Strawberry patch and chickens…

[Jane11]

I have 30 6-week old chickens. Half will be butchered and I’ll be left with 15 egg layers. I’m currently building the fencing for their run but I’m also going to set up temporary seasonal fencing around my garden so they can forage and fertilize my area all fall and winter. My question is this…
Under my pear, peach and plum trees I have planted strawberries. I wondered if I could, AFTER THEY HAVE DIED OFF FOR THE YEAR AND GONE UNDERGROUND, allow my chickens to forage, scratch, and poop all over that space for a time to fertilize it for the next year? Will they kill them? I hypothesize that since they are dormant I could maybe let them hang there once a week or twice a week for a couple months to give it a good go for the next year with minimal effort from me. Also I plan to do what Paul Gautschi does and cover them in wood chips before I allow the chickens to be in that space. Will that be better?

Thanks so much!

Picture shows garden space with t-bars ready for plastic fencing this fall and to the left is the row of fruit trees and strawberries.

 

[azygous]

Sometimes our human logic, as impeccable as it may be, is at odds to chicken logic. Therefore, when planning something, we do need to review how our chickens normally behave.

Chickens are attracted year round to live, green, tender leaves and grass. Yum! Salad! They also have a compulsive need to scratch diligently in the soil around living plants for insects that reside there. In the process, a nicely maintained garden can be decimated. Bear that in mind.

Even dormant plants are not immune to chicken damage as they scratch around the roots for insects. Any plant that is shallowly rooted is vulnerable. Just be forewarned.

 

[Jane11]

Sometimes our human logic, as impeccable as it may be, is at odds to chicken logic. Therefore, when planning something, we do need to review how our chickens normally behave.

Chickens are attracted year round to live, green, tender leaves and grass. Yum! Salad! They also have a compulsive need to scratch diligently in the soil around living plants for insects that reside there. In the process, a nicely maintained garden can be decimated. Bear that in mind.

Even dormant plants are not immune to chicken damage as they scratch around the roots for insects. Any plant that is shallowly rooted is vulnerable. Just be forewarned.

So perhaps it would be best to layer their coop bedding on top of the wood chips in tue fall instead of having them directly involved. Thanks for the reply!

 

[azygous]

Yes, best not to place your trust in chickens to behave in a civilized manner.

 

[azygous]

One thing I'd like to add to this discussion is that it's a joy to watch your chicken flock industriously scratching around for insects. The perfect rhythm they maintain, scratch-scratch while gazing upward, peck-peck, repeated endlessly, is almost a meditation. For this reason, I created a fenced garden patch solely for my flock to scratch, uproot, shred, and abuse to their heart's content.

The fence is to keep out the deer and rabbits and the chickens during early spring so new plants can take root. I sow an abundance of Swiss chard, hollyhocks, flax, lettuce, grasses, etc from harvested seeds from my own garden. By the middle of June, the garden is ready to open up for business. It requires little maintenance for a huge return in enjoyment for the human as well as the poultry.

 

[Jane11]

One thing I'd like to add to this discussion is that it's a joy to watch your chicken flock industriously scratching around for insects. The perfect rhythm they maintain, scratch-scratch while gazing upward, peck-peck, repeated endlessly, is almost a meditation. For this reason, I created a fenced garden patch solely for my flock to scratch, uproot, shred, and abuse to their heart's content.

The fence is to keep out the deer and rabbits and the chickens during early spring so new plants can take root. I sow an abundance of Swiss chard, hollyhocks, flax, lettuce, grasses, etc from harvested seeds from my own garden. By the middle of June, the garden is ready to open up for business. It requires little maintenance for a huge return in enjoyment for the human as well as the poultry.

Yes! This is my plan over the fall and winter. To fence in my actual growing space and let them do their thang prepping it for the next year’s garden.

 

[mowin]

What strawberries.....