I enjoyed your garden ideas, thanks. We have 200 square meters, half of that is fenced off for the chickens, it contains some shrubs, rosebushes, a large nut tree, large cherry tree, small pear tree, raspberries, ... since we have them we enjoy a lot more pears, also composting works a lot more efficient. I'd almost say that if they wouldn't lay delicious eggs, having them as pet would still be very much worth it, they're fun, bring life and cute sounds in the garden, especially when they take a dustbath and then shake themselves off, or when they come running from the back - wings flapping. We also have a tiny vegetable plot and a small herb garden and ornamental border, with a bit of lawn and place for the drying... and once the last pumpkin was harvested I let the chickens free in the garden, they seem to be very happy in that arrangement, they do make a mess from the raised beds, the bark between, will have to be replaced again, but I'm counting on them to keep it all free of snails.
Very interesting video. I realized a couple of things: 1. You, Madame, have a lot of free time to experiment. And you love your chickens. 2. Whenever I will keep chickens, I will have to keep them away from the vegetable garden. 3. Chickens are a good, natural and pesticide-free way of removing the weeds from a piece of land. 4. Chickens can (or even should) be included in crop rotation. Or, after harvesting a crop, the terrain can be cleaned by letting the chickens do it instead of doing it manually. I don't know why they don't teach this in horticultural universities as a method of bio weed control!
You are so right. 1. Yes I'm retired. And I love chickens, and gardening. 2. Yes you will. Either fence the chickens in or fence the gardens. 3. Plus they lay eggs and provide heaps of entertainment as well as chicken poo fertiliser. 4. Me neither. Chickens have a great place in farming but somehow people think of chicken farming or horticulture as if they are mutually exclusive! 5. I also love chatting about chickens 😊😊😊 Have a great day!
I planned to get about 4 chickens and let them free range in the yard between my garden beds since they’re about two feet off the ground, but now I’m thinking that my veggies won’t be safe 😂. I definitely need to rethink the run area for them. This was so informative - thank you!
Indeed, unless you have fences around your garden beds, or a 2-ft-high roof over the paths, the chickens would have no trouble jumping up two feet to feast on the buffet you have laid on for them!
@@richardb4787 thank you! Unfortunately I live in a suburban area where the only livestock they allow is chickens. Starting to craft some frames for the garden beds so the chickens can get some exercise around the yard.
Ah; to have the ability to grow greens year round. I live in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, where the snow accumulates to feet’s high, and the average winter temperatures are around-20 to-30c. We breed mealworms and red wrigglers for our chickens to feed on in the winter, and they get lots of kitchen scraps instead of fresh greens. In the summer, we move them around in chicken tractors, and they feed off the wild weeds on the property safe from wild animals. It would be so nice to be able to have a climate like yours to be able to grow year round. You have an absolutely beautiful little farm ❣️
Oh yes we are very lucky with the climate here. But everyone's situation is different and we make the most of what we have. I'm sure your chickens love their winter treats as much as scratching in the wild summer fields 😊 Best wishes to you and your chickens from New Zealand
Yep. Either chickens have to be fenced in (in a yard) or fenced out (of your garden beds). Even with our 2 acre lifestyle block I fenced them out of the vegetable garden and let them range over the rest.
Thank you so much for this video with all your experience…. It saved me a lot of work and I will use your idea that worked best for you and really makes sense for small yards. !
Love your video Yeah found out too that if you let them free in a small yard 3 chickens can make all green disappear 😳 If I have time I do let them out and watch them I have some spots where I like that they scratch end eat everything specially around some trees I have I put stones in a square and put wire on top so there is a gab of 2-3 inches So they only pick the top of the Gras. In their chicken run. It works 😁 But I like the slanted fence and the Nasturtium ❤ I will do this Thank you for sharing
Nasturtium seeds are indeed Capers. In Afrikaans we call Nasturium 'Kappers' or 'kappertjies'. Thanks for a very informative video. I enjoyed every minute.
