fertilize the yard

[shmeggs]

I have been thinking about putting fertilizer on my yard. will my chickens eat the fertilizer or will it hurt the chickens if they do eat it.

 

[HS Pye]

Hi,

Assuming the fertilizer is like a mix of dirt, mulch, and other stuff, no. They should be fine.

HS Pye

 

[aart]

I have been thinking about putting fertilizer on my yard. will my chickens eat the fertilizer or will it hurt the chickens if they do eat it.

What kind of fertilizer? I wouldn't put any chemicals down where my chickens eat.

 

[lazy gardener]

Are you talking about fertilizing the grass? Spot fertilizing certain plants? Do you do it because stuff just doesn't grow if you don't do it, or do you do it b/c you've always done it? How long have you had chickens? Since getting chickens, my fertilizing practice has changed somewhat. I won't use granular or time release fertilizer unless it is in an area fenced off from chicken access, then, my preference is not to use time release fertilizer at all. At least the granular stuff gets washed down into the soil and dissolves. I never fertilize my lawn, why fertilize it when it just makes the grass need to be mowed more often! My preference (when spot fertilizing areas that the chickens will eventually be in) is to use a liquid fertilizer and deny them access until the area has dried out. Other favorite options include making weed or compost tea, and just plain mulching with compost and hosing it in. Back to the question re: how long you have had chickens... you may find that you now have an abundance of free chicken manure/compost, and if they free range, they are leaving little fertilizer bombs every where they go.

 

[shmeggs]

i have had chickens almost a year now. yes I do free range when weather permits and also when we going to be hanging close to home.

 

[3chickchicks]

i have had chickens almost a year now. yes I do free range when weather permits and also when we going to be hanging close to home.

How big of an area do they roam? They may have fertilized it for you.

 

[shmeggs]

they mostly roam about 2 acre area.

 

[lizmcd]

My son has a small garden and his plants look horrible. I almost put out fertilizer but I stopped myself after looking at it and realizing how much it looked like little pebbles or even seed. What do I do. My poor babies garden is suffering.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

My son has a small garden and his plants look horrible. I almost put out fertilizer but I stopped myself after looking at it and realizing how much it looked like little pebbles or even seed. What do I do. My poor babies garden is suffering.

If you have chickens, you already have the best fertilizer available. Use some well aged chicken manure to make manure tea to feed your son's garden. To follow is a link on how to make manure tea, just remember to use aged manure and then to dilute the tea after you "brew" it as instructed in the following link.

You can also use manure tea to fertilize your lawn. If you use it in your vegetable garden, you should NOT use it on root crops such as potatoes or on crops that you will eat direct from the ground, such as lettuce, onions, carrots, kale and other greens, etc. It's perfectly fine for beans, squash, corn, tomatoes or crops where you eat a vegetable that is produced from an above ground vine or stalk.

http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/composting/manures/manure-tea.htm