Using your flock for other than meat and eggs

[jopheso]

We recently decided to really upgrade our composting game. One of the biggest roadblocks we had before going with a large compost was turning the material on a regular basis. We found a solution!

 

[elaineinspain]

yep! Chickens are great gardeners and compost turners. I keep mine more as gardeners than for eggs, and certainly not for meat - They are like my children to me!!!!!!

 

[Dr.Dale]

Plus they add a good amount of nitrogen to the compost pile.

They are also pretty good at insect control. Of course you also have to accept that there will be chicken poop everywhere they are controlling insects. And they don’t do so well against nocturnal insects.

 

[birdofhermes]

looks like they're having a great time!

 

[centrarchid]

Why not have chickens roost above compost pile?

 

[JedJackson]

We recently decided to really upgrade our composting game. One of the biggest roadblocks we had before going with a large compost was turning the material on a regular basis. We found a solution!

It's a nice idea but I have doubts that it's effective. To turn garden waste into compost at a good rate you need the decaying matter to heat up inside the pile or piles, which means you need to leave them alone between turnings. Chickens, I think, would disturb the piles too much, and would not be able to reach the lower levels the way a spade and a strong person would. So I think the process would be slowed and the raw materials might not compost sufficiently by Spring when the time came to plant, if you just threw the piles on top of the garden. I keep 3 piles going, all of different ages, but I live in a very mild climate. I think this might work better in a warmer climate where garden waste composts more rapidly.

 

[jopheso]

we live in a very warm climate but even if we didnt, chickens turning compost isnt our idea. It is pretty well documented that it works well. Also we can manage how often the chickens get in there if it looks like its not working.

 

[jopheso]

Why not have chickens roost above compost pile?

Our chickens kinda just roost in trees

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Our chickens kinda just roost in trees

No nocturnal predators?

 

[jopheso]

I hear owls sometimes and I know we have skunks, but we havent lost a chicken to predators in those trees yet and they have been up there close to year I think. If we ever lost any to predation we would start putting them the coop at night, even if they prefer the trees