Can chickens really weed my garden?

Its called mobbing. Putting too many animals in a small space. They eat the grass too nothing and fertilize the ground. I seen where others were using chickens to work in their gardens. Not a weed one is growing in their pen, but when I turn mine in the garden they dig up plants and don't always eat the weeds. I saw a plan for a moveable collapsible chicken tractor here  

http://craftlog.org/craftlog/?p=4175

So I built one. I used plastic bird net so it is lighter I also didn't make a separate side panel because of the plastic net. The chickens can get out the sides if I don't put something in front of the sides. I move them up and down the rows and they weed, loosen soil, fertilize and work it in, and they find and eat all the grub worms. So far I am very pleased.

My only problems are putting the chickens in an taking them out. The garden is a short walk from their pen and I can't open the door and tell them to go and get in the chicken tractor and get to work. For some reason they don't listen to well.

Nancy and Yoda

Nancy had a little billy on Thursday. The kids named him Yoda because of his small head and large ears. They were taken and penned in the barn because of our little coyote problems. I watched them extra carefully since Maisey let her baby die. Nancy seems to be a real good momma. Yoda is growing real good and is always busy jumping around and exploring.

Other news, our little bantam hen just hatched out 10 biddies. One died ,I think it hatched before the others and for some reason she kicked it out the nest. If my hens will hatch their eggs I let them. I prefer they take care of the biddies and not me. I do still have some in the incubator from the big hens. They haven't tried to sit on their eggs yet. Yesterday I had one quail hatch out, about 3 days early. Nothing else has hatched I'm not sure why this one did. I have him in the house in a box with a light waiting on the others.

Two of our beagles are missing.  They went hunting rabbits on Wednesday and haven't been home. Not sure if they just got lost, caught by coyotes, or shot. We miss them very much.

 Got some seed started indoors. I actually find that it doesn't save me much time as far as getting things to harvest faster. Seeds that I sow directly in the garden will usually be ready about the same time as the plants I started in the house but I just have to start planting, I just cannot wait so I start them in the house. This year I did buy a grow light and hung in under my kitchen cabinets so we will see if the plants grow better. I usually just put them in a sunny window and turn them once a day. The plants are usually tall and week and when I put them in the garden they just kinda stay that way for a while before they finally decide to grow.  I have great hopes for this year. I hope I didn't just waste $24.99 on a light.
  My oldest daughter wanted in on the action. She saved all the cantaloupe seeds from last year. I didn't actually plant them last year but some how the seeds got to the garden (I'm not naming names Abigail). Casey loved the cantaloupe so much that she wanted to plant some this year. I let her plant her seeds, I don't know if any will come up but she has planted them. I told her with that many plants she will be able to sell her cantaloupe. I hope her plants do well.

 Got my husband to disc the garden under. I planted winter wheat for the first time at the end of last season as a cover crop and for organic matter in the soil. Of course my hens went to work right away ridding the garden of any grub worm. Whatever my husband didn't get turned under my hens certainly will.

 My new pregnant nanny Maisey wasn't happy in the field with the others.  She is very far along so I put her in the  pen with the pig we decided to fatten out. All his brothers and sister were just sold and he was lonely and scared. They seem to really enjoy each other. The nanny will not let anything close to the little pig and the pig lays with the goat and they eat hay together.


UPDATE: Maisey had one nanny on Friday while still in the pen with the pig. She would nurse the pig but not her baby so I pen them separte in the barn. While I was out there she would nurse the baby but if I wasn't there she would not. I didn't realize she wasn't taking care of it until to late and she died on sunday night after I stayed up most the night trying to bottle feed it and keep it warm.  Maisey was turned back out to the feild where she sits by the hog pen with the baby pig.

