I have heard that chickens are good to have in vegetable garden for organic pest control. Is it safe?
March 82010
Is it safe to have the unaged chicken poop all over the ground in veggie garden from the chickens running around? Please site references NOT an uninformed opinion. People’s health at stake here!!!! Thanks!
You cannot allow chickens to have free run of your garden. Their poop is unsanitary for food crops plus it is hot and would injure or kill a lot of your crop plants. On top of that the chickens would decimate the entire garden in less than a day (unless it is more than 1/2 acre, than it might take 2 to 3 days to kill everything).
Keep the garden and chickens separated during the growing season by fencing in one or the other (I vote giving the hens a large fenced area). During off season put a fence up around the garden area and let them in. They will weed and feed the area plus dig up all sorts of underground larva, both good and bad.
Compost the poop and put it on the garden anytime after it is composted.
March 8th, 2010 at 6:54 pm
This is an interesting question, and while there’s lots of references on using composted chicken manure, fresh chicken manure isn’t generally advised for use in a garden. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=chickens+manure+garden&start=10&sa=N
In fact, I couldn’t find a single citation that discussed this exact question. You don’t want my opinion, but I will state the use of poultry in gardens as a form of pest control is extremely ancient, and it would seem that exposure to a small amount of chicken manure on the surface might be safer than exposure to lots of other more-toxic forms of pest control. Birds land and fly over gardens, too. I’ll be interested to see if you actually get any references that specifically address this question, I suspect it’s something that comes down to "it all depends".
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March 8th, 2010 at 7:11 pm
i would keep them away from plants you eat directly from the garden,like salad plants or herbs. tall plants like corn would not be a problem.
References :
March 8th, 2010 at 8:00 pm
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/lab/msg0516482924800.html
http://www.nebsusag.org/newsletters/garden60.htm
http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopExt/LARIMER/mg040717.htm
the girls can’t leave THAT much that it would be a problem… read those links and see what a chicken tractor is…
http://home.centurytel.net/thecitychicken/tractors.html
keeping them under control seems to be the secret…. at the farm tho, ours were everywhere after the plants were of a size that they couldn’t just EAT……
enjoy the fun with the girls!!….
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March 8th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
We did, but they were not allowed into the garden until the plants were up and growing well. Mature plants develop various chemicals birds will not eat. These are not developed in young plants……so the chickens eat the plants. Plus there’s the scratching issue, they scratch up your young plants. These birds must have a roost….a chicken coop they will return to at night. They must not remain in or near the garden over night least the nearest predator shows up; dog, coyote, fox, etc. Finally, the privilege of garden visits is not every day or only for a few hours every day. If you are growing giant plants such as corn, then yeah, they can be around a lot more often.
Of course you cannot grow morsels for them, they love strawberries and other berries.
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March 8th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
a small amount will probaly not burn the plants.always wash hands and veggies after comeing from garden.i have wild turkeys that go in my garden ,they eat somethings but probably do more good by eating the bugs
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March 8th, 2010 at 9:31 pm
You cannot allow chickens to have free run of your garden. Their poop is unsanitary for food crops plus it is hot and would injure or kill a lot of your crop plants. On top of that the chickens would decimate the entire garden in less than a day (unless it is more than 1/2 acre, than it might take 2 to 3 days to kill everything).
Keep the garden and chickens separated during the growing season by fencing in one or the other (I vote giving the hens a large fenced area). During off season put a fence up around the garden area and let them in. They will weed and feed the area plus dig up all sorts of underground larva, both good and bad.
Compost the poop and put it on the garden anytime after it is composted.
References :
I have kept both layers and meat birds free range with a 2+ acre market garden for years and years.
March 8th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
Hi,
).
My grandmother had chickens running around in her garden. I have read about it as well. I know you want to have more than just an opinion but I would think that they are much healthier than pesticides. I would have them if our town would let us have poultry in the city limits…
There are several sites you can go to http://dirtdoctor.com . You can also go to a book review that might help at http://organicgardeningbooks.blogspot.com . This book might give you more info as well.
Hope this helps! Happy gardening!
Organic Gardening Gal
References :
http://organicgardeningbooks.blogspot.com
http://dirtdoctor.com