Gardening with Free-Range Chickens For Dummies

How to keep chickens in the garden

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Home Subjects Agriculture Animal Agriculture. Added to Your Shopping Cart. Description Maintain a beautiful garden with chickens? An excellent supplement to Raising Chickens For Dummies and Building Chicken Coops For Dummies A plain-English guide with step-by-step guidance for creating a chicken garden Advice on how to manage chickens while maintaining a beautiful garden If you're looking for step-by-step advice on building a chicken garden, Gardening with Free-Range Chickens For Dummies has you covered.

About the Author Bonnie Jo Manion has been featured in national garden magazines with her gardens, organic practices, chickens, and designs. Permissions Request permission to reuse content from this site. Table of contents Introduction 1 Part I: Getting Started with Gardening and Chickens 7 Chapter 1: Just thinking of it now makes me let out a wistful sigh. I blame John Steinbeck for my delusions. Most of us have read about the two ranch hands, George Milton and Lennie Small, in secondary school.

Long before John Seymour baited the general public with the Shangri-La of self-sufficiency, George and Lennie were wandering around the fields of California looking for a place to call their own. Before anyone jumps to the obvious joke, yes I am probably more like Lennie then George. However, I am smart enough at least to know this: The quest for a visually appealing space has little to do with the need to produce food. The utilitarian needs of farmers are a long way away from the aesthetic desires of gardeners. This spring however, my inner Lennie got the better of me.

Still, I felt apprehensive when we drove to a local farm and arrived back home with our three new hens. The first night I introduced the hens to their new home, I was nervous. That first night I tiptoed, slippers wet from the lawn, several times back and forth to the henhouse to make sure the girls were okay. The next morning, when all three chickens emerged from their house alive, I was relieved. To top it all off, later that morning we had our first egg.

My daughter was ecstatic. We took a picture yes, of an egg. I felt as if my dream of owning a farm was just that little bit closer. The MMS will quickly disappear in sunlight, so it must be given daily for a while.

It kills parasites and bacteria. It is excellent for overcoming almost all diseases in humans, so I'm sure it will work with the chickens, just don't make the MMS too strong. I am using it to make sure any disease residing in the chickens is destroyed along with removing any heavy metals such as you find in paint. It also reduces the damage done by feeding them feeds that contain GMO which is in most commercial feed unless you specifically purchase non GMO feeds which run a little more expensive. I will not feed my chickens or pets anything containing GMO.

I just got 6 chicks. My very first chickens. When do you introduce grit? Right now I give them only unmedicated starter. I would add chick grit after the first 3 days. Sprinkle it on food like salt or pepper. It helps with digestion and "pasty butt". I have never used this stuff, but the name Chlorine Dioxide made me think twice. Read all of the reviews before using this stuff MMS or any other suppliments. Thats all I'm sayin. You eat what you feed your chickens! Another quest for advice.

How long do the hens remain fertile after the roo is removed from access to them? I purchased 3 hens which were exposed to a rooster. I want them to breed with my own rooster. How long should it take before I can be sure the fertilized eggs I am getting are by my own rooster? I would like to hatch some eggs from my hens. I was told to gather the fertilized eggs a couple of times per day, bringing them inside and keeping them at room temperature until I have the amount I want to hatch.

Also told that the fertilized eggs will remain viable for 10 days or so as long as they don't get real cold, such as refrigeration, or staying in the nest for too many hours without a hen. How long can they set and a chick still be able to hatch under proper incubator conditions?

What is the best average rooster to hen ratio? I am just about to inherit my buddies chickens and need to know if any more chickens need to be bought He has 2 red jungle fowl and a rhode island red rooster. What is the average lifespan of laying hens which are healthy and well kept? Many commercial laying hens are kept for up to 3 years.

I was given 13 hens and 1 roo.. They could be molting or you may just need to be patient. One of my hens had that problem when I purchased her and the old feathers had obviously been broken off. I started using MMS in my water and her feathers are growing back. But the thing I would caution you and all chicken owners is to be careful about commercial feeds.

