HeraldNet: Why every gardener needs chickens



RECENT POSTS:
• Chicken lovers unite in Edmonds August 21 • Getting squash to ripen August 20 • Find out where your fresh veggies come from August 18 • Can you keep chickens in your backyard? August 15 • There's a reason they call it running bamboo August 14

Archives:



LINKS:
Green Thumbs Unite • Evergreen Arboretum & Garden • Northwest Horticultural Society • Northwest Perennial Alliance • Plant Amnesty • Seattle Tilth • Seattle Tree Fruit Society • Snohomish County Master Gardeners • Washington Native Plant Society Know & Grow • Compost • Great Plant Picks • House plants • Master Gardener Magazine • Natural Lawn Care • Oregon State University Extension • Plant Search Tools • Soil • WSU Extension Online Grapevine • Dave's Garden • Garden Rant • Veggie Recipes

RELATED ARTICLES:
• The chicken lady's four 'girls' provide compost, eggs and amusement August 21 • A chicken in every yard? Why not? August 21 • Plant Pick: Daisylike sneezeweed August 21 • Cutting garden can provide months of arrangements August 21 • Nuts and bolts: Bug identification class at Snohomish County Extension August 21 • Here's your 12-day Evergreen State Fair planner August 20 • Gardeners create an oasis on Everett's Casino Road August 18 • Snohomish man patiently tends to demanding dahlias August 14 • Plant pick: Amaryllis belladonna August 14 • Home front: Getting the bugs out with a mosquito zapper August 14


ADVERTISEMENT <script language=JavaScript src="http://ads.heraldnet.com/servlet/ajrotator/169233/0/vj?z=heraldnet&ct=122081&dim=169231&abr=$scriptiniframe"></script><noscript><a href="http://ads.heraldnet.com/servlet/ajrotator/169233/0/cc?z=heraldnet"><img src="http://ads.heraldnet.com/servlet/ajrotator/169233/0/vc?z=heraldnet&ct=122081&dim=169231&abr=$imginiframe" width="160" height="600" border="0"></a></noscript>

Mudraker

July 23, 2008

Why every gardener needs chickens

Posted at 4:30 am by Jessi Loerch

Compost. Chicken waste is a great addition to a compost pile.

Eggs. Once the ladies are old enough to lay, you’ll get about one egg per day per hen.

Eggshells.

Save the eggshells from your free eggs and use them in your garden. You can use them as a slug and snail barrier.

Shells can also be added to your soil or compost for a little extra calcium and magnesium.

Use the shells as a seed starter. I’ve never tried this, but am curious about it. Read more about this here. If you have tried this, comment here or let me know. I’d like to hear how it worked for you.

Add finely crushed eggshells to the soil around your tomatoes to help prevent blossom end rot, which is caused by a calcium deficiency.

If you crush eggshells finely, you can mix them in with your seeds. Then as you sow, you can more easily see the placement and make a straight line (or curved line. Or no line. Whatever you like in your garden.)

Entertainment. Chickens have definite personalities, just like any other pet. (Our chickens are undoubtedly pets.) We have the bossy chicken, the aloof chicken and the food-obsessed chicken. Also, if you’ve never seen a chicken take a dust bath you don’t know what you’re missing. It’s like they get drunk on the sheer joy.

Garden clean up. When weeding, I love to offer the plants to the chickens. They usually love to peck at and play with them. When we are done with our vegetable garden at the end of the season, we’re going to let the hens in to eat up and clean up. Really, I can’t wait to watch them go nuts over the plants and worms. (Side note, don’t leave your potted seedlings or prized new lettuce starts where the chickens can get them. Ask me how I know this.)

Return to Mudraker

TODAY'S TOP JOBS

View All Top Jobs

>> view all top homes

>> view all homes

<script language=JavaScript src="http://ads.heraldnet.com/servlet/ajrotator/105699/0/vj?z=heraldnet&dim=100749&abr=$scriptiniframe"></script><noscript><a href="http://ads.heraldnet.com/servlet/ajrotator/105699/0/cc?z=heraldnet"><img src="http://ads.heraldnet.com/servlet/ajrotator/105699/0/vc?z=heraldnet&dim=100749&abr=$imginiframe" width="728" height="90" border="0"></a></noscript>
\|Contact Us \|Advertiser Services \|Home Delivery \|Newsstand Locations \|Classifieds \|Feedback \|About the Company \|Work@the Herald \|Site Map	© 2008 The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA.