I'm brand brand new to chickens--haven't even gardened in almost 20 years and am starting slowly now.
My concern is that my plan is too beautifully simple, but if it works that's the good news: super simple.
I have a 30 x 40 foot area that has been a garden for over 5 years (house I just bought). I'd like to put up a fence down the middle and use one 30 x 20 area for a garden and one 30 x 20 area for ~3 chickens. Each year I would swap them so the garden could be planted in the tilled soil that the chickens have been working on for the past year.
The chickens would start each rotation in the fall to munch up any left overs from the garden. The space, I think, is big enough for just a few chickens to enjoy grubs in the ground and with kitchen scraps I was hoping to not have to purchase food or only small amounts.
For the coop, I was interested in an open-air dirt-floor--I saw one at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, NC. They have an electric fence; I would not have this and would attempt to keep rodents at bay with wire mesh a foot deep underground.
The dirt floor appeals because I read about a "deep mulch" system where I could just toss straw or pine shavings down and let the poop compost without having to clean a wood floor.
The open air appeals because I could easily walk into the coop for cleaning and keeping an eye on things. Also, the order and chance of too much humidity (I'm in NC) would decrease with a large opening at the front.
Main question: will this general idea work or have I simplified too much?
The fence around the garden is 5-6 feet and with 30 x 20 areas, I wasn't planning on netting overhead.
My concern is that my plan is too beautifully simple, but if it works that's the good news: super simple.
I have a 30 x 40 foot area that has been a garden for over 5 years (house I just bought). I'd like to put up a fence down the middle and use one 30 x 20 area for a garden and one 30 x 20 area for ~3 chickens. Each year I would swap them so the garden could be planted in the tilled soil that the chickens have been working on for the past year.
The chickens would start each rotation in the fall to munch up any left overs from the garden. The space, I think, is big enough for just a few chickens to enjoy grubs in the ground and with kitchen scraps I was hoping to not have to purchase food or only small amounts.
For the coop, I was interested in an open-air dirt-floor--I saw one at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, NC. They have an electric fence; I would not have this and would attempt to keep rodents at bay with wire mesh a foot deep underground.
The dirt floor appeals because I read about a "deep mulch" system where I could just toss straw or pine shavings down and let the poop compost without having to clean a wood floor.
The open air appeals because I could easily walk into the coop for cleaning and keeping an eye on things. Also, the order and chance of too much humidity (I'm in NC) would decrease with a large opening at the front.
Main question: will this general idea work or have I simplified too much?
The fence around the garden is 5-6 feet and with 30 x 20 areas, I wasn't planning on netting overhead.