Coming soon...March 10, 2012

Got the incubator full of eggs, Chicken and Quail. I don't hatch any during the winter because winters here can sometimes be harsh and I am not going to take care of biddies all winter long.  I am also excited that I have a new broody hen. She is sitting on ten. We haven't had a broody hen since the first year we moved here.  We had always had free range hens at the other place so I didn't have them in a pen and when they went to sit something would get them. So we built the pens for their protection but I had already lost my good broody hens.

Spring is in the air

 My young hens have started laying again and needed nest boxes. I am not good at building so I had to improvise. I had an old box step out of a trailer sitting in the yard so I took it and nailed two nails in each end of the step. I also put a nail at the top of the chickens lean to spaced apart the same length as the step. using a chain, I hung and secured the step at the same height as our other nest box. I nailed a board across the front and put three creats inside that I filled with shredded paper and leaves. The chickens love it and I am rewarded with 3 big brown eggs a day

 I haven't been able to till the garden yet due to rain, but we couldn't wait any longer to get started. Last year my husband built our son a small raised garden bed. He planted tomatoes in it last year but they didn't do very well. This year He is going to try his had at carrots. He planted the seeds then covered with a light layer of leaves to keep the wind from drying them out.

We also transplanted our garlic to a raised bed so the rest of the garden can be tilled to get ready for spring planting.

These are images from last year's garden. After breaking my arm nothing else got done.

 Here is my chicken compost. It was nice of them to make it for me without me having to lift a single pitch fork.

 Our okra had a rough start because rabbits liked to eat the top out while they were small.

It was not a good year for tomatoes either. Most people around here didn't get any. I did but they were late in the season.

pioneer day

This weekend my parents came down. We had lots of things to do. My husband and my son went to a spaghetti supper for the Boy scouts. They didn't do very well, not enough advertising.They didn't get back until well after 10pm.
  Next Sunday is pioneer day at church. They will have song and testimony.  The choir is suppose to dress up. then we will have supper on the grounds and walk to the creek for a Baptismal.  I did not have anything old fashioned, so I decided to make something.  I was not looking forward to making a dress. My mother suggested a skirt like her grandma use to wear.  So we modified a shirt I already had, then made a skirt and bonnet. The apron was one my mother had made for my vacuum cleaner lady a couple of years ago it just happened to be perfect.  I think it makes me look huge but I agreed to have my picture taken anyway. Be looking at http://letslearnthat.blogspot.com/ . I am sure that she will explain how it was made in more detail

Today is the day I have to go to town.  I do not enjoy driving to town. Maybe one day I will only have to go once a year.  I am working on a year round garden that makes enough to support us.  We raise chickens and cows for meat. My husband also loves hunting so I don't think we will be lacking in that area.  One day I plan to be off the grid, or at least close to it. The biggest thing standing in my way right now is storage. My husband did set the poles for the pole barn on Saturday and we have the wood for another storage shed.  I am planning on digging a storm/root cellar this summer.

 My daughter just had to try on the bonnet. I am thinking of making her one but doubt she would wear it if it was hers.

I asked for it back to put up till next Sunday and she just had to go show grandma.

What is happening to the chickens?

 The day before yesterday I found feathers in the yard. Now chickens lose feathers all the time especially when they are, but to have that many in one place usually means something happened.  I counted and one was missing so either something happened, or she went to sitting, but with all those feather I am betting on the first.  It has been a couple of days and she is still missing. It is kinda strange because if she was got at night then the feathers are usually under the tree she roost in but the feathers were between the house and the garden. Plus we have four dogs, they don't usually let anything in the yard.  It could have been a hawk.

Yesterday evening my husband brought home some turkey eggs.  While cutting hay he ran over a nest and the hen was killed.  We usually either hatch the eggs in an incubator or under a hen.  I had one hen sitting that had lost 2 other nest but was trying for number 3.  We were going to put the eggs under her this morning because both her eggs and the turkeys were about at the same point in development. I went out this morning and she is gone. Her nest is destroyed and feathers everywhere.  Still the dogs didn't bark. This time I know it wasn't a hawk. I am beginning to think it is one of our dogs. I am going to set up one of those game cameras to find out.  We now have only 3 laying hens.

