This year, we had about 40 birds on a little over an acre. They seriously did not bother the garden other than fallen tomatoes and kicking the mulch around. I am just worried about water pollution and nitrogen buildup. We have a creek that winds through the property. There is a lot of fish and stuff in there. Now I have 35, 12 ducks and 23 chickens. Soon we will have 17 chickens after the ones I am babysitting leave, but I have a broody pullet, with 15 eggs. We have 4 pigs, too. How many birds could I have without pollution and damaging the ground? I also worry about the Game Commission...
I have a few questions?
If you had 40 chickens last summer on your land and are going to have 17 this year, what is the worry? Where is the problem? Even if the pullet hatches all 15 eggs you will have less this year?
Do you eat any of the chickens? That will lower the actual number.
Do the fish poop in the creek?
How close is the creek to the chickens? Distance matters.
Is there a boggy or swampy area before the runoff gets to the creek? Bogs and swamp will utilize a lot of extra nitrogen.
Personally I would worry more about phosphates than nitrogen.
What type of soil do you have? Sand, loam, clay etc.
What is the topography, rolling flat, slight slope, etc.
If you have plants growing on the land especially grasses they will use up the nitrogen almost as fast as it breaks down in the poop. Grass grows better with manure, most plants do.
Why are you worried about the game commission? Are the birds invading government land?
The chickens will scratch the ground, eating bugs, and depositing manure/fertilizer, the bugs will eat the nutrients, the grass will absorb it, making a cycle of life.
If the land becomes denuded, and the scratching causes washouts or if the topsoil all washes away you have too many.
How much of the time are the birds in a pen or the coop? That is poop that you collect and compost.
I dump my chicken manure on my rhubarb, and let it compost right there. It makes great rhubarb. Once I have enough there I pile it on the edge of my field and haul it back to my garden to be worked into the soil. I wish I had more manure to work into a bigger area, so my soil was more productive.
Without us knowing all those variables, there is no way we can answer your questions. We each have to come from our own frame of reference, and they are not the same as yours. Without trying to cause an argument, your view point on "man made global warming" will effect your choices.
More nitrogen helping greens grow faster using and locking up more CO2, or more plants dying releasing more CO2.
Driving your car to town may cause more damage than your chickens do. Emissions from your home heating plant are most likely more dangerous than 40 chickens. Even your own biological waste, is more hazardous in my opinion.
Sorry to throw water on your question, but it seemed you wanted us to answer in a certain way, agreeing with you or confirming your beliefs, which we really cannot do without all the information, and I am sure I missed some of the things we need to know.
So in conclusion, using my point of reference, 40 chickens will cause no or minimal damage, so get another 100, chicken math at work!
