This is why I have also made a habit of leaving only smaller and less experienced birds around my garden.
Tiny dwarf species that have no idea there is life outside the net are ideal for this type of environment. The five year old black Australorp female who has ideas about the world is not.
Choose the right chicken and you will have a lot less bad behavior to deal with!
PERIMETER OF POWER
If you like the idea of working your chickens in the garden and you are not frustrated with trying to keep them, the perimeter work can be done for you.
Find out if you should fence your chickens or let them roam in your garden | Gardener’s path
Building a chicken coop on the outside walls of your garden is better than nothing. Chickens can make all the difference by reducing the populations of grasshoppers and slugs by handling only the outer edges.
I have done this with only three sides of my garden most years. The fourth side is where I like to let my plants “do their job”.
Overzealous pumpkin vines are redirected to this fourth wall, or I can allow a heritage cucumber to settle there. Garden fences are the real estate of choice for many of my experiences, so I’m not willing to give them all to chickens!
RAISED BEDS, LOWERED CHICKEN
Finally, if you’re looking for an easier way to let the birds have fun and do some pest control work while they’re at it, put them around your raised beds.
Once my greens are well established, the chickens don’t want much to do with them. However, they will rush to the base of the raised beds, reaching one foot to catch a slug or noxious larva straight out of the ground.
Again, it’s probably better for the wiser little hens. If at any point they find the greens to be tasty enough, they are returned to service. This type of gardening only works with very clear limits!
PROBLEMS TO LOOK FOR
There will always be exceptions to best practices.
Consult our expert to know if it is wise to keep chickens in the garden | Gardener’s path
The chickens seem made to push your expectations and challenge the typical gardener. This is the reason why you should look for the following troublemakers, who would be better off roaming the field than in the fence with your plants:
Brooding hens
These girls will find a place to nest (usually somewhere in the wild mass of overgrown tomatoes) and refuse to leave.
Do your best to keep the incubating hens near their usual laying hens. I have had seasons when there were more eggs than eggplants in my garden!
ROOSTERS
If you keep roosters, you know they have a purpose. But they also get the hens to fight and distract from the pest control work.
Gardening is an exclusively female activity for the hens on our farm.
CHICKEN SET
Unless you want to hear hours and hours of distress calls between mother hen and baby, leave the little ones outside the garden. They tend to trip over and get lost in the maze of plants.
Better to leave the chicks out of the garden, says our expert | Gardener’s path
The chicks are better off in a more secure environment and less overgrown with vegetation.
A NATURAL PARTNERSHIP FOR YOUR GARDEN
I have not yet decided if we are going to solve the problem of putting hens in the gardens this year.
Learn from our expert if it’s a good idea to have chickens in the garden | Gardener’s path
At the very least, it is quite easy to allow them to stay free in my large square of watermelon and squash in the weeks before the fruit arrives, where there is no fence or other infrastructure to manage.
Even if you decide to keep your feathered friends, there are ways to keep the symbiotic relationship alive – even as a substitute.
Weeds and rotten fruit should be thrown away daily to your hens. Chicken manure can be added to the compost, where it will be made into a safer, less nitrogen-rich version than if delivered “in person”. Even eggshells can be ground in a fine soil additive for good plant root health!
Chickens and the garden are natural partners for a healthier and more efficient system. How to put them together, however, is a very personal choice.