We're on a 10 acre native bush block in NZ. We tried free ranging our 12 chooks but they had a very negative impact on the forest floor. Ate or scratched up all the seedlings and cleared the natural mulch. They travelled about 100 metres from their coop. So now confined to a fenced area and fed fresh cut veg and food scraps. Thanks for your ideas. 😊
Hi, I live and take care of the chickens at an Animal Sanctuary in Los Angeles. I think I will plant letuce, cale, red chard, cilantro and parsley in pots and put the pots into the chicken runns. This way they can pick their "salad" themselves. Thank you for your lovely videos ❤😊
Lovely and informative video. Your flock looks very happy and healthy. I have my girls in a large run and let them free range the entire garden when I am out there - which is usually 2 or 3 times a day during the week and for several hours each day at the weekend. I have to protect my beds so the girls can’t get in and ransack them but on the whole this works well. I do love working in the garden and having them around me. I’m off to find more of your videos now. All the best. Mags.
My chickens love tomatoes and zucchini. I often toss excess to them. They also like melons (rind and seeds). I often pull dandelion leaves, comfrey leaves, plantain and thistle leaves for my chickens. It's a treat for them :)
Thank you for being honest and showing what didn't work as well as what did. There is always something else to learn. In my previous attempts at free ranging chicken's, we learned that if a chicken to get on top of anything they're going to poop on it. When free ranging, they will often dig holes at the edges of any structure, including the house and anywhere you don't want them to do so. I gave up in frustration and ate the chickens. I'm in the process now of building a large indoor run and trying to figure out how to give them access to pasture without them roaming everywhere. I like your idea of moving fencing with the chickens, it's the same idea of moving fencing with cows to give them smaller paddocks to graze and moving them frequently for optimal grass use. You've given me some great ideas, thank you.
Excellent. Sparking ideas that other people can use in their own situation is my goal 😊 Here we use the term "break feeding" to refer to rotating cows or other stock through areas with temporary fencing, usually electric fence. If you have a big enough total area it should work. Unless you have a mobile hen-house there's a bit of a design challenge in getting the hens to each area. One solution i have seen is to have the hen house in the middle of the total area and the various pastures like slices of pizza around it. Another idea is tiny tunnels to each separate pasture. A lot depends on what you have to work with. Have fun 😊
Outside loving the content, I love the format of your video. Great editing! Never boring, but still not too fast pasted. Talking, but also breaks with not talking. Looking forward to seeing more of your videos.
Thank you so much, I really appreciate your compliments. It takes me about a month to make each video but I've been making them for about 7 years so don't wait a month to see another one! 😄
@HelenEk7 Greetings to you and your chickens, from the other side of the globe. It's a new day here, the sun is shining and I know it's going to be lovely. Wishing you a great day too 😊
We had a pecking garden with cherry tomatoes, which they loved, but only used scrap wire, which was too light. Once they got in with their feet to scratch for bugs, it was the end 🙈
I always loved the feathers on the Golden Wyandot, or whatever you call them. So pretty. All of us should be given the LAND to have our own gardens and space to raise things and let them roam some. It's pathetic that our evil govts have made it so expensive to do that. NOT what God intended at ALL..Take care and God bless you and yours.
Thank you. We are very lucky to have just enough to keep our chickens happy. Thank you for your kind words. The Wyandotte is a colour called White-laced Buff (or sometimes just Buff Laced). I do think it's the prettiest colour, even though this one is not a very good example. Take care 😊
@@chickensinmygarden I had gold and silver wyandot years ago, and the silver wyandot were the BEST, most friendly birds we ever had. I had to separate my favorite one because she wouldn't even defend herself against the others, who always abused her. Chickens can be terribly mean to each other. That's one thing I never liked about them. I think mankind has messed with them so much, making them meaner, likely for their evil cockfighting..and it's hard, now, to find good natured birds. You aren't in the US, are you?
@kellycarver2500 No, I'm in New Zealand, in a little seaside town in the Bay of Plenty. We moved here 4 years ago and we are so in love with this place!
I love your programmes. Always a delight to watch. Also, always very informative. Your visuals are always colourful. And, last but by no means least, I love your colourful variety of chickens. Sincerely, Larry Clarence Lewis London, Ontario, Canada.
