiment enough. You can find pics here... http://www.pinterest.com/memezim/chicken-moat/

 

[Campngolf]

Like others have said, your garden will feed the chickens nicely and you'll be lucky to get any leftovers. I'm in the process of building some chicken tunnels around the raised beds in my garden so my 4 girls can stretch their legs and scratch around.

 

[Cluckerzfamilyfarm]

Thank you so much for the chicken moat link. I know years ago but this is what I have been looking for!

How about a chicken moat?
http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/garden-pest-control-zmaz88mjzgoe.aspx