Chickens in the garden...

[adegiulio]

I'm looking to get some chickens for laying. My wife brought home some eggs from the farm where she rides, and now I am hooked. I would like to build them a nice henhouse and enclosed yard, but also a chicken tractor that I can relocate throughout the yard. One thought was to build one that is narrow enough to fit between the rows of the garden, thus leaving the weeding and cultivating to them. When I brought up the idea to a friend who is an organic farming expert, she said she would be cautious of having fresh, high nitrogen chicken manure in the garden. She qualified this remark by saying she has no experience with fresh chicken poop.

So, does this sound like a good idea? From the websites I have visited online regarding chicken tractors, they seem to imply that chickens in the garden is win-win. Any thoughts?

Thank you!

[Pat]

I suggest you Google on "chicken tractor in garden." I did and found a wealth of info. Seems it is a popular practice but maybe not as you envision it (timing and repetition and composting and ...)

http://photos.permaculture.org.au/di...0&pos=-402

I think it can be a good idea and hope to try something like that myself one day.

Fresh chicken manure is pretty "hot." There are techniques for handling that.

I have seen flocks of domestic geese running loose in fields for the purpose of weeding (and probably fertilizing too.) After the "crop" is large enough the geese preferentially go for the young tender seedlings of the weeds.

Pat

[egon]

The fresh fertilizer will be okay.

Just remember to wear shoes in the garden unless you like that barefoot squishy feeling! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[GregMVT]

I'd be cautious about turning chickens into a garden especially if you have food growing that will be eaten fresh. Think back to the spinach in California last year. Chickens can carry salmonella among other things. Last year I turned them loose in areas once the plants had stopped producing. They loved the pea and lima bean plants and also stipped the area of weeds. Hopefully there will be less weeds to pull this year!

Greg

[eccentricfarmer]

Boy this opens up a can of worms everywhere it gets started.

Chicken tractors: in the yard, when young move every other day, when older every day. The grass will look like YUCK but grows back in a couple days and without a lot of weeds that were there before.

Tubes of chicken wire along side the plants in the garden for the chickens to wander up and down seems to work the best for me. If move daily then the manure gets mixed in and does not burn the plants or provide too much so get a lot of green and little food bearing. (Had HUGEMONGIOUS plants one year, no tomatoes, too much nitrogen.)