Flock and coup size for "The Master Plan".

[Johntodd]

@Ridgerunner

Throw us a link, will you please?

 

[Ridgerunner]

This is the thread I was talking about.

http://www.theeasygarden.com/threads/just-sharing-my-chicken-garden-method.8816/

There is more discussion in this thread.

http://www.theeasygarden.com/threads/chicken-tiller.10971/#post-114098

 

[lazy gardener]

Excellent discussion here folks! Loving it. One other comment I have to add: It's important to not confuse nutrient density with depletion of vegetation. It might be a good idea to do a soil test mid way through the season after birds have been on one section. Also, no matter how you have the run/garden space divided up, I think the chickens will do the most wear and tear in the immediate area around the coop. When I had my coop in the middle of a 1600 s.f. electronet, (shifting the net to N/S/E/and W with each mowing to decrease wear on the grass) they consistently removed the vegetation from the area within 20' of the coop. Heavy mulch will help a lot with maintaining a healthy soil.

 

[lazy gardener]

I think THAT's the question I should be asking!

I can do some Wheel-Hoe tilling to do a final prep on the garden each year. But I want to be one of those people who sold their Rototiller because the chickens did so much work that I don't need it anymore.

John, my tiller rarely gets used in the garden! I still drag it out when I need to break up some hard pan to sink some posts, or break up heavy clay subsoil to plant a tree, break the sod to lay a stone walk way. But to use it to till soil in a garden... NO WAY! I can tell you that my chickens till the soil some. But, by far, the biggest benefit to a no till garden comes from having a constant deep mulch. I am currently installing a Back To Eden mulch over my existing garden. Started building a hugelkulture mound last summer, and installed a BTE orchard last summer. I have been doing deep mulch in the garden for 30+ years, and anticipate that the conversion to BTE will make an even greater improvement in the existing set up. But, I'll never sell that tiller! It's too valuable a tool, even though it does not get to play in the garden.

 

[Mrs. K]

I read the post, but could not get the pictures to post. She did mention that it really did not get perfect tilling, a dust bowl here or there, so that tallies with my own experience.

She said that she started with 8 runs, but the next year, thought that she should have less runs, and a moat through out all the pens. Does anyone know what she meant by a moat, or why it would help?

Mrs K

 

[Ridgerunner]

A chicken moat is like putting a run all the way around your garden. The idea is that the chickens intercept the bugs on their way in to the garden. My guess is that she has some type of wire tunnel so the chickens can get around but not get in the garden itself.

I can’t get them to post either. That’s an old post and the forum has been revised since those were posted. I imagine they were lost in the upgrade. I’ll ask her if she has any pictures.

That is pretty much my experience too. They’ll dig holes to dust bathe and the closer to the coop the more the vegetation is destroyed, but unless you have a pretty high chicken density and you leave them in there a long time, they are not going after the roots. If you want it tilled and the roots gone, raise pigs.

 

[Beekissed]

Hi! I am a newbie to chickens, although I do have experience from when I was a child.

My plan is to split my HUGE garden in half, and let the chickens process one side while I garden the other. Each year, I flip-flop the garden and chicken run. The coop will be in the middle and have doors for each side. All will be fenced as needed to keep the chickens where they should be. Obviously, the door on the garden side remains closed that year.

I intend to flip-flop indefinitely into the future. I need all the help I can get with bugs and weeds in the garden. So, let'em rip and process the ground for me ahead of time.

I've got the overview of the plan done, and now it's time to crunch the numbers. Here's my big question:

How many chickens?

Each run is ~3000 sq. ft. How many chickens should I put there to have them "clear" the run in one year? (52 weeks).

I'd like them to scratch around eating bugs, weeds, weed seeds, etc, making compost for me, etc., all the things chickens seem to enjoy. What I don't want is a muddy barenaked run for part of the year. And I'd like to minimize feed purchases. Esp. during growing or warm season. I understand I'll need feed for the winter.

All these things, to me, point to a smaller flock of 3-5 chickens. That's 3-5 chickens in a 3000 sq.ft run for a year.

What are your thoughts?

Thanks so much!
-Johntodd

I second what Lazy Gardener on that! Why not, instead of having the chickens impact your soil and strip it of all vegetation, pile some ramial wood chips in that lot about 6-10 in deep and let them add nitrogen into it, keep the weeds eaten as they pop up and can feed on the bugs and worms to be found there. That way, when you switch garden spots, you have composted material/mulch on the land, the soil is already soft and ready to be planted into and your chickens have been turning all your garden waste, yard waste and such into compost along with the wood chips.

A much, much healthier prospect for the soil and also for the flock. You could even plant some green manure crops into the chips in strips when they have composted several months, plant that crop into deer netting on the ground so the chickens can't scratch or pull up the greens and they could have some greens to eat and the crop can serve two purposes...feed the flock and also your composting garden when it's finally cut down.

Might as well let those chickens work for you in other ways than putting too much nitrogen on the soil and compacting the soils there. This way the nitrogen of their droppings have carbonaceous materials with which to bind and you can improve your soil health/structure in that manner.

 

[Johntodd]

Does it matter that I use an Earthway Precision Seeder for seeding my garden? Talk of wood chips frightens that machine...

https://earthway.com/product/1001-b-precision-garden-seeder.ashx

 

[lazy gardener]

As Bee says, best of both worlds.

 

[Beekissed]

Does it matter that I use an Earthway Precision Seeder for seeding my garden? Talk of wood chips frightens that machine...

https://earthway.com/product/1001-b-precision-garden-seeder.ashx

Nah...the wood chips get raked back before seeding, then replaced fully when that seedling is up tall enough. Shouldn't be a problem at all.