If you want to use your chickens to provide ongoing fertilizer to a garden, what is the general rule of thumb for how many square feet of garden one chicken should be fertilizing? Assume that one garden has all the chickens running across it every day of the week, so I am not alternating different gardens on different days.
I was playing with the idea of having the chicken coop inside an outside building (like a barn), and then having the outside run during the day be a garden fully enclosed by fencing, attached to the barn. The ladies can spend their days running among the garden plants and their constant pooping becomes an asset instead of a liability. Having the outside run fully enclosed would take care of the predator problem, as long as the barn itself was secured.
I was playing with the idea of having the chicken coop inside an outside building (like a barn), and then having the outside run during the day be a garden fully enclosed by fencing, attached to the barn. The ladies can spend their days running among the garden plants and their constant pooping becomes an asset instead of a liability. Having the outside run fully enclosed would take care of the predator problem, as long as the barn itself was secured.