Organic Gardening with Chickens

Practical Guide to Composting!

Chooks (chickens) have been domesticated for many centuries. They originate from the Malaysian rainforests so they love to free-range. Chooks are such easy animals to care for, can make great pets for children and are a valuable resource for the organic gardener.

This is a picture of three of our five girls.
Chooks are such a fantastic asset.
Once you have them, you'll never want to be without them.
Talk about multi talented!

Some of the benefits of keeping chooks:-

* they supply you with beautiful, fresh eggs - daily

* your left overs will never go in the bin again (reduces waste)

* provide you with an excellent fertilizer base

* they dig over the soil (so you don't have to)

* they reduce insect numbers

* provide you with live entertainment

Rooster You’ll need to check with your local council to find out their regulations.
Some councils won’t allow you to keep any poultry, whereas others will — some even allow roosters.

Basic requirements

	Dry, fox proof shelter
	A safe place to lay eggs and hatch chicks (if you have a rooster)
	A roosting perch off the ground (allow about 20cm per bird)
	Layer pellets (or crumble for chicks) should make up the majority of their diet.
	Kitchen scraps are great for variety
	Wheat, corn or other grains should be offered occasionally, but not form the majority of their diet
	Birds have no teeth; they swallow small pebbles or grit to grind down their food in their gizzard. They must have access to a supply of grit for this purpose.
	Never feed your girls chocolate, coffee, avocado or rhubarb, as they are all toxic to chooks
	They must always have access to clean, fresh water.

Keeping Chickens

If you don’t plan on letting your chooks free range in a garden area during the day, they will be much happier if you provide them with an outside run where they will be able to scratch at the ground, indulge in a daily dust-bath and enjoy the sunlight.

I lock my chooks up from sunset to about midday . This way they’ve almost always laid their eggs by then, so that I don’t have to go on a daily egg hunt! Old grass-catchers from lawn movers make great laying boxes – just the right size and they also offer ventilation.

Chook Manure is a great base for a liquid fertilizer or to add to your compost heap. You never use it fresh though, as bird manure also contains their urine and will burn your crops.
To make a Liquid Manure, place aged chook manure in a porous bag in a bucket and fill the bucket with water. After about three weeks or so you can use the water on and around your plants, diluted to look like weak tea.

For further excellent information, Raising Chickens Right is a complete resource for all you need to know about chicken care from egg to table. Includes tips, definitions and building plans.