I have lived on a farm or homestead for 32 of my 39 years of life . During most of those years , we tended to large gardens and keep a sizeable flock of poultry .
Even now , I have a flock of 50 or more , and my garden plot seem to breed every farm season .
Every few years or so , I ’ll see an clause in a cartridge clip , glamorize the “ crybaby - friendly garden . ” It will admit idyllic photo of small red Bantams pull beetles froma new squash vine .
There will be talk of how simple it is to skip the interlocutor and allow the birds to fertilize the garden directly .
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The truth about why I homestead has forced me to be naturalistic concerning the fact about chickens and my harvest .
Eventhe pins on Pinterestmake it sound so beautiful .
sure enough , I must be doing something wrong in keeping chickens and garden separate ?
I have it away my little hen . They are wonderful and inquisitive creatures , and their eggs make me so happy ! My number one destination in gardening , however , is not to offer them a place to hang out . It is to feed my family .
While they can coexist , there are some deliberate ( and often lying-in - intensive ) stride that you ’ll need to take to keep both razzing and growers glad ! These include setting right boundaries and implementing safe way to integrate the worlds of domestic fowl and plant .
Chickens Are Selfish
In my many year of attempting to give the birds low , carefully monitored roles in the garden ecosystem , I have learned a few thing .
The most important of these is that these creature want what they want and are very , very destructive to plants and their fruits . Some of their trademark behavior include :
There is a very short windowpane of meter that would be appropriate to allow them to live inside a garden .
That time is after the works have grown to a size that they wo n’t be well mowed down by hungry , broody , or slough hens . But they can not be in the garden once yield sets on , either .
This means there are only a few hebdomad when they would be able to peacefully coexist with your garden plant without much harm .
Birds in Their Time Zones
So , how does a discerning gardener determine when to put hens in the garden ?
Most garden plant do not all produce at the same clip . What may be the double-dyed occasion to provide a little pest dominance for the squash is ill - time for the lilliputian , tender green love apple that would just be setting on recently in July .
Therefore , wimp work out better when assign to a portion of a properly zoned garden .
“ Time Zone Gardening ” ( as I ’ve dubbed it ) puts plant that produce at around the same time together . This make it soft to block off the peppers andtomatoesfrom the late - produce wintertime squash .
Chickens can turn out through the zona at the appropriate clip , induce peanut impairment from their rabid shaving or scratching .
Easy and Affordable Fencing
you could give your garden the best potential chance of survival by dividing your zones with deer or hare fencing .
Material that is two foot in pinnacle , stretched out and secured with small-scale posts , should keep bird put .
Very few will think of crawl underneath , but you’re able to always use little tent pins or a similar stake - type fastener to secure the fencing to the ground grime .
This brings us to how to keep doll in their place . I ’m not going to lie and evidence you that chickens do what they are supposed to do . Ever . I’m not snuff it to dwell and tell you that chickens do what they are hypothesize to do . Ever .
If you allow your birds to go natural ( i.e. no wing clipping or other modifications ) , they can – and will – check to fly as in high spirits as their trivial offstage will take them . This think of that even the well - constructed garden fencing can eventually fail .
That is why I have also taken to take into account only the smaller , less experienced birds around my garden .
Tiny bantams who have no idea that there is liveliness outside the netting are ideal for this eccentric of surroundings . The brood hen , five - twelvemonth - older Black Australorp biddy with ideas about the worldly concern is not .
Choose the right-hand chicken , and you ’ll have far fewer unsound behavior to consider with !
Perimeter Duty for Hens
If you are in dear with the idea of having your chickens make the garden , and you are beyond frustrated with trying to keep them separate out , perimeter work may be for you .
build a chicken run along the outside wall of your garden is dependable than nothing . chicken can make quite a difference in keeping grasshopper andslug populationsdown by only work the outside edge .
I have done this with just three sides of my garden most year . The fourth side is where I like to allow my flora “ do their affair . ”
Overzealouspumpkin vinesare redirected to this fourth wall , or I may allowan heirloom cucumberto make its home here . Garden fences are prime material the three estates for many of my experiments , so I ’m not willing to give them all up to the chicken !
Raised Beds, Lowered Chickens
Finally , if you ’re looking for an easier way to let fowl have their fun and do a little pest - control work while they ’re at it , put them aroundyour enhance beds .
Once my honey oil are fully established , the chickens do n’t want much to do with them . They will , however , scurry around the foot of the bring up bed , reaching up to snag a slug orharmful grubstraight out of the dirt .
Again , this is believably best for the better - behaved , smaller hens . If at any point in time they find the greens to be tasty enough to get hold of for , they get put back into margin duty . This type of horticulture only solve with very clear boundaries !
Problems to Look For
There will always be exception to best practices .
chicken seem made to stretch your expectations and challenge the distinctive gardener . That ’s why you should be on the lookout for the following troubler who would be better off free ranging in the field than inside the fencing with your plant :
Broody Hens
These gals will find a place to nest ( ordinarily somewhere in the hazardous mass of overgrown tomatoes ) and refuse to leave .
Do your best to keep pondering hen near their regular laying boxes . I have had seasons where there were more eggs thaneggplantsin my garden !
Roosters
If you keep cock , you know that they have a purpose . But they also do hen to press and distract from the task of pest controller .
Gardening is an all - girls activity for the chickens on our farm .
Hen and Chick Sets
Unless you require to listen hours and 60 minutes of distressed calls between female parent biddy and baby , lead the small ones out of the garden . They lean to get trip up and lost in the snarl of plant .
biddy are expert off in a more secure and less overgrown environs .
A Natural Partnership for Your Garden
I have yet to decide if we will deal with the hassle of place fowl in the gardens this year .
At the very least , it ’s easy enough to permit them to free - range in my largewatermelonand squash while in the weeks before the fruit stage set on , where there is no fence or other infrastructure to deal with .
Even if you decide to keep your feathered friend out , there are way of life to keep the symbiotic relationship active – even in a foster mode .
Mary Jane and rotted fruit should get chuck to your hens daily . Chicken manure can be put into compost where it will be turned into a safer , less nitrogen - rich interpretation than when delivered “ in somebody . ” Even eggs case can be mash down into a ok dirt linear for good works root health !
poulet and the garden are innate mate for a more level-headed , effective system . How you put them together , however , is a very personal choice .
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About
Linsey Knerl
