Chickens for bug control and food recycling.

[PennyJo]

I understand about the chicken mind or lack there of guess that
is why I would let two in off and on not forever or even extended
a few hours here and there.. still mulling over how to get them in
and out of the main coop, these 5 are pet birds they squat for pets
easiest may be to carry them.
Not sure with the number 13 Barred pullets that I have not had allot contact with them
3 Easter Eggers who are friendly

 

[Beekissed]

I agree. At first it will look like they are pleasantly walking through the rows, snatching bugs here and there. Pretty soon you'll notice they are scratching, then you'll see them aiming a little higher on the plants and before you know it, all your maters, cukes and squash have huge holes in them, your tender greens have been scratched up and your vines decimated by the scratch and scoot maneuver.

When you find them dusting in your beans, having torn down and up all the vines, you'll be more than glad to can up a few old hens for soup later on...and can add whatever veggies you have left to the soup.

I use deer netting around my garden to keep the chooks out and that's worked so far, as long as you extend your fencing material above any solid surface they can fly up on, a fence will keep them out....but they can glean any bugs around the perimeter just fine. When the garden is done, you can turn them loose in there to clean up other bugs and rotten produce.

 

[PennyJo]

I will let all five this fall... until then they might get
an hour here and there. I have chicken wire all around
when we bought the place moved in October it did have
field wire around the perimeter we have systematically
run chicken wire all around over the field wire.

 

[PennyJo]

what a beautiful perfect day in Western Washington state today

 

[Smart Red]

One year I did let two hens in to counter a Colorado Potato beetle attack. Within half a day there was nary a fat red bug to be seen -- and none for the rest of the season as well.

Once the bugs were history, the hens were (nicely) kicked out of the garden.

 

[Beekissed]

I tried that very thing once and they walked right by the huge infestation of tater bugs I had and ate my tomatoes instead. I even picked off some of the bugs and threw them at their feet and they ignored them. That was the last time I let the chickens into the garden for eating of pests.

 

[thistlebloom]

Mine are never well behaved in the garden either. Last summer my tiny banty kept escaping the pen with her miscreant cockerel son and they headed straight for the kids garden. They destroyed the lettuce planting and seriously messed up the boys carrots.
Nooo...they couldn't possibly find anything on the rest of the acreage, they had to cause trouble exactly where they weren't wanted.

 

[PennyJo]

That does seem to be a chicken no matter the breed I will let them in right after tilling maybe
I know better than having fresh shoots out of the soil and let any in

 

[Beekissed]

Well...got at least 4 hens laying out of the coop this spring and that's the first time that's happened here, so I'm quite pleased. I know that doesn't sound normal, as most folks want to be able to recover the eggs for eating, but right now I'm wanting hens that will lay a clutch and sit the eggs to reproduce their own kind.

I tried letting the eggs of specific hens build up in three different nest sites, trying to lure a hen into going broody and sitting in them...after all, tis the season. No hen took the bait.

Finally, we started noticing certain hens laying out in the bush and one silly thing started laying behind the wood pile on the front porch~in a squeezy little place she could barely get into and broke a few eggs in doing so each day.

She's one I had already marked as a cull bird as she has a slightly wry tail and is smaller than I would like for the breed....but she's the first to do what she's supposed to do each spring~lay a clutch off by herself and then sit on it. So, what's a person to do with a cull hen that acts right? Let her reproduce, that's what. I've also laced her nest with eggs from better looking/laying hens so she isn't hatching out all little wry tailed specimens.

We widened her nest site a bit and I've threw down some soft materials for her so the eggs aren't sitting on the hard floor of the porch, but I need to add more. She sat it overnight last night, which was the first indication that she is really serious about sitting this nest....for a hen to not go to the safety of the coop at night is pretty serious stuff.

She waited until she had 15 eggs in the nest before sitting and one of the nests we've found out in the brush also has 15 eggs, so I'm hoping that hen too will start sitting on her clutch. Nests such as this usually yield a higher hatch rate and the chicks are truly range birds from day one...that's what I want in my flock. Hardy, self sustaining, able to forage for most of their food and thrive on that, even lay well on it, while also laying on a good deal of meat.

Meanwhile, they are also keeping this property pretty pest free, which helps my garden tremendously, as well as the orchard.

I love spring and I especially love chickens who are self reliant in most respects....maybe we'll see little chicks this month!

 

[Ridgerunner]

So, what's a person to do with a cull hen that acts right? Let her reproduce, that's what. I've also laced her nest with eggs from better looking/laying hens so she isn't hatching out all little wry tailed specimens

Exactly my suggestion, take away her eggs and give her eggs from the hens you want to hatch. But the problem is (doesn't everything have a problem) that kind of broody behavior is hereditary. You want the behavior but not the other flaws. Which eggs do you really want her to hatch?

We all have our criteria and I understand what you are saying, but I'll mention I look at what a hen leaves in the nest more than the body type that should lay a lot of nice eggs. Theory is one thing (and I like theory) but I go more by what I see versus what I should see or what the potential is.

Small doesn't bother me that much. Of course I like a larger chicken when I butcher but I can still get two good meals out of a small hen since there are only two of us, though that second meal may be leftover meat in soup, like it will be tonight.