Most contain genetically modified organisms GMO which is very detrimental to any animal that eats them regardless of how much the information put out by the chemical companies praises them. Their chemists are paid to lie. GMO has been proven by independent scientists to be deficient in the nutrients the grains should have so your chickens are not getting the nutrition you think. It costs a little more, but nothing containing GMO will ever be fed to my chickens. My chicken coop at home which my husband and a friend built is almost done.

Can't wait to buy my own chickens. Do you have any suggestion on how many to buy? As beginners we wanted to just take it easy and we are looking into raising chickens as a hobby. Do you have any suggestions on what breeds to buy? Thankyou will really appreciate any insights and recommendations. The question of how many chickens to buy depends on how many eggs you want assuming you're raising chickens for eggs. You'll get, on average, 2 eggs a day from 3 hens. So, if you want a dozen eggs a day, buy 18 hens. See the next article that we reference above on choosing your breed: Thank you for your reply..

We are raising hens just for a hobby so might as well settle for 3- 5 chickens considering us being a newbie in chicken raising. I Will surely check the link you provided. Be sure to check for city ordinances limiting the size of your flock; and don't forget about the HOA home owner's association. Good luck with your new hobby! We had chickens when I was younger and 4 was a good number for us.

We got an egg from each of them each day so you end up with 2 dozen a week. They had access to our entire backyard during the day and they put themselves to bed at night, they had an old cubby house that we modified a little bit for them and locked them in at night.

They would live to approx. Also, for anyone with kids or a large piece of land - we whistled when we fed them and it takes weeks but they train well to respond to a whistle. They will come to you when you whistle very reliably and it comes in handy or can be a good party trick for the kids! I'm not sure if its a hen or roo.

I'm nervous its a roo because we have 2 hens ans we dont want baby chicks. Is there a way i can tell if its a hen or roo? It's hard to tell a male from a female. The rooster will try to crow about 2 months though it could be later. I'm new to this but recently bought 4 chicks from the local feed store. One was a bit more outgoing and curious as a kitten. Its comb grew faster, wider and redder than the others and it started to "dance" in front of the others.

It's been almost 6wks. I'm no pro but Id say I have a roo! If you collect your eggs daily, you will never have to worry about having baby chicks.

Gardening with Free-Range Chickens for Dummies

A rooster can be a great asset to your little flock. Just got some baby chicks - 3 days old. I have them in a large dog crate 5 of them on newspaper with some water and their food. I just stuck a few pieces of fresh hay into the cage and they loved it. I have eight month old chickens they haven't started laying yet my other chicks were always laying by 6 monthes what are they missing indiet.

I currently am giving them corn and oats and eggmash.

Eight months isn't too old for some chicken breeds. Chickens do best eating naturally--with grass, bugs, and other foraged material. You sound as you have a good mix of nutrition. We've never fed eggs to our chickens. We use soybeans, worms, and yogurt mixed with whole grains not corn. You may find this page helpful: We have two hens that are two years.

A Blessing from our daughter. One of the hens is leaving a very loose stool. This morning a very soft shelled egg was found. What are they missing in their diet? Is is grit or ouster? It sounds as if they need more calcium and vitamins. Try mixing oyster and egg shell into their feed. Also, add one to two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar per gallon of water so that they can drink it. This will help the hens absorb the calcium in their system. We are starting up with 12 chickens and a nice size coop. I have a 20 ft x 40 ft garden all nicely fenced in and critter proof.

Could I place my chicken coop to attach to the garden for the hens to run around in? Would they damage my plants? Or would you recommend a separate run for the chickens to range around in? It's great to see that you want your chickens out and about, it's so good for them and you as they will be much healthier birds. They will tear up your garden, so I dont recommend that you let them range there.

I would set up a separate area for them using electric poultry netting and a charger. How much noise do they generate? My neighbors are very fussy and I do not want to create a stir every morning. Glad to read you do not need roosters around to get eggs. Chickens do make some noise, but not necessarily any more than dogs. Only roosters crows, but hens will make noise when laying.

