And, if you have chickens, what do you like to feed them?

Thanks, Jammie

you will have to pen them up when you plant till your plants get established because they will eat them.. or dig up your seeds but after that they are GREAT on bugs... also when your tomatoes start to ripen you will need to pen them up because they will steal and eat EVERY tomato AS IT RIPENS.. they wont eat the green ones...

i feed mine a grower ration for about the first 2 months of life then i feed just cracked corn.. at about 6 months i feed an Egg laying crumble till they are about 9 months old then i just go back to corn.. they lay eggs consistantly.

Chickens are great and super fun..

oh and a fence will do you no good... they will hop over it.. i just keep mine penned up till my plants are about a month old or well established and i harvest before i turn them out in the mornings

A heavy breed can be kept out of the garden by a 3' fence if you clipbsings. With certain heavy breeds you might not have to clip wings. But you need to chose a breed and get to know it before you will know just what you can get away with. I'd highly recommend that you start out playing it safe: try to keep them out of the garden.

George
Tahlequah, OK

mine mainly dust in the the shade and are not that bad about dusting in the garden.. and i had no loss of plants after they were growing... but they were fed well in the pen also...andi have a Huge yard with lots of other places to bother things a short fence might help

In the spring, chickens will dig and scratch for bugs and weed seeds and will tear up newly seeded areas, displace your mulch by kicking it away from plants and out into pathways, eat your seeds and newly sprouted plants, etc. In the summer they'll often peck at vegetables with a high water content. I keep a chicken waterer filled by the garden gate and that helps keep them hydrated so they peck less at tomatoes and such when I let them into the garden.

Sometimes I let them into one portion of the garden but not another. For example, they've never been a problem when allowed into the Three Sisters garden where I grow corn, winter squash/pumpkins and beans together. They also normally don't bother green beans, black-eyed peas or okra plants.

We always have a wide variety of chickens--often 8 or 10 different types at one time and they give us a wide variety of eggs---white, solid light brown, light brown with dark brown speckles, pale green, pale blue, etc. Banty hens lay tiny eggs and some of the other types lay huge eggs. We get many more eggs than we can use so often give them away to friends and neighbors.

We feed our chickens the standard chicken feeds as appropriate for their age---chick starter for small chicks, hen scratch and cracked corn for juveniles and we add laying crumble during the main egg-laying season, although this winter our chickens produced all winter long which is pretty common here. We also supplement with lots of food scraps that otherwise would go into the compost pile, and ours are allowed to free-range from time to time, but not all day long every day because we have a lot of predators here.

Our chicken run is fully fenced with a fencing-type roof over the top to keep out predators like hawks, foxes, raccoons, bobcats, coyotes, etc. If you are "in town" it still is advisable to have a roofed run to keep out dogs, cats, etc. because they will kill your chickens too, although cats are usually only a threat to baby chicks or to small banty hens.

The best garden/chicken combination setup I've ever seen featured a chicken coop in the middle of one very large garden. A fence divided the garden in half. The coop had doorways that allowed the chickens to go into each garden. The family planted one garden plot one year and let the other garden plot serve as the "chicken run". The next year, the family planted in last year's "chicken run" and the chickens had free access to last year's "garden". It was a pretty ideal setup. I am assuming they switched the birds after the fall harvest was complete because you'd want the fresh chicken manure in the chicken run to have time to break down before the next planting season.

For anyone who is new to chickens and who wants them for egg-laying, be sure you buy pullets and not straight run chicks. Straight run chicks include roosters and those roosters won't lay eggs. While a rooster is helpful because he'll fertilize some of the eggs and a broody hen will hatch them out thereby enlarging your flock, you don't want a lot of roosters because they fight and harm one another.

Dawn

When I am finished with the garden in fall, I let the chickens have the entire garden. They will eat the leaves off of the pepper plants as far up as they can reach, then dig out small holes in the ground so they can sit in them under the shade of the pepper plants. They will eat anything green they can see, even the tops of walking onions. Last year I had a few turnips that we didn't eat and the chickens ate the tops to the ground, but wouldn't touch the turnips even if they were above ground. I had two large raised beds and they probably knocked at least half of the soil out of them. I also had some huge tree pots which they used as a ladder to strip the pepper plants that they could reach from the pot but couldn't reach from the ground. My garden fence isn't very tall (4 foot chainlink) but they don't go over it. I have only had one go over it and it was because we were working out there and she got trapped in a corner. She went straight up and over the fence, so it isn't that they can't get out, they just don't. They put themselves up at night and I close the door and then they are in an enclosed area, including the top of the run because we have a lot of fox that run our neighborhood. In winter, I can see their tracks where they came into the garden and checked out the coop.

For next winter, I will have to make different arrangements for them because I have planted several permanent areas and they are not together. I have thought that I might buy two cattle panels with smaller holes so I would have something to put over the raised beds of asparagus and strawberries. I could use them in the garden in spring and summer, then lay them over the beds in winter to keep the chickens from digging them up. I haven't done that yet, but have been thinking about it.

