I have chickens and guineas and find them very helpful in reducing the bug population. They also are fun, lovable pets (which surprised me!) and are great company. And, of course, they are a great source of organic, free-range eggs if you let them roam around. You can't just turn them loose and let them go, though, as they will dig and scratch in places they shouldn't (like in a newly seeded bed) and they will "sometimes" peck at tomatoes and other crops that they shouldn't, but you can work around that.

HOW THEY HELP: I can only compare what our land was like "before" and "after" we obtained poultry and turned them loose to roam during the day. At night, they are locked up securely in a predator-proof chicken/guinea coop. They also have a fenced-in chicken yard, complete with a chicken-wire roof to keep the hawks, racoons, ringtail cats and other predators out. The fully-enclosed yard is essential to keep them alive as we live in a very rural location.

Also, most of the vegetable garden is fenced-in. All I have to do is open or close the gate to let the chickens in or out as I choose. The guineas, of course, just fly over the fence but that's OK as they are much less likely to bother the plants, although they LOVE to devour the bugs.

BEFORE THE POULTRY: Actually, we had poultry before we moved here, but I penned them up and didn't let them roam the first year as we had oodles and oodles of foxes, bobcats, coyotes, skunks, racoons, etc., and they greatly enjoyed a chicken dinner if given the chance.

Before the poultry was turned loose to roam during the day, we had ticks, grubs, scorpions, piilbugs, fire ants, millions of grasshoppers, stinkbugs, squash bugs, potato bugs, aphids, etc., etc., etc. We also had a lot of beneficial insects like green lacewings, bees, parasitic wasps, and ladybugs. When I turned the chickens and guineas loose to roam, I wasn't sure what effect they would have on the bugs.

AFTER THE POULTRY WAS TURNED LOOSE: The following pests were HUGE problems, but the guineas and chickens have virtually eradicated them from our rural acreage: ticks, fleas, white grub worms, grasshoppers, and other miscellaneous insects too numerous to list.

There are some pests that are "seasonal" in that they show up only when there is a crop to eat that they like, such as potato bugs, squash bugs, cucumber beetles, etc. With these, the chickens may or may not be effective--is seems to vary from year to year. I use other organic methods to control these pests,

I have not seen any real control of corn earworms/tomato fruitworms by the chickens or guineas, probably because the moth lays the eggs directly on the plant's leaves, and the tiny caterpillars hatch and begin doing their evil work immediately and I don't think the chickens necessarily see them and eat them. I also seldom see a chicken find and eat a tomato hornworm, but that's OK since the hornworms are the larval forms of some of the hummingbird moths that we adore.

Chickens seem most effective on any bugs that dwell in the soil. They love to dig and scratch their way through the soil and mulch looking for tasty tidbits. You can use this to your advantage. For example, when I till up the soil in one of the raised beds in the veggie garden and till amendments like compost or manure into the soil, I then turn the chickens loose to dig and hunt. They will spend hours on that one bed, doing a pretty effective job of tilling up the soil themselves. The only drawback is that they will eat earthworms if they find them, so I usually turn them loose on tilled soil only in the January to March timeframe when the earthworms are apparently deeper in the soil, and thus safe from the chickens.

And, it goes without saying, the chickens MUST be kept out of the fenced garden when seeds have been planted and are sprouting. I usually won't let the hens back into the garden until the plants are at least 6 to 8 inches tall, at which point they are large enough that the chickens won't dig up the plants while digging for bugs.

In the summer, I let the chickens and guineas out of their pen around 7 or 8 a.m. and they usually put themselves up at sunset. Sometimes, like when a coyote or bobcat is lurking, they put themselves up and scream for me to come close the gates to keep them safe. They are smarter, I think, than we give them credit for being.

In the winter, they free-range less, and it is highly dependent on the the amount of wildlife lurking around. In general, though, I try to let them out to roam between about 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. If predators are lurking, esp. hawks, bobcats, or coyotes, the guineas (who are great watchdogs) squawk and let me know, and I go out and put the birds into their pen.

Poultry are NOT the total answer to insect problems, but they are a big part of the solution. More importantly to me, we enjoy their company. They follow me around the yard and "talk" to me, although I suspect that most of what they are saying is "Do you have any bugs for us?" They give us eggs, as well as adorable chicks.