Shrubs and insulation can help muffle the noise. It might be worth visiting a chicken coop to get a sense of the noise level and what you think will be acceptable. Odor can also be an issue. My husband and I recently moved onto 10 acres, we have been wanting to raise chickens for years. He loves eggs and I love to bake. We converted an old two stall horse barn, it's perfect for our 6 peeps coming on Wednesday and the two ducklings that I couldnt pass up last week from our wonderful local grange.

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Not to sure about duck eggs though. Last year I got a puppy chi-wawa, she has become the ducklings new mama. She got in the bath tub with them last night. Can we do too much trying to make them social? Are we overthinking them? New duck and peep mom looking for advise. I had chickens growing up and loved raising them for 4H. We will be moving back to the country very soon where we can garden and enjoy home canning.

I insisted to my husband that we order chickens and begin raising them. It will give me a great deal of peace knowing that between the garden and the chickens my family will always be well fed no matter what the economy does. We moved back to the country 10 years ago. We had a large corner lot in the city and my neighbors all called my hillbilly because my back yard was full of container vegetables and a raised bed for corn. We got rabbits, as I showed and raised those for 4H. I am thinking about chickens and ducks now.

I got miniature goats for dairy and make cheese too. Yes, it is awesome knowing that my children, and grandchildren now too, will always be able to have healthy food and be able to feed themselves. We have three hens that are just starting to lay eggs. The eggs are soft. We have seen chickens pecking at the eggs. What should we do? This will be our second year with our Chickens and we started out with four, on was killed by a crow so we knew we had to cover the top of their outside area, now we have 16 chickens and they have a large chicken coop, with a large free range to go in and out freely, and a nestling area that we can use to just lift up the hinged top to collect eggs from the ouside, the coop is full of hay and long three long perches that they perch and sleep on at night, we feed them lots of corn, they love old crusty bread, we get over a dozen eggs a day, and give to family and friends so its so worth to have chickens and the kids love to come feed them..

So happy to hear about the cold weather. I'm a country girl-city girl-finally going back to the country girl and can hardly wait for my chickens to raise. Thanks for all this great info! Do chickens have to have a rooster around to lay eggs? I say no, but my friend says yes. I don't want babies or meat, just the eggs.

Thanks for the info. I really enjoyed reading it and everyone's input. Yes, chickens can be cuddly. I used to carry mine in the basket of my bicycle as a little girl. Also, my mother would hold her and pet her neck until she fell asleep. Happy Farming to You All. So excited to see this subject as I've been contemplating raising some chickens no roosters. Recently moved to a farm and I am in heaven and want to take advantage of the space and area to have some feathered friends - but want to do it RIGHT for the chickens sake.

So, have been doing much research and was glad to come across this when I came to FA to see about seed starting. Am looking forward to reading future snippets as I can use all the info I can get. I've always wondered, though; I see where chickens have personality - but can they be cuddly? No heat lamp necessary. I live in Northern Ontario, and only used heat lamps for babies chicks and lambs.

Even in weather, the chickens were fine as long as they were sheltered.

We had about 40 free range chickens on our farm. Every time my Husband would go outside, a Rhode Island red would always hang out with him I mentioned that he had a "friend" and he was skeptical So, we painted the friendly hen's tail blue to see if it really was the same hen hanging out with him She would come in the house if the door was open just to find him. She followed him everywhere. Chickens are very cuddly! I have one big girl who jumps on my lap times a day, puts her chest on mine, roosts down and falls fast asleep to the point of snoring!

Chicky poo is great for the garden after it has been composed for 90 days. We have 39 hens and 5 roosters and not one of my roosters have attacked a visitor or family member. In addition, we put up fencing to keep the chickens out of the gardens, they are trainable.

See a Problem?

If one gets in, they are immediately traumatized with the hose, yelling and clapping. I have yelled at them from the top floor out the window and was surprised that they got the message and got out!! They're smarter than you think. Michelle, you're right about chicken manure being to harsh to put straight on the garden. Composting is the way to go. And PellyRdGirl, thanks for the chicken-training tips.

Just so you know, chicken poop is very harsh so don't plan on using it in your garden which, by the way may be destroyed by your chickens--they scratch everywhere! And roosters can be mean and deadly to ones ankles.

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