Advice re tractors on raised beds please.

[karen33]

I have two silkie bantams (pets) in a chicken tractor that I would like to rotate on our 4 raised vegetable beds. I'm hoping you can advise me how long I could have the tractor on each bed before moving and then how long I would have to wait until I can plant vegies in the bed once tractor has been moved. As I only have 4 beds, I could place them on my lawn for short periods of time if required (I presume 2 little silkies wouldn't cause too much damage!?) Your advice would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

[Fred's Fine Fowl]

Hi Karen,

I think Patti may have better answers for you specifically regarding the raised bed issues...

What I can tell you is my own method for chicken droppings and gardening...

I have a veggie garden that I've been amending and improving for 9 years without rotating my crops. I am not rotating crops, as I wish to see when and if the soil becomes depleted and can no longer sustain the things I grow.

Here is my method...
Every fall (now) I cover my garden, which is approximately 175 feet in circumference, with chicken droppings. When I say chicken droppings, this means pine shavings mixed with feathers, mixed with chicken manure which is dry. I have approximately 130 adult birds which are kept in three separate coops on what's known as a "deep litter system".

I allow the mix to remain on top of the turned in garden throughout winter.
When the soil is dry enough in spring to be worked, I till in the mix and go straight into planting my seasonal crops.

After crops emerge/germinate and are tall enough not to be buried, I clean out the coops again and leave this mix on top of the soil as weed prevention and moisture retention. It seems to disappear gradually throughout summer as earth worms draw down the surface material.

Then the cycle simply repeats... the strongest mix of manure is in the spring, as the birds spend long hours inside their buildings during winter months and in summer or on fair weather days, they free range.

I'll attach a YouTube video of my garden, along with me explaining my procedure. Hope you get "something" out of that... the rest I leave to Patti, as she does the raised bed with chickens tending her beds.

I wish you the very best!

Fred
www.FredsFineFowl.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljyyhk1xESA

[karen33]

Thank you very much for your advice. I enjoyed watching your video on Youtube. Unfortunately I don't have pine shavings so I hope this will work with shredded paper! Of course I don't have quite as many chickens as yourself (I only have two) but nevertheless this have given me hope that this will work without having to wait too long to plant. Thanks again.

[gardengirl72]

You can also use natural straw or hay and layer the bottom of the cage regularly.