We have lots of cats and dogs, having taken in numerous strays that have been callously abandoned by the humans who once "loved" them. The dogs have their own dog yard. The cats roam around pretty freely. I have a couple of more aggressive/mischievious male cats who like to lunge at or run at the chickens and guineas.....just to make them jump and squawk, but other than that, the dogs and chickens don't mess with the poultry. I can turn the dogs loose to run around for what we call "puppy playtime" and they don't bother the chickens or guineas. Sometimes a dog that is "new to us" will chase the chickens, but they can be trained not to do that pretty quickly.

The guineas love to roam around freely....often in a straight line somewhat like law enforcement officers or rescue workers/volunteers conducting a grid search....working their way slowly across a yard or pasture, eating all sorts of insects as they encounter them. They are a great method of insect control in a rural or semi-rural area but probably would NOT work out in town as they are very noisy and like to go wherever they want. Luckily, my neighbors don't mind if our guineas come over and eat their ticks and grasshoppers and such. I do try to keep the guineas from crossing the road since they are slow, and the gray ones blend in with the roadway.

I have never seen a chicken eat a green lacewing, parasitic wasp or bee or a ladybug. I always have millions of ladybugs everywhere, so I assume the chickens and guineas to not like ladybugs as a food.

Some people use "chicken tractors" which are basically moveable pens to move their chickens around the yard and garden and yet keep them contained.

Roosters are optional. If you are in town where houses are closer together, the crowing of the roosters can be a big problem if the neighbors find it objectionable. Also, if you live in town, be sure poultry is not probited by a town ordinance. Of course, without roosters, you won't have baby chicks, but you will have eggs.

If space is a problem, you might prefer banty hens to regular ones as they are smaller.

I can't imagine living here without our chickens and guineas, as I think the ticks and grasshoppers in a rural setting are impossible to manage organically without them.

I've linked an old article from Mother Earth News in which some of their readers relate their experience with poultry. Some people use ducks and/or geese to patrol their yards and gardens, but we haven't found that they are as effective.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: M.E.N. Readers' Comments on Chickens

backyardmomma~
I like to clean out my chicken house and take the litter to the garden to ready it for planting, just another bonus to consider.
I am with Dawn, I just love my "girls." I go out and talk to them and enoy them, can't imagine not having them. We also use an incubator to hatch out babies, which is fun for the kids . . .and me!
Last spring we replaced the wire on the outside of the chick coop and we got great advice from my Dad. We dug out about 4-6 inches dirt in where we were going to put the wire (perimeter) and filled it with concrete. This way the racoons and such can't dig under the pen and get the chickens. It has worked wonderful for us!
Our home raised eggs are so much better than store bought and I like knowing that our eggs came from chickens that are loved (I know . . . pathetic. :O) )
Good luck!

Hey thanks so much to both of you for all the wonderful advice! Dawn- have you ever considered writing a book? You have a very natural and informative writing style and so much knowledge! Heres a few more questions if you have a chance-
1. I was wondering if I am going to have a layer/pet- do ya'll have a breed preference? I mean, one that is a good layer but good personality? I have looked at Banty hens but read that the eggs are much smaller.
2. Do you know of some good local places to buy just a few chicks? The places I have found want you to order 20+ or so. Yikes! I just want a few!
Thanks for the advice- I really want to do tons of homework before deciding on if we should have chickens. My pet peeve is people grabing up live animals on a whim and then trying to dump them later when the fun and novelty wears off. I know they are "just chickens" but It is still a live animal and I want to be responsible and know if this is the right thing for us at this time.

Backyardmomma,

I doubt there is anything I could say in a gardening book that hasn't already been said 1,000 different times!

As far as a breed preference, there are many poultry breeds that have a friendly, sociable nature and are pleasant backyard chickens. We have had Black Australorps, Barred (Plymouth) Rocks, Silver-laced Wyandottes, Rhode Island Reds, Buff Orpingtons and many, many others. If you want eggs with shells of a certain color (white or brown), specific breeds lay specific colors. We tend to be partial to brown-shelled eggs. For something really unique, try Araucauna chickens--they lay eggs in a range of soft pastel type colors including blue and green. For really gorgeous chickens, check into the Polish Crested chickens, commonly referred to featherheads or feathertops. Their little feathered "hats" make them truly adorable and unique. We've even grown some of the "feather footed" chickens, which took some getting used to.

I am not sure where you live, so can't suggest a specific place to buy live poultry, but will try to suggest some possibilities.

