Gardening with chickens (and other poultry)

[SkyeSchazade]

I love gardening with my chickens! At my last garden I used a portable coop to move them through the garden, the ducks and chickens got to free range during the day and were locked up at night. I just kept them away from the softer ripening fruits and veggies. This year we have a new house and (huge!) garden. We are constructing a large coop in one corner of the garden, near the coop area will be the "tougher" crops, while the berries and such are on the opposite side of the acre. The coop is being built up against the fence and we will cut that portion of the fence, there is a flap door being put in that area of the coop, this way when we have started the planting and don't want chickens scratching up our seedlings we can open that flap door and turn them out into the pasture instead. After plants are well established they will take care of aerating and weeding for us! Poultry netting or some portable small fence panels (recycled lumber and hardware cloth) will be on hand in case the girls get overzealous with anything. We got the kids some Runner ducklings for Easter this year for some added slug control since they are a big problem here. I don't mind my ducks sharing the coop with the chickens since they are only in there at night and so don't make much of a mess inside. Dirty bedding (combo of pine shavings on the bottom, straw on top) gets taken to our compost pit to break down. After harvest beds will be amended with compost, spend some time with chickens and planted with cover crops, in the spring green manure will be tilled in and chickens will spend bout 2 weeks working the soil. After that, its out to pasture for a bit while we plant and the whole process starts all over again!

 

[snoggle]

I'd love to hear how things go with the runners. I'd like to add runners next summer for slug duty. Plus, they look like they'll be a hoot.

Sarah

 

[SkyeSchazade]

This is our second batch of runners, we love them! The kids really love watching them, they will entertain you for hours! And the eggs, wow! The only downside to them is that they are a MESS lol. They love making everything slimy and muddy, they can dirty a full kiddie pool in under an hour. They are great at eating slugs, but keep them away from lettuce, they love slug salad! I am leaving an area of grass directly in front of their coop intact so hopefully they will eat that and not all my spinach! We ended up having to give away several from our first batch after they got older because they overwhelmed our area and it always smelled. Now I think we have enough room and few enough ducks that the mess is much more manageable. Their "swimming pool" water is great fertilizer! I diluted it and used it like compost tea, though I do take care not to pour it directly onto the edible parts of the plants, or sometimes I just pour it onto our compost pile when it needs moistened. Any low growing plants will need to be checked and washed to make sure you are not eating duck poop, it can get all over the place.

I'd love to hear how things go with the runners. I'd like to add runners next summer for slug duty. Plus, they look like they'll be a hoot.

Sarah

 

[Daisy8s]

If you are using the DLM the manure with be very diluted by the bedding, and it's normally at least partly broken down anyway at any given time... I incorporate litter straight from the coop (in modest amounts) to condition beds before sowing green manure... Or as mulch under heavy feeding fruiting plants (tomatoes, papaya). But I wouldn't use big globs of fresh poo--that goes on the compost pile. It's all in how much you're using, how fresh it is, and how concentrated it is, and possibly what you're planning on growing in that spot...

Thanks for the feedback. There wasn't any fresh manure so I wasn't too worried but it's good to hear from others who use it also. Makes sense to consider how concentrated it is and what will be growing there.

 

[Daisy8s]

Quote:

I love gardening with my chickens! At my last garden I used a portable coop to move them through the garden, the ducks and chickens got to free range during the day and were locked up at night. I just kept them away from the softer ripening fruits and veggies. This year we have a new house and (huge!) garden. We are constructing a large coop in one corner of the garden, near the coop area will be the "tougher" crops, while the berries and such are on the opposite side of the acre. The coop is being built up against the fence and we will cut that portion of the fence, there is a flap door being put in that area of the coop, this way when we have started the planting and don't want chickens scratching up our seedlings we can open that flap door and turn them out into the pasture instead. After plants are well established they will take care of aerating and weeding for us! Poultry netting or some portable small fence panels (recycled lumber and hardware cloth) will be on hand in case the girls get overzealous with anything. We got the kids some Runner ducklings for Easter this year for some added slug control since they are a big problem here. I don't mind my ducks sharing the coop with the chickens since they are only in there at night and so don't make much of a mess inside. Dirty bedding (combo of pine shavings on the bottom, straw on top) gets taken to our compost pit to break down. After harvest beds will be amended with compost, spend some time with chickens and planted with cover crops, in the spring green manure will be tilled in and chickens will spend bout 2 weeks working the soil. After that, its out to pasture for a bit while we plant and the whole process starts all over again!