Thank you so much Larry. I appreciate your kind and thoughtful compliments. You must be heading into Fall-Winter now, so I hope my chickens brought some sunshine to your day. Best wishes from Sheryl and chickens
Pumpkin sprouts grow well in a large pot from the pips inside the pumpkin. The hens love the young plants even though its too late in the year to plant them in the garden
Interesting! As long as I protect the roots from being scratched up, my chickens seem to ignore the pumpkin leaves. Once the young fruit forms they will peck at that though! They do love pumpkin and it's so good for them! ua-cam.com/video/EjllnmeCxBo/v-deo.html
I think nasturtiums are capers. Capers berries are the flower pods before the petals burst open and the seeds are pods formed after the flowers dies back
I love your sharing your experiments and results. Your 'small' garden is huge by local standards. I now know why the households around me with larger plots and enclosed chicken runs have several raised beds inside the run, each surrounded by chicken netting. Each raised bed can be planted and grown out and when it's 'enough for a treat' the fencing is opened. I'll bet those leafy greens have no bugs whatsoever! Thank you for your video.
I recommend fencing in, 2"x 4" grid, 5' high, the garden beds . Then an hour before sunset let them out to roam the remaining abailable yard. Be sure they will return to their protected roost by near dark. Chickens will not only eat the greens but their scratching will destroy the beds. I'd love to visit, you love your birds! I'd do the layout a little different, but it's about happy birds after all. You have different breeds, very colorful. Bet they all have names too.🌱
Hi there. Yes, I've always had a variety of breeds, not only for their looks but also their variety of eggs. And yes of course they have names. Everyone has names. You and I have names and all my chickens (well over 100 over the years) have names too! 😊🐥🐥🐥
Great video, I have a large run that is completely enclose because of the high predator load in the area here. I want to still provide them with fresh growing plants and have been looking at a few methods, this looks like a great method
Great. I'm always delighted to spark some ideas that you can adapt to your own situation. Depending on how high the ceiling is you might also include some low shrubs or bushes - just keep the root area covered until the bush gets established.
Thanks for the new video - I look forward to every one! I have plenty of land but can't free- range because of the predators in my rural mountain area in the US - hawks, eagles, coyotes, bobcats, and even mountain lions and bears! I have mobile chicken yards set up that I can easily move around for new pasture or set up on my garden areas in the fall so the girls can work over the soil. The pens are made of plastic pipe and hardware mesh. Small mobile "tunnels" connect to these yards from the door on the covered run. It works great. I also hang bundles of kale, beet greens, dandelion greens, and other greens inside their pens, especially in the winter. Fresh corn still on the cob while in season is also greatly enjoyed by the girls, and they love dry cracked corn at any time! I like your idea of setting aside strips along the edges of their runs to grow greens and give them the mental stimulation of reaching through the fencing. I know how fast chickens can denude patches of land, and my girls love the excitement of getting access to a new patch of greens after they get bored with their old one!
So very much enjoyed this video!!! Thank You for sharing! What Breed are your Black & Whites? I have "one" I bought several from a Hatchery here in the USA, and they didn't identify them (they were supposed to be 15 of the Best Egg Layers...No Boys) and some I've had a tough time figuring them out. You are looking Fabulous & Happy Sis!! God Bless You & Your Hubby
Thank you so much! The black and whites are Exchequer Leghorns. A little bit skittery like most Mediterranean breeds although these are calmer than previous Leghorns I've had. Excellent layers of pure white eggs.
Interesting, thank you. If I had more space I would try this. Maybe one day when i reduce my vegetable growing space I will have just 2 chickens & use your idea 🐥
Whatever works for you. I just want to share what I've learnt and hope to stimulate some of your ideas so you can find what's best for you and your chickens 😊
Great video. Would love to have chickens on my site, within a moving 'chicken tractor' system, and it's interesting to see the timing of the moves that may be needed to allow regrowth of vegetation. Good to see some NZ content too!
Thank you. It's lovely to hear from another kiwi chicken keeper. Have you seen my video about how chickens came to New Zealand? ua-cam.com/video/kgsImS_g4sk/v-deo.html Have a great day 😊
@@chickensinmygarden I'm actually in the UK, but my partner is from NZ. Only visited once (so far) but will certainly be back! Will add your video link to my watch list. I've subscribed so I'll be watching more when I get a chance.
