Gardening with chickens (and other poultry)

[blipit007]

blipit, those hibiscus flowers are SO BEAUTIFUL! I'm now trying to figure how on earth I could have hibiscus for the honeybees.

But my gosh!!! Yours made me happy just looking at them.

Thank you! Bees love them! A good source to buy some for yourselves is at Hidden Valley Hibiscus. They are out of CA. I got a bunch of mine from them.

 

[rbaker0345]

Just wanted to let everybody know that we're doing a mystery garden swap on the Seed Swap thread (well, adjacent to the seed swap thread anyway). Its fun, like secret santa for plant junkies.

Heres the link:https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/774648/2013-monthly-gardening-swap-may#post_11065150

 

[DonnaS820]

Hello, All.

I'm just starting out on BYC, but I have used the sight information for probably 6 months now gearing up for our Garden/Chicken yard Project. I have already discovered one problem I'm going to have and how to minimize the problems (6 - 7 wk old Barred Rocks, and 6 - 6day old Buff Orpingtons .... One coop.)

Now however I'm interested in any information anyone might have about the chickens eating the seeds planted in the garden before they germinate. Do I need to keep all my girls in the run for a while. (I hope not)

Any information or past experience would be helpful!

Thanks
DonnaS820
South Texas

 

[Glasshen]

I have been keeping mine out of gardens and mulched areas with deer netting. It is fine plastic netting with openings about a half inch. It is black. I've been putting it around the outside of the areas I want them to stay out of, and securing it with snowplow stakes-which are ugly yellow tall things- but hope to get some green plant stakes. The mesh itself it invisible. I got the stuff at Tractor Supply, a big roll for maybe 15$, and for the most recent fence I cut the mesh into fourths, going the long way. Then it was 18-24 inches tall, and the girls stayed out side.

 

[Kikiriki]

I got the 42 inch temporary fence. They flew out by standing on the compost pile. Moved the fence and the pile. Now one has found how to escape by going under it....sigh....

They will eat seed, and some seed is treated with fungicides and is not safe for consumption. They will also eat seedlings, and unearth plants by digging, and bury other plants by digging, and strip the leaves. Last year my girls ate whatever they could reach through the wooden fence around the garden as well, and it is not like they had nothing else! They like those nice garden plants! They no longer have free run of the backyard (hence the temporary fence) because three little chickens = one bulldozer....

 

[Lacy Blues]

 

[GrusGrus]

This year I did not fence my garden and the chickens devoured the kale and rhubarb in a matter of hours. I do not blame them, but next year there will be a fence around those plants. However, I noticed that they left some plants alone, tasted a small bite and then just ignored them. Those plants were mainly spices like mint, parsley and dillweed.

Does anybody have a list of common garden plants that the chickens does not like to eat?

I´m thinking I could plant those together and only fence in the kale and other "tasty" plants. Thus avoiding the cost and effort to fence the entire garden.

Any ideas?

 

[Lacy Blues]

I don't have any ideas. I'm moving this thread up on my profile page.