1. Orschlein's farm and ranch supply store in Ardmore always has a nice variety of chickens (both pullets and straight run), ducks, geese and turkeys in the spring, usually around Easter. They only have them for about a month, and you have to shop early to get the specific breeds you want. I don't know if there are any Orschlein's anywhere near you.

2. Tractor Supply Company stores usually have chicks at about the same time Orschlein's does, usually in March, I think. If you have any TSC's near you, you might call them and ask them if they carry chicks in the spring.

3. Locally owned feed and seed or farm supply stores sometimes have chicks in the spring.

4. If your school or community has an youth-oriented agriculture program, like FFA or 4-H, there may be some students with surplus chicks to sell.

5. Sometimes you can find hens or chickens for sale at local farmer's markets or flea markets.

6. You can check with your local agriculture extension service office to see if they know of anyone local who sells poultry.

7. You can post a request on your local Craig's list stating you are looking to purchase a small number of chickens for a backyard flock.

8. Check your local paper, especially in the spring, for classified ads related to Farm Animals/Feed/Supplies, etc. Sometimes you will find someone advertising chicks for sale there.

9. If you live in a town with an ASPCA or other animal shelter, check there. Sometimes poultry and other "farm animals" are abandoned by their owners and end up in shelters just like dogs and cats often do.

The reason hatcheries require a minimum purchase of 20 or 30 or so is because it takes that many chicks to produce enough body heat to keep themselves warm enough to survive shipping in spring's often cold weather.

Just a couple more suggestions: Before you buy poultry, be sure they are not prohibited by city ordinance if you live inside city limits. Also, be sure you actually want a rooster before you get one. Roosters can be very aggressive towards humans, pets, and one another. One rooster is all you need. More than one and you may have constant war (including injuries and death) between the roosters for male dominance. You will have to put up with a rooster's crowing at all hours of the day, too. You'll still have eggs without a rooster, but not chicks.

Also, when you buy chicks, be sure to specific that you are looking for pullets (females) and not straight-run chicks, which are a mixture of males and females.

Finally, have your chicken housing and pen completely built and ready for occupancy BEFORE you get your chicks. If you don't, the chicks may not survive to adulthood. Being tiny, tiny creatures they are very vulnerable to predators, cold and rain. They need a warm, dry and secure home.

If you have more questions, ask.

Dawn

Oops! I meant to link this with my answer above.

Check out this Chicken Selector link, meant to help you figure out what chicken best fits your needs.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Chicken Breed Selector

I have 50+ chickens and they are a hoot. I can definitely see the difference in our yard/gardens from before we started rearing chickens to now. They help with the ticks and other pests. Guineas act as an alarm, they know the difference between my family and pets opposed to strangers. When they start sounding their alarm I know that something is going on outside. Between them and the Great Dane - visitors do not come up our drive unannounced :-). I was given some game hens and a rooster about four years ago along with a little banti rooster and hen. They roost in the trees, lay in the chicken house and are very hardy. The banti/game hen/rooster mixes are hilarious. The hens have a full beard - crack me up all of the time.

Renee,

Do you have trouble with predators going after your poultry? We do.....bobcats, foxes, coyotes, coons, ring-tailed cats, hawks, etc. Every now and then we even have a panther or cougar....but they are usually looking for something bigger than a chicken or a guinea.

Some years the predators are not that bad, but this year they have been awful.

To a certain extent, the dogs chase the predators away, but I have to keep my dogs locked up in their dog yard most of the time, because the coyotes will lure a dog away, fight it, kill it and eat it. We haven't lost a dog in that way, but several of our neighbors have.

My dogs don't bother the chickens or guineas, though, so sometimes I turn the dogs loose to roam around with the poultry and "protect" them. Last year we had a "resident bobcat" who lived in the woods and liked to come sit in the veggie garden during the day, hoping a cat or chicken or guinea would wander into the garden and provide him/her with a meal. My son chased it off several times before it finally realized it wasn't welcome here. It was a really large bobcat and did not scare easily.

I really, really have to watch the baby chicks when coons are about....and it seems we always have plenty of coons roaming around at night. There are times I think it would be nice to have less wildlife around here.

Dawn

I have thought about chickens but have never had any. I worry about what do you do with them if you go on vacation. Also, what do you do with the old hens that don't lay much any more? Do you kill them or just keep feeding them till they die of old age?