Our chickens

We have had chickens for years.  They lay eggs for us to eat and the best part is they eat ticks and other yard insects.  When we first moved over to the new place we didn't bring the chickens immediately.  Talk about tick infestation.  It was a nightly ritual to de-tick the kids before bed.  Finally the pen was built and the chickens brought over.  we left 5 hens and two roosters out to be our tick clean up crew and the rest were penned.  It became clear that we were not going to keep the chickens in the new pen so we gave up and they all got out.  This area was completely undeveloped so  we lost all the chickens besides the 5 hen and 2 roosters that stay here in the yard.

We needed to start again so this spring we came across 30 biddies really cheap.  We couldn't pass that deal up. We bought them and then the question was where to put them. They were not old enough to be outside without a momma.  The cat had already got 2 of the other 6 we bought.  In the past we have kept them in a box in the house, But 30 would start to smell bad in no time.

 I had a few totes around so I put the biddies inside with food, water, and a heat lamp. They were still needing cleaned constantly and when they spilt water they were getting wet.  We lost two because of this.  Then my husband went outside and brought in leaves. We just keep piling new leaves in there until we clean it out about once a week. The biddies are happy and as soon as nice weather moves in they will be moved to cages outside.

The older 4 were moved already to the new and improved Biddie pen.  They have free access to food and water and a roost.  The hens will be let out but the roosters will be kept for dinner. 

Here is the nest box we have mounted on the back of the shed next to the Biddie pen. I get about 4 eggs a day. One red hen thinks she is sitting.  she lost her first nest to the dogs. Then she lost her second to her getting confused and sitting on the wrong one. The other eggs could not be saved.  Now I think she might hatch this 3rd nest. We will see.  I am not even sure how many eggs she has. 

She don't seem to mind having her picture taken. In fact she is the most mild hen I have ever had sit. You can reach under her and she won't even flog you.

Improvements

When we first moved out here last year my husband built a pole shed to keep tools, chemicals, hay and his for wheeler. All winter we had hay in it and animals. It was hard to find anything in it. About the time of the last Bon -fire my husband got that bee in his bonnet and cleaned out the shed. Here is one of my hens a little confused over the change.

Then he really surprised me. He and his daddy went and built shelves and places to put all the tools. I am really proud of him. I think it looks really nice. Now if i can get them to put the things back after using them I think I will be about the happiest woman on earth.

Here is another improvement. I removed the chicken wire on the side of the goat pen. It was built for the chickens. We tired to keep the chickens in it instead of letting them be free range. We even clipped wings and nothing stopped them from getting out. I guess they were to use to being free range. We are in the process of clearing this land but it is still pretty wild so we lost most of our chickens to predators. Although it didn't work for chickens it seems to do nicely for the pony and goats. My big goat was able to get out so even in the pen she was kept chained. The the little goat tore holes in the side of the chicken wire and became a escape artist.

I knew that I would not be able to get the fence back up in the same day so my plan was to keep the goats chained out until the next day. Surprise, my husband got the fence up that night. Now the goats can roam freely in the pen at night and be tied out to eat during the day. They love it.

Animals

Here are a few of the chickens and a rooster that help keep the insects under control on the farm. They aren't caged at all, they are allowed to range free all over the farm except in the garden.

The smaller ones are kept pinned for their own protection. In these cages are three chickens and one rooster. The roosters name is Sunday. when they get larger the chickens will be turned out with the other chickens but the Rooster will be kept caged to fatten him out for the dinner that bears his name. Sunday Dinner.

This pony is one of the three organic lawn mowers. Her name is Ginger and she does a nice Job of keeping the lawn mowed.

This little lawn mower has horns and keeps getting her head caught in the fence. Sometimes she needs assistance in getting out.