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Poultry and the Garden

Chickens and other birds can be the best thing to happen to your garden. Few things are as quaint as a troop of hens searching for a snack amongst the vegetables. Top notch organic bug and weed control are two of the strong points for keeping a few birds in the garden. Just imagine turning kitchen scraps, slugs, and dandelions into eggs! Composted manure and bedding is an abundant and rich soil amendment.

They also have the potential to be a capital nuisance to your plants. Unfortunately many birds can have trouble distinguishing which plants are to eat and which are "off limits!"

I have assembled a list of tips to help you have both a healthy garden and happy birds!

• Try to refrain from using chemical sprays, plant foods, and poisons in your garden or near your birds. Not only are most bird species super-sensitive to toxins, but they will be obsolete once you have your birds!

• Exercise control in where your birds go, a plant they can't reach is a plant they cant eat! Use cloches or "cages" over plants that are not for the birds to eat.

• I put all of my kitchen scraps through the henhouse first! What isn't eaten goes into the compost pile. (see list of scrap foods on the following page)

• Never apply pure poultry manure directly to plants, as it will "burn" the plants due to its super rich nitrogen levels. Let it "chill out" in the compost pile or mixed with "brown" material for a lesser rich topdressing mulch for the garden.

• When the vegetable garden lies in farrow, let your birds run through it. They will turn the soil with their scratching and dusting and will clean up any bugs or weed seeds that they can find.

Peter J. Willcütt
urbanagrarian.com@gmail.com
612.719.1988