Gayle

The only problem I have had is wild dogs or dogs from people dropping their dogs off. My neighbor had to stray dogs eat a new born calf the other day - so folks don't care that we have farm life. Coyotes come down often too, but my dogs keep them at bay - fire crackers work great, too. We actually live on a 120 acres (80 family owned) so there is a lot of potential for problems. When we first moved here, there was a wild pack of dogs that did far more damage than the coyotes, etc. They killed my dog of 10 years, it was not good. We had to eliminate them (17 total). I have a couple of pens for the baby chicks and the mothers have spurs that they use :-).

We used to have a problem with packs of feral dogs also, but after a couple of ranchers got out their guns (tired of losing colts and calves), that problem was pretty much eliminated.

We're only on 15 acres, but our back property line is less than 1/2 mile from the Red River, so we have tons of wildlife that comes up out of the river bottom lands. Our worst pest right now is probably the feral hogs.

Barton -

What you do with old hens is up to you. They are usually too tough to eat normally, but they make perfectly fine chicken broth, or can be pressure-cooked. Or if you like them, you can always keep them around as pets.

As for vacation, you can usually make arrangements for chickens to be fine for 2-3 days, maybe even 3-4, unless the weather is really inclement or you don't have good shelter for them. In the summer they'll need a lot of shade and several containers of water, positioned where they can't foul or tip the containers. Same for feed - make sure it's near impossible for the chickens to dump their feed bowl, because they're too dumb to right it if they tip it over on top of their feed.

I'd strongly suggest you have someone check them after two days. If a chicken is in shade and has water, then they can survive two days of intense heat pretty easily. It's not so much mere survival that you need to worry about, but the various little things that might go wrong. If they get stressed (like by a dog harassing them) or they run out of water for some reason, or the wind blows off their shade cloth - that's when you need someone to take action.

If you're going to be gone more than 3 days, then you definitely need to arrange for someone to go check on them, water them and feed them every other day.

The above applies only to penned chickens. Ones that are free-range at all points in time (even at night) will take care of themselves. Though they will also suffer badly from whatever varmint happens to live nearby. Despite chicken's durability, it usually isn't worthwhile to try to "keep" them unless you pen them at night or otherwise provide them with safety at night.

Gayle,

Mine are pets so I keep on feeding them until they die of old age.

All I have to add to what Gamebird said is that it usually is not at all hard to find someone to check on your chickens twice a day while you're gone. You can usually "bribe" someone to do it by sharing fresh eggs with them! Or, contact your local 4-H or FFA group and see if there are any teenagers or mature pre-teens who work with poultry and wouldn't mind earning a small monetary amount in return for looking after your birds while you're gone. It is best to arrange this well in advance and let the teenager come over and visit with you and the birds a few days before you go so that he or she can understand your birds' routine and ask questions.

Dawn

We maintain a breeding flock of a heritage breed called the Kraienkoppe (pronounced Cry-in-cope-ah) which was developed in Germany and Holland. It's a game type fowl, but generally not as "hot" as the fighting birds raised around here. I run between 4 and 7 roosters in the flock, for genetic "depth," and they get along pretty well.

We love Kraienkoppe. They are beautiful and extremely good at foraging and raising their own young. They are a light breed, mainly for egg production. But we raise nearly 100 per year and eat the culls. They fit just right in our Dutch oven. And, I do believe that they help cut feed costs, since they are such fanatics about foraging.

This breed is a definite NO NO for gardens. They will destroy a garden very quickly. Once they taste tomatoes watch out! But they are wonderful bug eaters. We raise them free range (fencing the garden).

Regarding old birds,we love them! Our rule of thumb for cooking them is "low and slow." But they have WONDERFUL flavor. My oldest rooster is just lucky that he has certain traits that the flock still greatly needs. Otherwise, he'd go to the pot, because we know how good he'd taste.

Last year we started a small flock of Buckeyes, another heritage breed. Buckeyes are the size of a Rhode Island Red. We still need to observe them. But I can say that they lay a nice sized brown egg and I do expect that they'll be a good eating bird. I hear that Buckeyes are really into catching and eating mice, which Kraienkoppes are not.

So those are two nice breeds to consider. The Kraienkoppe is so rare that I doubt they'd make it into a breed selector. But I did see Buckeyes for sale in our local farmers' coop last year.

