My husband came home with some gifted to us chickens about a year ago. Between the 2 of us, we had zero chicken knowledge. It’s been a learn as we go adventure for sure. I used hoops and netting to keep them out of some of my veggies this year which wasn’t very convenient for me, but it worked. Still haven’t figured out what I’m going to do to keep them out of my garden next summer.
They are persistent and interesting creatures, and I think I'm still emotionally scarred from going through the weaning process after falling in love with their dedicated mothering skills. We had 3 batches of chicks this year which we were not really expecting either, but once one hen went broody, we decided it would be fun. Ha ha This resulted in the building of another coup for them after we learned that flock intermixing is generally not a good idea. Yikes! I'm also still in shock as to how much this "free" chicken adventure has ended up costing while trying to keep my eyes fixed on the long-term benefits of having them. Maybe vertical gardening will be the way to go, they get what's on the bottom and I get what's out of their reach.
I am sorry you had to go through all that. We were the same way when we started. That said, we had other problems too. The first one is, that the chicken will eat all insect eggs, which includes the predators that keep the unwanted insects under control. The second problem was that we live very close to crest national park, so we have a lot of wildlife visiting. The raccoons are the worst. The little rascals have thumbs, so they can manipulate the lock to let themselves in, and remove the zip ties, we also use. A Coyote pack, or a pair of raccoons will wreak havoc in a chicken cook, despite us having 2 roosters to protect the flock. Right now we are trying a new lock for the coop, and blinking lights. If that doesn’t work, we will have to use a lock with a key for night time. As for the poop. Chicken poop is very strong when it comes out, and can kill your plants direct that way. It needs to be composted before you can use it. Because of this, it’s great that chickens are great at making compost. We put 50 % of what we need composted in with the chickens. We also use a lot of old chips on the ground. This way we just dig some up by the coop and pen to put in the beds. While they are not free ranging, our 25 birds have 400 square feet to live on, including the coop. Our ducks have half that, but there are only 4 of them, and during the winter, the area doubles up, because we give them access to the meat bird area during the cold season. They have a large swimming pool, and a nice big house. The house though we put in last year, and the females still likes the old dog carriers we used before.
We btw, are surrounded by other family homes on lots going from small gardens to the half acre we have. Another thing about fertilizers. My husband is part of a rabbit livestock conservation project, so we have a good amount of rabbits. Rabbit poop does not need to be composted but can be used directly in the beds or spread out under the trees in the food forest.
Thanks so much - I actually mentioned this in several posts already but here it is again: the poop sits for a while and then gets broadforked into the dirt. This is a common practice as mentioned in Mother Earth News. I know about the rabbit vs. chicken nitrogen differences, but a small flock and broadforking to really turn over the soil make the difference. You should check it out.
My husband came home with some gifted to us chickens about a year ago. Between the 2 of us, we had zero chicken knowledge. It’s been a learn as we go adventure for sure. I used hoops and netting to keep them out of some of my veggies this year which wasn’t very convenient for me, but it worked. Still haven’t figured out what I’m going to do to keep them out of my garden next summer.
Ha, ha, they are persistent little buggers, aren't they?! I'll think on that hoop-and-netting solution - thanks for the tip!
They are persistent and interesting creatures, and I think I'm still emotionally scarred from going through the weaning process after falling in love with their dedicated mothering skills. We had 3 batches of chicks this year which we were not really expecting either, but once one hen went broody, we decided it would be fun. Ha ha This resulted in the building of another coup for them after we learned that flock intermixing is generally not a good idea. Yikes! I'm also still in shock as to how much this "free" chicken adventure has ended up costing while trying to keep my eyes fixed on the long-term benefits of having them. Maybe vertical gardening will be the way to go, they get what's on the bottom and I get what's out of their reach.
I am sorry you had to go through all that. We were the same way when we started. That said, we had other problems too. The first one is, that the chicken will eat all insect eggs, which includes the predators that keep the unwanted insects under control. The second problem was that we live very close to crest national park, so we have a lot of wildlife visiting. The raccoons are the worst. The little rascals have thumbs, so they can manipulate the lock to let themselves in, and remove the zip ties, we also use. A Coyote pack, or a pair of raccoons will wreak havoc in a chicken cook, despite us having 2 roosters to protect the flock. Right now we are trying a new lock for the coop, and blinking lights. If that doesn’t work, we will have to use a lock with a key for night time. As for the poop. Chicken poop is very strong when it comes out, and can kill your plants direct that way. It needs to be composted before you can use it. Because of this, it’s great that chickens are great at making compost. We put 50 % of what we need composted in with the chickens. We also use a lot of old chips on the ground. This way we just dig some up by the coop and pen to put in the beds. While they are not free ranging, our 25 birds have 400 square feet to live on, including the coop. Our ducks have half that, but there are only 4 of them, and during the winter, the area doubles up, because we give them access to the meat bird area during the cold season. They have a large swimming pool, and a nice big house. The house though we put in last year, and the females still likes the old dog carriers we used before.
We btw, are surrounded by other family homes on lots going from small gardens to the half acre we have. Another thing about fertilizers. My husband is part of a rabbit livestock conservation project, so we have a good amount of rabbits. Rabbit poop does not need to be composted but can be used directly in the beds or spread out under the trees in the food forest.
Thanks so much - I actually mentioned this in several posts already but here it is again: the poop sits for a while and then gets broadforked into the dirt. This is a common practice as mentioned in Mother Earth News. I know about the rabbit vs. chicken nitrogen differences, but a small flock and broadforking to really turn over the soil make the difference. You should check it out.
Thank you!!!