@TheWoodlandOrchard It takes me about a month to make each one but I have a lot worth looking at. So it's a wonderful morning here but I guess it's "Good night" to you.
@@chickensinmygarden Yes it's late evening now. I tend to make videos when I get a chance, and have something I think may be of value. In a bit of a lull right now as I'm studying on an online Permaculture course, which chicken content of course. Once that's completed I'd like to get back to at least one video per month. In my last attempt at a channel I was doing 1 or 2 per week, which was unsustainable. Hope you have a good day!
Loved that, thank you very much. Our place is too small for any kind of garden but I would love to have chickens in my garden. I used to have an area of garden alone of 250 sq metres with an area of lawn available for free ranging chooks that would have been another 200 sq metres. I think I took our downsizing too far.
Oh dear "too small for any kind of garden"! Even in apartment there might be room for a few containers of herbs? Or dig up the lawn (like I am slowly doing) Chooks might never be an option but even a parsley plant next to the front door is a boon😊
Thank you from West Wales UK. I had planned to extend their run, and I know they love chard, spinach, and lettuce, so I am going to try to net off an area to grow these veggies. Hopefully, slugs who wander over to eat them will be spotted.
@@chickensinmygarden Mine ignore the slugs... that makes me sad! I have soooo many slugs in the garden and yard. I was hoping they'd help me with my slug and snail problem. They were slackers this growing season! LOL!
@@chickensinmygarden I don't really want ducks! My neighbor has geese! They get into our fields and leave their slimey poo everywhere! I knew a couple people with Ducks. also slimey poo! I used to get duck eggs from one lady for free, as she had 3 rescue ducks and didn't like the eggs! LOL! Very rich eggs! I enjoy m y chickens.
Thank you for this informative video 👏👏 I am starting my own food forest journey this year and working towards having a chicken run on the property. This video is very helpful. I think I will adopt this concept. 😊
Once the trees and shrubs get established the chickens will mostly not damage them. I have run chickens under established trees successfully - see some of my early videos. But there was one variety of tree that they continually pecked the bark until they ring-barked it. It don't know what kind it was, one of the New Zealand native trees. Maybe there were bugs under the bark. Anyway most of the trees were fine. Short black currant bushes got jumped on a bit when fruiting but survived. Just make sure the root area out to the drip line is covered while the trees are getting established. Biodegradable wool or even cardboard works. Good luck
I’d love to have chooks again but my garden, now, is just too small, so I’ve ‘downsized’ the chooks to quail!! I love their dear little spotted eggs and they satisfy my love of poultry!
Yes quails are great and have quite large eggs if you get the right breed. I had mine in a small shed lined with organic sugar cane mulch on the floor (which they also love to eat) and a UV lamp to make up for the lack of sunshine. They were healthy and laid prolifically. I gave them greens from the vegetable garden and seed specific for quail. Having them on a cement floor kept vermin away and made collecting their droppings mixed with the mulch easy. Good garden fertiliser. In the summer we kept the door open and placed a wire screen in its place and kept the door shut when it was cold. Quail are very cold hardy and lay right through winter
Excellent idea! A win, win, win, win! One year I planted beans outside the net-covered run and the vines grew up the net wall and over the inside of the roof. It was fun to walk into the run and pick beans from above my head, rather like picking grapes from some Mediterranean pergola.
Yes, mulch harbors many insects, but here in the US, the commercial brands have chemicals that are probably toxic. I’ll put this method to use right away. Thanks
I have the same problem except I have the land but I have a lot of hawks and eagle's and they have tried. Your video had given me some good ideals thanks
They are a mixture of colours of Barnevelders plus a couple of Leghorns, Hyline browns and a Buff Wyandotte. I love having different hens, plus they lay a variety of sizes and colours of eggs. I hope you get a chance to have chickens one day. I was 50 years old before I got my first ones, but I've made up for it since then 😊
Your multicolored chickens are so pretty! My parents kept Bantam Black Cochins for a decade or so in Texas. Insects were devouring their gardens, until they obtained some Weeder Geese. The poulterer threw in a pair of chicks as a gift. My parents protected their garden with a chain-link fence, but would periodically allow a little family-hen, rooster, two babies-to spend some time in the garden. The hen would scratch up bugs for her husband and kids. They would only be there for a few hours, so they were not allowed to damage the garden.😊
Slick setup! I'd hate to have to keep my birds confined but you have to live with what you've got and you're obviously making the best of it. Well done! I've only got just over an acre but my birds keep inside the boundaries very well and stay out of the road in front. An occasional coyote or hawk drops in. Hawks don't want to tangle with my roosters more often than not. Coyote are mainly nocturnal but get out early or go in late now and then but there are a few of us around that will take them down if the opportunity presents. Beautiful girls you've got!