George

This thread has brought back such great memories. I've not had chickens for 20 yrs. Had a pet chicken when i was small. They do talk to you in a kind of soft singing way.Also learned tame roosters are mean as the devil.
They do keep your yard and garden clear of bugs.We are lucky. Our neighbors guineas comes through our place nearly everyday and keeps ticks eliminated. They also treat me like family and i enjoy them.

I've been thinking about making a chicken tractor for pets and eggs and garden. Chicken litter is i think the best fertilizer you can get
next to rabbit litter. A little goes a long way.
I've seen baby chicks at Atwoods several times as well as ducklings and rabbits.

I've tried talking Dawn into writing a book also. Got the same answer. There is always room for another gardening book and Dawn you do have a gift. As one can tell by checking my clippings and i will get around to giving you credit on "my page".

We've had alot of differant chickens. Rhode Island Reds were my favorite. Big chickens,big brown eggs and beautiful roosters. Chickens do have a pecking order too. I'd love to see the Buckeyes. Maybe they'll have some at the fair this year.

Back when we raised hens for eggs, we loved Buff Orpingtons as the hens make such great mothers and the cockerals incredible fried chicken. We never made pets of them, as we knew the older hens would end up in a pot of dumplings. (Our daughter once came home with a single chick that a misguided teacher had handed out at Easter time. Someone on the bus asked what she named it. "Fried Chicken," she said.) We also raised Aruacanas, when our oldest son was about 5. He was so excited when I boiled him the first egg, a lovely sky blue thing. After he peeled it and broke into the yolk, he started crying, "Inside it's just like any old egg," he sobbed. He had expected a blue yolk. Unfortunatley, I developed an egg allergy and husband only eats a few eggs a week, so now we only raise a meat breed for 7 weeks each spring.

when a coyote or bobcat is lurking, they put themselves up and scream for me to come close the gates to keep them safe.

LOL, what a mental picture!

Dawn, I agree with the others, you really should write a book. I just got several at the library and I was bored after the first several pages. I never get tired of reading your posts!

Those chickens kind of remind me of our cat. She is deathly afraid of other cats. I have one of those "neighbors from hell" next door -- we live in small town that has an ordinance against more than 3 dogs and she's been known to have 9 to 11 dogs in her small back yard, and she has about as many cats. It gets very stinky over there and this woman is really hateful, they are up most of the night and loud...I could go on but I wont. She breeds her animals and sells their offspring and that just makes me feel sad to think about it. Of course her dogs want to be in our yard and so since I've been known to reach over the fence to pet them and I talk to them while I'm out there she's erected this eight foot "screen" made of landscape timber posts and 4x8 sheets of plastic lattice work, right up against my chain link! Now the dogs get in between the lattice and my chain link. But anyway, her cats just climb up on top of all those structures she has in her yard and get on the roof of my shed and then climb down, to languish on my back porch in the sun, or to dig in my freshly-dug raised beds. Pearl, our long-haired gray part persian, will start to holler the minute she sees one of them in the yard, and she'll go crawl under one of the adirondack chairs. If our dog is inside, he's bucking and raring at the door wanting out, like a horse. He goes out there and chases the cat back over the "fence". He never chases Pearl, and in fact she will slap him if he gets too close. But it's so funny that he will be her bodyguard this way. Nowadays, if we let Pearl out, we let Sonny out at the same time. It saves us from having to get up in a hurry after we've sat down. (we're old)

Ilene,

Your story about Pearl and her bodyguard is great! And, you are not "old".....you are "experienced", "seasoned" and "wise" and I am not too far behind you either!

You know, our dogs won't mess with our cats much at all (and some of the dogs are AFRAID of some of the cats), but just let one of the neighbor's cats venture into the yard, and our dogs will just have a complete hysterical fit over it.

I think it is interesting that the dogs will accept cats they "live with" but treat the neighbors' cats as if they are "enemies" or "invaders".

My cats are the same way with the birds that come to the feeders. They like to watch them, but don't mess with them much. Squirrels are a different story. If a squirrel comes near a bird feeder, the cats and dogs go right after that squirrel.

Dawn

We see an occasional white squirrel here. My neighbors had told me that we had one and I had not seen it so I didn't tell my children when they came to visit. I had lived here over 4 years and my son came in from jogging and said, "Guess what Mom, I just saw a white squirrel." I was so mad that he saw it first.

