smoked chickens...

[canesisters]

OK, probably a dumb question - but once I thought about it I really was unsure.

I'm planning to burn a HUGE pile of leaves this afternoon. Part of prepping an area for a garden in the spring. It's about 25-30' or so from my coop. Should I be concerned about the chickens and the smoke? The girls have a 30'x30' run so it's not like they'd be penned up right there in the thick of it but the images of canaries/coal mines & parrots/Teflon pans keeps circling around in my head....

 

[emach0301]

I think if their area is well ventialted, and the wind is blowing AWAY from their area, they should be fine. Maybe put a fan in their pin the day of the burning so they can DEF have a breeze of fresh air if they need it. And I would say lots of fresh water as well.

 

[Trampledbygeese]

Most smoke should be okay, especially if there is enough airflow. However, there are some plants that can be VERY toxic to chickens (and humans) when burnt. Spurge Laurel (goes by many other names) is one of them.

As a side note, if the pile is really big (like over a yard across) then it's better to have several smaller fires so that you don't sterilize the ground which can have a negative effect on plant growth later on. We had one place in the garden where there was a big fire three years ago. This year, the corn that grew where the soil was serialized was only a foot high, whereas everywhere else, the corn grew the usual 6-8 feet.

 

[canesisters]

Thanks!

It IS a big pile - fills the whole 14' circle and loosely piled is about waist high. The idea was to kill off any remaining grass roots with the fire and then start composting through the winter as soil prep for spring planting. We're supposed to get a lot of rain late tonight and much of tomorrow so if I'm going to get them burnt, it's got to be today.
Maybe I can shove most of them out and feed them back in slowly so it never gets too smokey.

It's nothing but oak leaves and some pine needles - so not really a 'toxic' risk I don't think.

 

[canesisters]

It's suddenly POURING RAIN - looks like our 'after midnight' soaking is hear a little early.

Guess the leaves are simply compost now....