Thank you. Yes I did love letting my chickens out to roam over 2 acres but sadly old age brings a few losses and that was one of them. However I'm very lucky to still be able to enjoy happy chickens even on a small town property.
Indeed! When we were planning the move I had a list of what we wanted (walking distance to cafes and shops, quiet neighbourhood, well-insulated house etc) and top of the list was Where can we put chickens and garden 😄
I have chicken coop with netted run in the middle of my vegetable garden. On the right and left side of my coop I have two 150m2 plots. In one year I grow vegetables in first plot, and in the second I grow cover crops and let the chicken roam. Next year I switching the plots. This way I have vegetable-chicken garden. I need to find out how I can add rabbits to this system, so I can also have meat.
That sounds wonderful. 150m2 is a great size! I don't know anything about rabbits but if you have a rooster you can raise chicks and eat the cockerels.
What would happen if you put that netting on the ground? Straight on the ground, so not preventing then accessing the green, but prevents them using those strong legs to demolish the roots. If you combine that with sectioning, you might just manage to beat their pace of destruction.
You're right - it would recover more quickly but that would mean only 2 or 3 days in that paddock and 3 to 6 months recovery (depending on time of year). I don't have enough space for that.
I enjoyed your garden ideas, thanks.
We have 200 square meters, half of that is fenced off for the chickens, it contains some shrubs, rosebushes, a large nut tree, large cherry tree, small pear tree, raspberries, ... since we have them we enjoy a lot more pears, also composting works a lot more efficient. I'd almost say that if they wouldn't lay delicious eggs, having them as pet would still be very much worth it, they're fun, bring life and cute sounds in the garden, especially when they take a dustbath and then shake themselves off, or when they come running from the back - wings flapping.
We also have a tiny vegetable plot and a small herb garden and ornamental border, with a bit of lawn and place for the drying... and once the last pumpkin was harvested I let the chickens free in the garden, they seem to be very happy in that arrangement, they do make a mess from the raised beds, the bark between, will have to be replaced again, but I'm counting on them to keep it all free of snails.
That sounds just perfect for you and your chickens. Thanks for sharing. Have a great day 😊
Very interesting video. I realized a couple of things:
1. You, Madame, have a lot of free time to experiment. And you love your chickens.
2. Whenever I will keep chickens, I will have to keep them away from the vegetable garden.
3. Chickens are a good, natural and pesticide-free way of removing the weeds from a piece of land.
4. Chickens can (or even should) be included in crop rotation. Or, after harvesting a crop, the terrain can be cleaned by letting the chickens do it instead of doing it manually. I don't know why they don't teach this in horticultural universities as a method of bio weed control!
You are so right.
1. Yes I'm retired. And I love chickens, and gardening.
2. Yes you will. Either fence the chickens in or fence the gardens.
3. Plus they lay eggs and provide heaps of entertainment as well as chicken poo fertiliser.
4. Me neither. Chickens have a great place in farming but somehow people think of chicken farming or horticulture as if they are mutually exclusive!
5. I also love chatting about chickens 😊😊😊
Have a great day!
I planned to get about 4 chickens and let them free range in the yard between my garden beds since they’re about two feet off the ground, but now I’m thinking that my veggies won’t be safe 😂. I definitely need to rethink the run area for them. This was so informative - thank you!
Indeed, unless you have fences around your garden beds, or a 2-ft-high roof over the paths, the chickens would have no trouble jumping up two feet to feast on the buffet you have laid on for them!
