How do you have chickens in your garden?

[gardengirljo]

I am hoping in the spring to get probably 5 chickens - all Rhode Island Red or RIR & some Red Star. In the coming months I plant to convert part of my garden shed (a 26 sqft area) into a hen house/coop for them. My garden is right behind this shed and it is fenced in. We have cold winters & quite a bit of snow in the winters so they would be indoors during this time but I know they will need access to outdoors in the other times. I have heard of people allowing chickens in their garden. How do you do this?? Don't they eat all your garden produce & plants?? I will have strawberry plants & greenbeans in this particular garden area.

Please explain how you allow chickens in your garden area without them destroying it? Thanks so much!!!

[herb girl]

Actually, the only time you can truly allow chickens in the garden is when
the plants are A) Mostly dead and gone or B) when the plants are very well established and not prone to damage.

But I can pretty much never do B because I use mulch and they absolutely destroy it!

I am however, experimenting with a super tiny chicken called a serama that is so small (like a soda can) that they do little to no damage from scratching.
They do however, eat a lot of bugs. I will be posting here soon about my "tiny garden chickens" that are also ideal for city dwellers. They are about half the size of regular bantams.

I have also heard that feather-footed breeds don't do as much "scratch" damage. I know my silky chickens are pretty gentle on the garden.
But as far as your RIR's, they will destroy any and pretty much all spring plantings and turn it into a moonscape in no time.

I think the key for chicken "help" in the garden is good management.
Kinda like a "controlled burn" if you will. Only let them in when it's time to clean up the place. Most people I know, if they have free rangers, actually build a fence around the garden to keep the chickens OUT. :)

[Fred's Fine Fowl]

Before you plant

Chickens will remove bugs, greens, turn the soil while they dig annnd fertilize.

Remove chickens...

Plant your crops

Harvest your crops

Return chickens to overhaul the remains and fertilize for next years crop

You can fence the garden, or fence the chickens... personally, I fence the garden.

It's true, that feather footed chickens don't dig so much, but they do eat everything...

The Serama is also less dertimental as mentioned, but the trade off is, they aren't really strong enough to work the garden as larger birds can do.

It's a trade off.

Rotate large bare legged varieties in and out of the garden as necessary between planting and harvesting. If you try to tend them in the garden, while you have things you cherish are growing, you're asking for problems.

Also, while you are selecting chicken breeds, consider that the light weight varieties can fly over a fence with little effort, while the large standard (heavy breeds) are easily fenced out, often with a fence as low as 3 feet.

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

See my garden.. minus the chickens (">

Enjoy your birds and your gardens! Separately

[plantoneonme]

You can always use chicken tractors and move them around as needed. I have seen some very large ones that have nesting boxes and everything. Fred also has a video with a moveable coop that is really nice.

[groundhogpeggy]

Do those little Serama chickens lay decent eggs?

[Fred's Fine Fowl]

Every breed has it's supporters and they are drawn for any number of reasons...

The Serama is really a novelty bantam? Because of it's reputation of being the world's smallest and lightest bantam chicken, it is collected by those who celebrate it's tiny compact nature.

A big Serama Rooster may only weigh in at 12 ounces... (qualifies for first class mail)... and a hen hovers from 6 to 10 ounces...

So, if you are wondering what the eggs would be like? Tiny and not in any true quantity.

In Malaysia, it's the most popular household pet... and inexpensive to keep anywhere. If you provide free choice feed (always available, all the time) they still only eat about a pound per month!

Chickens can be bred for disposition and these are often bred as pets and are extremely friendly with children and folks of all sizes... I'm sure there is a national breed organization for the Serama and they will be more than happy to tell you of all the tremendous and rewarding benefits associated with owning your own.

Just don't count on them for eggs in any quantity? That's like relying on a tea cup poodle for it's pulling capacity =<';'>=

Sorry, that was probably an unfair comparison. Need a visual reference? Get out your ruler... stand it on end... look at the 8" mark... this is the average adult height of the wonderful and friendly chicken, known as the Serama!

There are sure to be lots of variables in such a widely owned breed... these are just approximates mind you. For example, some adults may only be 6" and so on...

Oh, one piece of information in closing... roosters have a crow, directly relavent to their size.. therefore, the Serama has a high pitched (therefore not heard far away) crow, which is approximately 1/3rd the volume of a normal standard rooster...