Gardening with chickens (and other poultry)

[snoggle]

Quote:
I think just about any cover crop will work for this. Ussery talks about this a lot in his book (really, he needs to start paying me for the advertising

). He mentions using cruciferous crops (mustards, winter radishes, raab, kale, rape, turnips), grain grasses, clovers, ripened small grains and buckwheat.

I have a very large front yard that I don't want to have to leave as the demanding lawn that it is now, so my plan is to put in twice as many raised beds in as I "need" so that I can rotate which ones I use, putting cover crops in the ones I'm not planting veggie gardens in that season. I'll let the chickens enjoy those whenever they need to be turned, etc. I'm trying to convince hubby that by not having to pay for as much gas for the mower, the chickens (and future waterfowl) will kinda pay for themselves. The way gas prices are going up, I'm probably not exaggerating that much!

 

[catw0man]

I'm glad there are others thinking this same way - gardening with chickens. I'm definently going to subscribe to this thread.
As I was getting my garden area ready a few weeks ago, I let my gals and guy in there to help till and fertilize - which was great! At that time I also threw some scratch out for them in that area -BIG MISTAKE!!! Because now I have these little sprouts coming up all over the garden - between the rows and mounds of vegetables and in the pathways.

If I were to let the chickens back in, do you think they would eat these sprouts or would they eat everything? And would they destroy all the rows, etc.? I've seen so many pictures in books that have chickens running around in the garden. Of course, these are well-established gardens, not newly planted.

I'd appreciate any advice . . . meanwhile, I'll be weeding my garden! (My back is aching already.)

 

[tmfineg]

Great idea for a thread. I am also interested in how I can use my chicken to keep bugs down, etc. I just fenced in the chickens to protect my flower gardens and vegetable gardens this summer. I am not sure how I am going to let them spend just enough time to eat bugs without tearing everything up.

I also have to be carefule to shut the green house door or my hens sneak in for some salad!

 

[triplepurpose]

Great thread idea!

I have used a chicken tractor on harvested beds in the past to glean and fertilize. I also build compost piles in my chicken runs now. I build a layered pile in a closed-off run area, let it heat up a little, ideally, then let the chickens in to pull it apart. I pull it back together with a hoe, they pull it apart again. We do this once or twice, they find lots of grubs, worms, and bugs the whole while. Then I shovel it out and pile it up outside the run to finish, and let the chickens clean the empty site of the last bugs and worms. Then I close off that run again and start the next pile. It doesn't make the best finished compost in the world, but it works just fine, and it's easier than me shredding ingredients and turning the piles by hand, and the amount of protein they eat out of those piles must be considerable.

One of my favorite ideas is having a chicken house in the middle of a garden site and using one half as a chicken run/garden waste and compost disposal, and the other half as a garden, and then switching them around every year or two. I've not tried it but it sounds brilliant.

 

[AZ_HenHouse]

I have a RIR that loves them. She excells at searching and eating them off my plants- that way I don't have to touch them. After she has found one, someone else usually notices and comes running so she has to share with them. It was easy to teach her. I showed her a worm one day adn she picked it off. then later I would call her and show her one. Only took a few times for her to figure out that she could search for them on her own.

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.

 

[stargazingmommy]

Last year I planted my garden, I thought the fence was secure, but noooo the dang ducks got in and ate it all.
I replanted, fixed the spot, or so I thought. The ducks got in and ate it.
I replanted, did another fix, again, I thought. Nooooo the ducks ate it all again.
I gave up and went camping.


I have 2 trays of plants and more seeds ready to plant directly. I have a kinda small garden area, its between the duck pen and the shed where the chicken coop is. The duck pen IS secure and the little jerks will be confined to it this summer and not allowed access to the whole yard. the chickens will have free run. I dont' plan on letting them into the garden until the plants are a decent size and can withstand the chickens running through them.
The kids focus is pumkins, they have several sprouts from giant pumpkin seeds.
I also have tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, watermelon(a duck favorite), carrots, peas(3 types), radishes, lettuce and cabbage.
My husband has leukemia. We have to be careful with bacterial contamination. Unfortunately a lot of whats available in the stores carries a risk of fecal contamination, so our diet is lacking in fresh veggies and fruit. I so can't wait to have our own fresh that I can trust.

 

[californiagirl]

We use our chickens to turn our compost as well. We have an open bin made out of three pallets screwed together. The fourth pallet forms the door and is attached with two hinges so we can swing the door open to let the girls in. They throw it all over the place and have a ball! At the end of the day my husband rakes it back in and closes the door. Mind you, we're not getting nearly as much compost and I originally thought we would because a lot of what used to go in the composter now goes straight to the chickens as treats. But our main reason for composting was to avoid waste so I'm okay with that. We have free compost available once a month from our city's green waste department, so that's where I get the majority of our compost. Our homemade compost is used more like a top dressing because it's got all the chicken poop and egg shell nutrients.

 

[Daisy8s]

Love this thread! I saw my chickens as part of my garden when I first got them so it's nice to find others who do also.

The floor of my coop IS my compost pile. I use the deep litter method so I intentionally throw kitchen scraps into the coop where manure is the heaviest because as they scratch for the scraps they turn under fresh manure. Result = no smell!

This spring I cleaned out the coop and got EIGHT wheelbarrow loads of compost/bedding. It was such a healthy compost pile I even found live earthworms near the bottom! Amazing. Here's my question. Sometimes I read that chicken manure can go directly onto the garden and other times I read that it should be composted. What do you all do with fresh bedding?

I just finished making a rabbit tractor to mow my lawn. It's 6x2 and has two rabbits (real Easter bunnies for my boys!). I made it narrow enough to go between my raised beds as it was a pain to maneuver the mower between them. I don't need a perfectly manicured lawn so as long as the bunnies keep it reasonably mowed down I'll be happy. And...free fertilizer!

Here's a hint for those planting new shrubs this spring. I cut off the bottom of gallon milk jugs and put the little twig inside it. Tall ones might poke out the opening at the top. This protected my shrubs both from the chickens eating their tender leaves and from frost.

 

[snoggle]

This spring I cleaned out the coop and got EIGHT wheelbarrow loads of compost/bedding. It was such a healthy compost pile I even found live earthworms near the bottom! Amazing. Here's my question. Sometimes I read that chicken manure can go directly onto the garden and other times I read that it should be composted. What do you all do with fresh bedding?

I just finished making a rabbit tractor to mow my lawn. It's 6x2 and has two rabbits (real Easter bunnies for my boys!). I made it narrow enough to go between my raised beds as it was a pain to maneuver the mower between them. I don't need a perfectly manicured lawn so as long as the bunnies keep it reasonably mowed down I'll be happy. And...free fertilizer!

From what I've read a little bit of chicken manure would be fine to go directly into the garden (I do not know from personal experience), especially if it is mixed with the rest of the composted stuff.

I love your rabbit tractor idea. Wish I could do that, but I am violently allergic to rabbits (found out when I hid a pet rabbit in my room without telling my parent in high school, LOL). I guess I'll have to stick to poultry!

 

[triplepurpose]

From what I've read a little bit of chicken manure would be fine to go directly into the garden (I do not know from personal experience), especially if it is mixed with the rest of the composted stuff.

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...