Gardening with chickens (and other poultry)

[snoggle]

I think this thread is a great idea. It doesn't really need it's own topic. You can just start a thread under "Managing Your Flock." Love the idea - and I'll subscribe to the thread. Right now I'm feeling bad because I've been planting my garden - and so I've kept my chickens in their run the past few days because I don't want them un-doing all my planting.

Maybe one of the moderators can move what we've started to the appropriate area and change the title to just Chickens and Gardening?

 

[Kevin565]

You can change your title yourself if you Edit Thread at the top of the thread

 

[Judy]

You can change your title yourself if you Edit Thread at the top of the thread

You can also double click on the white space next to the title of a thread, in the forum view. This shows how:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/642433/anyone-know-how-to-edit-the-title-of-a-thread-they-created

 

[snoggle]

I already changed the title, we just need the thread moved to a better location if that can be done.

 

[Judy]

To have a thread moved, just report it, from any post. I'll go ahead and move it to managing your flock (sorry I didn't notice this when I was in here before.)

 

[chickmashnoon]

Wow, I checked out the books/authors you mentioned, snoggle, and I agree, I really like Harvey Ussery's book after scanning thru the table of contents. I may just have to order that cause it looks like he has a lot of husbandry things that would be useful, as well as the info on gardening with chickens rather than in spite of them

I have a couple chicken books, but things like storeys are geared more to production rather than integration. I like! I have a fence around my garden since I caught them dustbathing in my newly planted rows of spinach and lettuce, but I did notice last year I had no japanese beetles and they ate my tomato hornworms. So nice, except for them digging up all my daffodills.

 

[snoggle]

Wow, I checked out the books/authors you mentioned, snoggle, and I agree, I really like Harvey Ussery's book after scanning thru the table of contents. I may just have to order that cause it looks like he has a lot of husbandry things that would be useful, as well as the info on gardening with chickens rather than in spite of them

You put it so perfectly, "gardening with chickens rather than in spite of them". I actually bought it for the section on processing meat chickens because we thought we were going to process our excess roosters ourselves (found a place to do it cheaply, so why bother?). I was pleasantly surprised to see how much he discusses gardening with chickens.

After reading his book, I'm tempted to get some geese to "mow" areas of the yard for me. When I get a small orchard going, I plan on having ducks and a couple of geese hang out in there most of the time. They can eat the excess fallen fruit (especially the geese) and the ducks can eat the bugs and slugs (geese are vegetarians).

 

[bnjrob]

but I did notice last year I had no japanese beetles and they ate my tomato hornworms.

Did they pick the hornhorms off the plants themselves or did you have to pick the worms off for them?

The last time I gardened, the hornworms were terrible - I really can't stand picking those things off the plants. I can touch poop and pee all day long but there is something about picking those worms off that just gross me out.

 

[chickmashnoon]

oh no, I had to pick them off and feed them to them.

maybe they would have if I had let them in the garden, but even not being in the garden itself, they did cut down on the bug population. Oh, and if you DO get brave enough to pull the hornworms off for yourself, just beware of the grenades they drop. you grip them and pull and they drop a tiny green grenade!

it doesn't explode or anything, it's just what it looks like. I'm sure it's made up of my tomato and potato vines after working their way thru the digestive tract. I don't think most of the hens liked the taste but there were two barred rocks that loved them! It made me feel good to think that those things were going to make me eggs. Someone had said that the worm that ate the foilage might hurt them, and it might I guess if they ate enough worms filled with plant matter from the nightshade family, but I don't think a few at a time would do any damage. My girls are still running around, but if you do feed them to your hens, I'd pace the amount, just in case.

 

[bnjrob]

Blech - guess I will just get gloves to pick hornworms off when I start growing tomatoes again.