weed control and healthy chickens

[oneluckychick]

I love my sweet chickens, please don't get me wrong....but I am unsure of how to handle this problem. THE WEEDS ARE TAKING OVER!!!! We have approx. 4 acres of woods and one of 'yard' with lots of paths and beds and some grassy areas. Since we got the chickens in Aug of 09 we have not treated the yard or beds with anything, and now it looks like no one lives at our house. I weed every day and just can't keep up with it. Let's not even talk about the dandilions....it looks like we are dandilion farmers. Now, my hubby has been very patient with all this but I can tell he's getting ready to drop a bomb, literally, on the whole place, including the chickens

Kidding, he loves them, too.

So, any advice on how to safely manage the yard and the chickens? We mulch and pinestraw some areas and that helps some but things like brick walkways and grassy areas are awful hard to manage with that approach. We do eat the eggs, but not meat, yet. We have 6 pullets that will probably be going to molt in the next 3 months, we guess. Could we treat some areas, cover them ( to keep the chickens out) while they molt? They don't lay then, right? Any advice or hope for a normal yard would be appreciated

Christina

 

[cnj-tx50]

I am not too sure if this is posted in the right place but I am wondering where you are at and if you use anything that is organic? I treat weeds with 10 or 15 percent plain white vinegar and molasses. It really helps. My girls don't really help with the weeds as much as the bugs and slugs but they do however keep their yard weedeated around the outside of the fence! I did let them into my potatoe patch when I spotted some potatoe beetles and in one day they were gone and have not come back. They love the slugs on the hostas. But weeds - well not so much.

 

[oneluckychick]

I don't know if this is the right place either, but I didn't know where else to place the question. I am going to try the vinegar solution but it might be limited to sidewalks...the yard is another problem all together. I read in another older post that roundup is the safest thing to use if you keep the chicks off of it for a couple of days or so. It's been tough. I am now covering areas with tarps to kill weeds that are up, but it looks worse than with the weeds!! I am in NC, by the way....

 

[cnj-tx50]

I have used straight vinegar in a sprayer - pump up like you would use for round-up and used it just like round up. It takes a few days longer to kill and it is best to use on bright sunny days as the heat help move it along. We put con gulten meal down in the fall and spring to help with weed seeds.