Sounds like you have a great system! I have a question about tilling in the green manure crops. Do you mean that you use a rototiller? I don't own one and I am wondering if that's a requirement if one plants cover crops.

For the past few years I've mulched my beds heavily with a mix of leaves and straw in the fall so they're ready for spring planting with no tilling needed, but I keep reading about the benefits of cover crops. I know my chickens sure could graze and aerate a cover crop in just a few days if penned in one area but I don't usually do that and I'm sure there would still be roots left behind that I'd have to deal with before planting.

 

[SkyeSchazade]

I do use a rototiller, though in the past I have just layered cardboard or paperbags on top of the cover crops and then layered compost and soil on top of the paper layer. The cardboard kills the plants underneath and decomposes overtime further enriching the beds. The plant roots will help break it apart too. Its much easier to do that if you don't have a tiller and are working with a smallish area. An easy way to contain chickens on these beds to prep them would be to make a chicken hoop house row cover. PVC pipes or scrap wood can be easily and cheaply constructed into a frame the size of your bed, then covered with poultry netting to keep the girls in. Add a water dish and something for cover/shade and you are good to go! Poultry netting cannot stand up to predators though so I wouldnt suggest leaving them out overnight like that. After they work the bed a heavy layer of paper/board and compost should keep any roots from sprouting up.

 

[Daisy8s]

Quote:

I do use a rototiller, though in the past I have just layered cardboard or paperbags on top of the cover crops and then layered compost and soil on top of the paper layer. The cardboard kills the plants underneath and decomposes overtime further enriching the beds. The plant roots will help break it apart too. Its much easier to do that if you don't have a tiller and are working with a smallish area. An easy way to contain chickens on these beds to prep them would be to make a chicken hoop house row cover. PVC pipes or scrap wood can be easily and cheaply constructed into a frame the size of your bed, then covered with poultry netting to keep the girls in. Add a water dish and something for cover/shade and you are good to go! Poultry netting cannot stand up to predators though so I wouldnt suggest leaving them out overnight like that. After they work the bed a heavy layer of paper/board and compost should keep any roots from sprouting up.

Yes, I also use cardboard under mulch in large areas with persistent crab grass problems. It's part of my fall maintenance and spring prep before planting every year. It does do a great job.

I guess I'm thinking about timing. If I planted a cover crop in the fall after harvest I'm not sure that there'd be time for the cover crop to grow, then in the spring put the chickens on it, then kill it off what remains with cardboard, and then plant. I'm in MI where the growing season for warm weather crops is late May to anytime after Sept so I need as early a start to the growing season as possible.

Hmmm, I'd like to use cover crops followed by chickens to enrich the soil naturally but I just don't think it'd work in all my beds. Maybe I could pick an area that'd be dedicated to short-season plants so there'd be time for a later start in the spring for them. Or cold weather crops that can resist the fall frosts.

 

[SkyeSchazade]

Your growing season is quite different from mine! Do you have a local gardening or permaculture club you could link up with? They would be the best resource for ideas and would understand what would work for your area best. Good Luck!

 

[VkyVky]

Is this where I can ask about composting chicken manure with Thoroughbed wood chips? I put some in an old plastic trash barrel about 3-4 months ago. Added some water now and again. When and how can I use it? I am growing some green beans (just sprouted) and probably a tomato plant this Spring/Summer. Thanks.

 

[hennyfarm22]

I like the idea of using them in the garden, but in the past when I let them free range they often eat up or peck at my tomatoes. I'm thinking about making a smaller wire tractor to go between the rowsand put them in for a short period of time.. that may be worth a try.