The benefits of Chickens for Organic Gardening - for my class <HELP?>

[aimeeinwv]

Quote:
I'm in the same class! What's his name?? So nice to "meet" you!

 

[kathyinmo]

One more advantage, I don't think I read here ... The egg shells themself. I collect them in an old coffee can, and then crush them to add to my garden or compost pile.

 

[Nostalchic]

Let's say, for instance, you planted a couple rows of kale, and by early July you had had eaten more than enough kale to last a lifetime, but it just kept growing and green and hearty right thru...don't know, it's still going. Well, your chickens still love it, love it, love it! They also really love tomatoes with bugs and especially slugs, eggplant (seriously, how many eggplants can YOU eat, day after day?) and those huge zucchini - or any zucchini after the point at which your neighbors hide when they see you coming? Chickens are crazy for those things! And turn them into eggs for you!

 

[Benelli]

Speaking of eggshells, you can grind them up and put them in the holes for your tomato plants so they get lots of calcium, especially the Roma/paste variety!

 

[Imp]

Don't forget that people eat chickens.

Imp

 

[FlockO'Sheppards]

One other thing---roosters make great alarm clocks (no snooze button!) I wake up when the chickens do and they demand that I come outside first thing to let them out. Since I am already outside---I spend a few minutes in the garden before the rest of the family gets up. I guess you could say that the chickens help motivate me to spend time that I would normally be sleeping to get out in the garden.

 

[The Zoo]

I have found we have a ton less waste when we go out to eat. Before I would only take home what we would eat the next day, now I take home EVERYTHING. One time we went out to dinner with my husband's family and took everyone's bits of leftovers home to the girls - they went nuts over cold fries, some fish and roast beef, mashed potatoes and veg.
Also - whenever I make something from a new recipe and I don't really like it (an eggplant spread the other day), I know I can give it to the chickens instead of just throwing it away.
It's amazing how little we waste now.

 

[sotelomary]

I have chickens to "teach" with. I have a daycare/preschool and we have 5 pet chickens. They are Emma, Luna, Bella, Sienna, and Ruby. I got them because I wanted the kids to know where eggs come from. It also teaches them about caring for animals. We are also learning about composting. They know about how beneficial chicken manure is. The chickens are such a natural fit along with our organic gardening. I feel they are expanding the minds of my little ones.

In addition they love to stick their fingers in the coop to see if the chickens will peck at them. They also get a big kick out of putting weeds thru the harware cloth. It's great to hear all the giggles!

Mary

 

[faykokoWV]

regarding the chicken moat

yes they circle it on their own no problem. They usually start the morning on one end and move to the other end with the sun/shade.

slug free lettuce this year, ate all the bugs off the potato's, negative- they did eat my onions and any low hanging tomato

really enjoyed the cucumbers and tomatos as they grew through the fence

Unfortunately, they don't seem to like bermuda grass, but they have trampled it pretty well and kept it from spreading by that method rather than eating it.



Idea came from Mother Earth news and was modified to fit our budget and location.


hope that answers all the questions. So far we love it and its worked out great.


Aimee- pm'ed you about the DH

 

[GardeNerd]

Here is one of my photos where I penned them in to work on a new bed I was creating. They cleaned all the bugs out for me and helped to loosen up the soil after I had already done a bit of the digging. This is a dog exercise pen that can be adjusted to fit lots of garden areas. I clip bird netting on top.

I don't let them in my fenced in veggie garden until I am done for each planting season. But they are great to have around my fruit trees and grape vines. They clean up anything that falls on the ground except for citrus.

Here are two pictures of them hanging out under a couple of the grape vines hoping something falls because they picked everything they could reach.

I hope you also mention the downsides to gardening with chickens too. Some folks don't realize they will quickly destroy a pretty or veggie garden if given the chance. With a flexible tractor, gardeners and chickens can co-exist. Free ranging where ever they want all the time and they can be your worst enemy.