Last Sunday we were having lunch at a friends house that also lives on the lake but about a mile from me. There was a white squirrel playing all over her back yard. So in Grove we have grey squirrels, red squirrels, and white squirrels. Oklahoma is OK !!

I second the comments on Dawn writing a book, I would certainly buy and recommend it. Dawn . . . if you want help doing this - I am at your service, it is the least I can do for all the advice you freely give to all on this forum.

I had a predator get my favorite (and prettiest in my opinion) rooster. However, we have six new chicks on the ranch. I am still in awe that the hens are laying up to a dozen plus eggs a day. Nothing beats a free range egg - mmmmmmm.

Soonergrandmom; a white squirrel!? Wow, I am very interested in seeing that.

Renee,

It is a lovely compliment, but honestly, I don't have the time or patience to write a book. I also can't sit still for long....and there are THOUSANDS of great gardening books. I can't imagine I could say anything that hasn't already been said a thousand different ways. (sigh)

Sorry to hear about your rooster. A predator got our keets (baby guineas) last year, even though they were securely locked up in a guinea coop that had not been breached once in the 4 years since we built it. I do love free-range eggs. You know, you get spoiled and then supermarket eggs just don't cut it any more.

Dawn

Dawn:

I completely understand, I am bouncing around all of the time too. Most of the time it is the thought that counts, literally :-).

Renee

Backyardmomma - My husband and I decided to build a chicken run this year in mind with controlling weeds and insects in our garden while making a safe, contained haven for small bantams. An old timer down the road told my husband that this is a method he has used for years with great success. My kids had been wanting bantam chickens (we typically keep about a dozen standard hens for eggs and allow them out of their pen in the evenings), but I was concerned our cats or other predators would eat them fairly easily. My husband and I built a four foot wide run that goes around my entire vegetable garden (about 50 x 50 feet). It looks great because we built a three rail fence on the outside fence with chainlink wire stapled on the inside of it. The inside fence (that surrounds my garden) is chainlink. We put bird netting on the top to keep out predators. We left a three foot "alley" so we can go in and out of the garden freely without going through the run. One end of the run is a cute barnwood roost (about 4' x 4' and 5' high) and the other end is a cute barnwood half shed (about 3' x4' and 5' high) with egg boxes which are shielded from rain and sun. The egg boxes are accessible from the outside from self closing doors. The bantams food and water is located under the egg boxes accessible by little doors we can open from the outside for refilling. It is fantastic! I get so many compliments on it. We have about 25 bantams running around who think they have died and gone to heaven. I give them all the grubs and wintering bad insects I find while cleaning out my raised beds. They have scratched out all weeds and bermuda grass from their run which keeps out invading grass/weeds. I intend to plant insect prone plants (like squash) near the fence. I'll let you know as the year goes on, but so far we couldn't be more pleased. So far lots of delicious eggs but not the aggravation of stepping in chicken poop or busy chickens scratching out my seed to mess up my gardening plans. I would add about the fact we kept feeder pigs inside the garden itself in the fall to clean my garden, till it, and leave some natural fertilizer but then I would make our new way of gardening almost seem too easy! If my description was confusing, I would be happy to sketch out the plans and send them to you or add some clarification. Good luck!

I need to add that the last part about using the feeder pigs being "almost too easy" was said tongue in cheek. I don't know if I would do that part again. Not only have they been a lot of work, I'm so attached to the darn things I haven't let my husband take them to be processed!

Okiegardeningmom,

You chicken run sounds wonderful and quite effective and I hope it works well for you during the growing season! I have seen people use this method with a lot of success.

I've also seen people build a double bed with a large chicken coop in between the 2 separately-fenced-in garden beds. (I'd love to do this one of these days, but I'd have to move my garden to a new location signficantly farther from the house AND the water source. The current veggie garden is "landlocked" by a driveway to the south, and acres of woods to the north.)

Anyway, using the double-garden bed method, one garden bed is located on each of two sides of the coop...let's say one is on the north and one is on the south. There is a door from the coop to each bed. So, during one growing season, they use the north bed and use the north coop door to let the chickens out during the day. The following season, they use the south bed and use the south door. The chickens have a whole season to dig in the dirt, eat bugs and weed seeds, fertilize the soil, etc. The following year, they do the same thing for the other side. It seems marvelously efficient. It also puts the entire garden on a two-year (or two season) rotation, depending on whether the person using it uses one side for the spring AND fall garden each year, or uses one side for the spring garden and the other for the fall garden.