@@burginny chicken scratch using their legs, but ducks are safe around plants. Ducks have short legs so they can't jump.
@@richardb4787 thank you! Unfortunately I live in a suburban area where the only livestock they allow is chickens. Starting to craft some frames for the garden beds so the chickens can get some exercise around the yard.
im glad to see none of the chickens heads got stuck in the fence!
No, none of them even looked to be at risk of that. I guess they are more sensible than we give them credit for.
This did give me a couple of great ideas! Thanks for sharing!
That's great to hear. Thank you so much. Have a great day 😊
Ah; to have the ability to grow greens year round. I live in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, where the snow accumulates to feet’s high, and the average winter temperatures are around-20 to-30c. We breed mealworms and red wrigglers for our chickens to feed on in the winter, and they get lots of kitchen scraps instead of fresh greens. In the summer, we move them around in chicken tractors, and they feed off the wild weeds on the property safe from wild animals. It would be so nice to be able to have a climate like yours to be able to grow year round.
You have an absolutely beautiful little farm ❣️
Oh yes we are very lucky with the climate here. But everyone's situation is different and we make the most of what we have. I'm sure your chickens love their winter treats as much as scratching in the wild summer fields 😊
Best wishes to you and your chickens from New Zealand
@@chickensinmygarden Thank you 😊
@@MsK-xm7vw glass panels are your friends. Old windows, orientated to the south can bring welcome heat while leaving the cold out.
Looks like stopping them from scratching the plants to death really makes it more sustainable. Appreciate you sharing your experience.
Thank you for watching 😊
My first chicken year i free ranged my chickens in my yard. Only three. They ate everything. Now they have a yard.
Yep. Either chickens have to be fenced in (in a yard) or fenced out (of your garden beds). Even with our 2 acre lifestyle block I fenced them out of the vegetable garden and let them range over the rest.
I really need to extend my chickens run too. They love to eat the green plants. Thank you for sharing your beautiful chickens.
Thank you. And thanks for watching 😊
Thank you so much for this video with all your experience…. It saved me a lot of work and I will use your idea that worked best for you and really makes sense for small yards. !
Excellent! I know everyone will have their own needs and resources but I'm glad I've given you a head start 😊
Great ideas…thank you!
From two chicken lovers in Tennessee 😉
Hi there! Thanks for that. I do like to share what I've found to work or not work.
Best wishes to you and your chickens 😊
Love your video
Yeah found out too that if you let them free in a small yard 3 chickens can make all green disappear 😳
If I have time I do let them out and watch them I have some spots where I like that they scratch end eat everything specially around some trees I have
I put stones in a square and put wire on top so there is a gab of 2-3 inches
So they only pick the top of the Gras. In their chicken run. It works 😁
But I like the slanted fence and the
Nasturtium ❤ I will do this
Thank you for sharing
Thank you! Have a great day 😊
I really enjoyed watching this.
Excellent. Thank you for saying so 😊
Nasturtium seeds are indeed Capers. In Afrikaans we call Nasturium 'Kappers' or 'kappertjies'. Thanks for a very informative video. I enjoyed every minute.
Thank you so much 😊
Thank you so much. Those are happy chickens. When am able, i am going to redesign my chicken yard an incorporate some of your great ideas.God bless.
Excellent. I'm glad I could stimulate some ideas.
Best wishes to you and your chickens 😊
Absolutley great information. Love what you've done. Those hens are beautiful. You also look lovely. ❤ Have a great week.
Thank you so much for all your compliments 😊
A wonderful example of thinking outside the box!
Thank you so much. It's taken me a while to figure out what doesn't work, so I wanted to share that 😄
@@chickensinmygarden 🐔🐓 Excellent Idea! Well Thought Out 💕 Thank you for sharing 😊
Lovely garden and beautiful, healthy hens❤
I'm so lucky to have a garden and chickens 😊
We're on a 10 acre native bush block in NZ. We tried free ranging our 12 chooks but they had a very negative impact on the forest floor. Ate or scratched up all the seedlings and cleared the natural mulch. They travelled about 100 metres from their coop. So now confined to a fenced area and fed fresh cut veg and food scraps. Thanks for your ideas. 😊
You're right - chooks don't belong in NZ native forest or anywhere you want seedlings - they love to scratch.