Last year I put up plastic 'construction' fence with tee post and just let them in small areas at a time when I still had plants I wanted to protect. I still had to keep an eye on them and the fence looks ugly.

I am careful what kinds of plants that I put near the run because we get very heavy rains here. So far, I have only gotten run-off a couple of time near the north end of the pen and it wasn't bad but I don't plant leafy crops or underground crops there just in case. This year, my plan is for Stewart's Zeebest Okra plants to go there, but still a couple of feet away from the fence.

I like having chickens and my husband loves the fresh eggs but they are dirty birds and when you have to keep them confined to a small space you do have to clean things up frequently. It is not like having a big farm where they can run free.

They are NEVER allowed in my garden in spring and summer because they would destroy it. In summer, they get all of the tops of radishes, broccoli leaves, and anything I don't plan to eat myself. They stay healthy and happy, but their 'play-yard' time doesn't began until the fall when I am getting tired of the garden and no longer have small plants.

Carol, My chickens are picky. They won't eat any cole crops. Picky chickens? I think they are spoiled.

Dawn

At first it took a week or two for the hens to discover our raised garden beds... once these beds were discovered there was no stopping them. They ate everything, flowers, tomatoes, lettuce, peas, and leaves off the pepper plants and green beans. After they had their fill of veggies, they would scratch out dirt and nestle in loose garden soil under the shady habanero plants. Eventually, I took an old army mosquito net and threw the net over the raised beds whenever the chickens were out. This worked as a temporary solution but probably only because our raised beds are small - 4X8.

This year, we have a 4' fence around one bed. This bed is for the "chicken-sensitive" plants. In the other bed, we'll plant marigold, basil, zucchini, etc... (plants the chickens don't seem to be interested in). ; )

We have an okra patch this year, that I'm hoping the chickens will not destroy, as it's too big to fence in.

Even though it takes some extra effort to keep the hens out of the garden, I would never get rid of them. We get about four eggs a day. So I think the chickens are pretty happy. I feed them Purina Flockraiser and supplement with oyster shell and grit. They also get treats once a day, a mixture of oats and/or sunflower seeds. Good luck with your new flock. I think you'll love having chickens!

One more note, like so many others have said chickens LOVE tomatoes. My chickens will peck at the unripe tomatoes if they can't reach the ripe ones. So be sure to protect your tomato plants if the chickens are anywhere near!

Great organic bug control device.

Moni

but soon i will have a chicken killing and a freezer full so im not to worried about my older hens...

We have chickens but between a busy road, cats, dogs and wild beasts, we have a hard time keeping them around. Our yard is about four acres and when we do have them and let them out, they rarely even get to the garden. Too much other groceries I guess. I've never gotten them to lay eggs all winter, though. Even with lights, feed, or begging.

It's so hard to eat store bought eggs after having them home grown. I sure like my little ladies and watching them poke around the yard makes our place feel more "farm-y"

Brandy

Oklamoni's method of letting birds out just before sunset is a very good one too. We used to do that, when we lived in NJ. I had forgotten.

Today I have to accommodate a momma hen with chicks. She's been sitting on 16 eggs. I suspect she'll have at least 12 babies. In a couple weeks we have a Muscovy due to hatch out a bunch. She's setting on 21 eggs! I'm way behind on butchering. We have too many cockerels running around, and about 7 extra Muscovies.

George

I won't feel bad now leaving them penned up in the run while things are growing, I AM SO GLAD I ASKED YOU GUYS !! Seriously I would have shed some tears over lost produce. I love the idea of letting them loose to clean up in the fall.

Thanks again for the input about what to feed them and everything. Our garden is on the corner of our acre, taking up about 250 square feet of space. I have 8 long raised beds, (3x20ish) and several small raised beds and flower beds. The whole thing is fenced ( as of yesterday) to keep neighborhood dogs out, and I think my sweet husband is getting tired of all my building projects. But I also love the idea of the portable coop that can be carried by hand, so I could take them out into the large yard.

There are so many great ideas you guys have, and I am grateful! I don't get to check in often since my girls keep me busy, but I do check in !! THanks ! I am already having more success this year since I have had this forum to gain knowledge and gather advice!
Jammie

The following winter, I thought, "What's there to lose? I'll let them forage in the garden." I let them out, only coming back an hour or two later, to find them yanking up my Egyptian onions and slurping them like spaghetti!

So, beware! Some folk manage some limited poultry time in their gardens. But I believe most of us have had hard experiences with this. I love to have them around, but outside the garden.

Our Muscovies did an awesome job of eating ticks and grasshoppers in the pastures and lawn, last summer. They don't lay as well as runner ducks. But they make a much better carcass for eating. I have a favorite saying, "If I want to feel rich, I cook a duck." It's the best meat I know.

George