Using pigs in the garden makes you braver than me! We have enough trouble here in Love County with all the damage caused by wild pigs. And, knowing how easily I get attached to animals, I am sure I'd just end up with pet pigs that I wouldn't let go to the processor as well!

I love goats and would like to have some too, but my brother has had goats and after seeing them eat and destroy anything and everything they can, I don't think I'd like them as much as I think I would. (Is there anything cuter than tiny baby goats?)

It is baby chick time and soon it will be baby guinea time! I know that I am just a farmgirl at heart and could never live in a city again. I do find it amusing that keeping "urban chicks" has become very, very popular in some of our nation's largest cities, like Dallas, Detroit and Chicago, to name a few. I suspect that keeping a few chicks in the city may 'cause many people to eventually move to the country....'cause once you're hooked on having poultry, and then you add a garden.....you start thinking that you "need" to live in the country. (Which, I suspect, is true.)

Dawn

I agree that there's nothing cuter than baby goats. We once agreed to "foster" three young ones that we quickly fell in love with. After they reached maturity, I began to think that there is nothing smellier or more destructive than a big billy goat! These pigs seems like a dream compared to those goats!

My order of 50 chicks is due the week of April 8th. I can't wait. I love chickens and also think that it's amusing that they are the new urban pets. I've always loved chickens, but don't know if I would enjoy them as much if I had them kept in little pens in a tiny backyard in a city!

Tracy

Tracy,

I agree! I think chickens are happiest when they can roam around, dig and scratch, chase bugs, and bathe and dust in the dirt.

The guineas are almost as cute. They REALLY like to play in the water, so I turn on the sprinkler for them every now and then and they run, walk and stand in the spray of the water, yakking the whole time.

I cannot imagine having a garden without these garden helpers around to help eat the bugs.

Dawn

Chickens are great for maintaining your crops from unwanted insects! But you should be aware that some plants are poisonous to chicks.. Make a search here on the forum for a list of the plants to avoid..

Here is a link that might be useful: Build a secure chicken coop

Hi, I wonder if anyone can give me some advice. Last year I started keeping three chickens which were given to me when a work associate had to get rid of them. I think they are about 2-3 years old now, one R.I.Red, a Wyandotte, and a Buff Orpington. I like them so much for eggs and pets that this Spring I bought seven more. I want to keep them all together in a 16'x15'x8' lattice enclosure with a 4'x4'coop inside the walls. For now the newest, 8-week old young 'uns live separate in their own chicken wire house within the the larger pen. I want to mix the two groups, but the older Buff goes after the new ones like she might kill if I did not intervene. I'm totally new to chicken raising, only now wondering what the term "pecking order" is all about...in the chicken world. Will they ever assimilate, or must they always remain apart?

Wiley,

Yes, that's where the term pecking order comes from, and in your flock you need to be #1. So, don't take any crap from your chickens and they'll learn to respect you. That will make it easier for them, later on, to accept the new chickens because by your actions you'll show them they need to accept the new chicks because you say so, so to speak.

I'm more of a gardener than a chicken keeper although we have raised chickens for about 15 years. We keep the young chicks in their own brooder cage inside the big chicken coop so they grow up right there in front of the hens and roosters. That helps the older birds get used to them being around and helps the older birds to accept them more easily later.

We wait until the young chickens are at least 3/4s their full size before we let them out of the brooder to roam freely with the rest of the flock. It seems to me that they are picked on less if they're larger when introduced.

On the day we merge the old flock with the new one, we let the younger birds out and stick around close to them. If an older bird tries to pick on the younger birds, we intervene. The olden chickens learn real fast that they had better leave the younger chickens alone or they'll have to answer to you. With chickens, the process usually is not too difficult. With roosters, it can be a lot more traumatic and even violent.

If you'll go to the Farm Life Forum here at GW, go to their search box at the bottom of the page and ask about "introducing new chickens to flock", you'll get (among other threads) an old thread or two or three where Velevet Sparrow linkes to her website. Go to her website and read her section about how she does it. She goes into great detail. She's a real expert on raising chickens and her advice is great. Her method isn't the only way of doing it, but it is a very effective one!

By the way, when we introduce new birds, we move their feeder and waterer into the new space right along with them. This is importand as it eliminates, or at least reduces, territorial battles.

Dawn