Hi,
I live and take care of the chickens at an Animal Sanctuary in Los Angeles. I think I will plant letuce, cale, red chard, cilantro and parsley in pots and put the pots into the chicken runns. This way they can pick their "salad" themselves.
Thank you for your lovely videos ❤😊
That sounds like fun. Don't be surprised if the chickens jump right on top of the pots to eat and scratch. I'm sure they'll have lots of fun 😊
Lovely and informative video. Your flock looks very happy and healthy. I have my girls in a large run and let them free range the entire garden when I am out there - which is usually 2 or 3 times a day during the week and for several hours each day at the weekend. I have to protect my beds so the girls can’t get in and ransack them but on the whole this works well. I do love working in the garden and having them around me. I’m off to find more of your videos now. All the best. Mags.
Thank you Mags, it sounds like you have a great set-up. As well as a very intriguing channel name - love it! I will find you on line😊 Best wishes
Thanks for this. FUN!
Thank you!
My chickens love tomatoes and zucchini. I often toss excess to them. They also like melons (rind and seeds). I often pull dandelion leaves, comfrey leaves, plantain and thistle leaves for my chickens. It's a treat for them :)
Oh yes! They love all kinds of fresh vegetables and leaves.
I've never seen that technique before, thanks for sharing! I'm going to try something similar.
That's wonderful to hear! Best wishes to you and your chickens 😊
CONGRATULATIONS 🎉 That is absolutely 💯% Precious!! Just love how you conquered your "space" problem!! Such beautiful happy babies! Love 💖 it!!
Thank you. I hope it gives other people ideas about keeping chickens happy in a small space 😊
They look amazingly healthy chickens.
I think they are very happy and healthy. They certainly have everything they need and want 😊
I enjoyed this video very much! Great stuff!
Thank you
Greetings from Ireland ☘
☘
Thank you so much. I don't think I've had a viewer in Ireland before. Welcome 😊
Thank you for being honest and showing what didn't work as well as what did. There is always something else to learn. In my previous attempts at free ranging chicken's, we learned that if a chicken to get on top of anything they're going to poop on it. When free ranging, they will often dig holes at the edges of any structure, including the house and anywhere you don't want them to do so. I gave up in frustration and ate the chickens. I'm in the process now of building a large indoor run and trying to figure out how to give them access to pasture without them roaming everywhere. I like your idea of moving fencing with the chickens, it's the same idea of moving fencing with cows to give them smaller paddocks to graze and moving them frequently for optimal grass use. You've given me some great ideas, thank you.
Excellent. Sparking ideas that other people can use in their own situation is my goal 😊
Here we use the term "break feeding" to refer to rotating cows or other stock through areas with temporary fencing, usually electric fence. If you have a big enough total area it should work.
Unless you have a mobile hen-house there's a bit of a design challenge in getting the hens to each area. One solution i have seen is to have the hen house in the middle of the total area and the various pastures like slices of pizza around it. Another idea is tiny tunnels to each separate pasture. A lot depends on what you have to work with. Have fun 😊
fascinating experiment! thank you for sharing it with us.
Thanks for watching 😊
Thanks for this! We just bought a small lot in a small town that allows chickens! We've got a lot to learn. Liked and subscribed!😀
Oh, yes! Chickens! You have a wonderful time ahead of you 🐥😊🐥😊🐥😊🐥
Nasturtium leaves and flowers are also edible.
Yes indeed, although their taste is quite powerful
Thank you miss you have blessed me
Thank you for your kind comment. Best wishes for a lovely day
Outside loving the content, I love the format of your video. Great editing! Never boring, but still not too fast pasted. Talking, but also breaks with not talking. Looking forward to seeing more of your videos.
Thank you so much, I really appreciate your compliments. It takes me about a month to make each video but I've been making them for about 7 years so don't wait a month to see another one! 😄
@@chickensinmygarden One can tell that you put a lot of work into them. Well done. :) Greetings from Norway.
@HelenEk7 Greetings to you and your chickens, from the other side of the globe. It's a new day here, the sun is shining and I know it's going to be lovely. Wishing you a great day too 😊
Thank you for the wonderful ideas.
