Gardening and Chickens

[Mahonri]

Get a fence. Chickens destroy gardens.

Then there are weeder geese.

 

[bantamfan]

Chickens are very benifical in my garden, at times we are or have been unindated with grasshoppers, but my bantams keep my lot free of grasshoppers. When the garden is first coming up, the young sprout is great eating for chickens, so I keep them locked up in the run until the garden gets up a few inches, then they can free run without pecking away at my veggies. Works for me.

 

[Chicken03]

You will have to protect your plants. Chickens love all sorts of vegatables and greens and will eat them if they can get at the plants.

 

[cluckylisa]

Ok, so need to keep them out of the garden until the garden is mature and then just watch to see if they do go after the plants. Thanks everyone! Here's to a good gardening season!

 

[ScoobyRoo]

Sounds like the safe zone would be:
Keep them out until plants get established
then let them in but...
back out when the fruits and veggies start to set.
I'm putting up cattle panels (that I use for cukes and pole beans) in a big square fashion then plant my tomatoes in the middle.

My cukes will be grown to block of the square holes so they cant get through to the tomatoes and there will be plenty of cukes to share with them. I cherish my tomatoes! I don't want them having a smorgasboard with them.

 

[swampwander]

My BO's make short work of ANY garden. I don't need to till. I could only be a dirt gardener. My banties are OK around mature plants unless they have something tasty like cucs or tomatoes. The best part of a chicken in the garden is their manure once composted.

 

[Miss Kitty]

Quote:
You must put chicken wire around the area and the chickens will leave it alone. Otherwise forget having a garden they will get into it and only wire will keep them out. I have done it. Use stakes and connect the wire to the stakes in the ground - surround the area in a circle.

 

[ears73]

I am thinking of two garden areas... Both fenced, but one would be where I throw garden scraps, etc. and the chickens would be able to devour what they find and scratch all day. The other woule be my garden. Each year I plan to switch between. That way they have theirs and I mine. They could go into both to till it up until I am ready to plant seeds, etc. Then my garden would stay my own.

 

[vermontgal]

ears73, that works! That is what I am planning to do. I didn't have enough space to try this until last fall, when I gained another 20x20 plot via a community garden plot.

Now, the chickens will get one of the two raised beds each year -- approx 8x8.

 

[wickett]

I had a garden before chickens the first year wasn't bad but after that I affectionately call my chickens the bulldozers of the yard. They dig, scratch, sit on and eat everything in site. No matter what kinda of a fence you put up they will get over or thru. I am going to attempt to make chicken tractors this year for them. I feel bad not letting them run freely but I figure if I build the chicken tractor big enough it's a good compromise, they get to leave the coop and I get to keep my garden.