I hope you will find some of them useful and stimulate some ideas of your own 😊
Thanks for that education 🎉🎉❤
Your new subscriber from Nakuru Kenya
Thank you and welcome!
Do check out some of my other videos 😊
We had a pecking garden with cherry tomatoes, which they loved, but only used scrap wire, which was too light. Once they got in with their feet to scratch for bugs, it was the end 🙈
They sure do love to scratch!
I always loved the feathers on the Golden Wyandot, or whatever you call them. So pretty. All of us should be given the LAND to have our own gardens and space to raise things and let them roam some. It's pathetic that our evil govts have made it so expensive to do that. NOT what God intended at ALL..Take care and God bless you and yours.
Thank you. We are very lucky to have just enough to keep our chickens happy. Thank you for your kind words.
The Wyandotte is a colour called White-laced Buff (or sometimes just Buff Laced). I do think it's the prettiest colour, even though this one is not a very good example.
Take care 😊
@@chickensinmygarden I had gold and silver wyandot years ago, and the silver wyandot were the BEST, most friendly birds we ever had. I had to separate my favorite one because she wouldn't even defend herself against the others, who always abused her. Chickens can be terribly mean to each other. That's one thing I never liked about them. I think mankind has messed with them so much, making them meaner, likely for their evil cockfighting..and it's hard, now, to find good natured birds. You aren't in the US, are you?
@kellycarver2500 No, I'm in New Zealand, in a little seaside town in the Bay of Plenty. We moved here 4 years ago and we are so in love with this place!
Kelly!! Smart thoughts!! Thank you for posting! 🥰🥰🥰✌️🇨🇦
I love your programmes. Always a delight to watch. Also, always very informative. Your visuals are always colourful. And, last but by no means least, I love your colourful variety of chickens.
Sincerely,
Larry Clarence Lewis
London, Ontario, Canada.
Thank you so much Larry. I appreciate your kind and thoughtful compliments.
You must be heading into Fall-Winter now, so I hope my chickens brought some sunshine to your day.
Best wishes
from Sheryl and chickens
Thank you for this enjoyable and informative video. Enjoyed the calm manner in which you explain it all. Lots of great ideas!
Great! I hope you find some ideas that work for you and your chickens 😊
This has given me a lot to think about as I cannot free range my chickens here. Thank you sooo much!
Excellent! Thank you 😊
Thanks for your very helpful video! I have the same dilemma with 3 hens on 1/4 acre land with landscaped zones.
I hope some of these ideas will help find a solution that works well for you and your chickens
Pumpkin sprouts grow well in a large pot from the pips inside the pumpkin. The hens love the young plants even though its too late in the year to plant them in the garden
Interesting! As long as I protect the roots from being scratched up, my chickens seem to ignore the pumpkin leaves. Once the young fruit forms they will peck at that though! They do love pumpkin and it's so good for them!
ua-cam.com/video/EjllnmeCxBo/v-deo.html
I think nasturtiums are capers. Capers berries are the flower pods before the petals burst open and the seeds are pods formed after the flowers dies back
Oh I thought they were a different plant. They certainly taste similar 😊
@@chickensinmygarden Actually capers are a different plant, sorry, I didn’t read to the end😃
No worries. Anyway we now know we can use nasturtium pods as capers if we want.
Have a great day 😊
Very Novel. I'd NEVER Ever seen Anybody work the concept of a _"Pecking Garden*_
It works well too. I'm not sure whether anyone else has done it, but they should. At least according to the chickens! 😄
I love your sharing your experiments and results. Your 'small' garden is huge by local standards. I now know why the households around me with larger plots and enclosed chicken runs have several raised beds inside the run, each surrounded by chicken netting. Each raised bed can be planted and grown out and when it's 'enough for a treat' the fencing is opened. I'll bet those leafy greens have no bugs whatsoever! Thank you for your video.
Everyone finds a solution for their own situation to keep their own chickens happy 😊
Thank you !
Very enjoyable to watch!
God bless!
Thank you 😊
Happy healthy Chicken.
Yes indeed 😊 I hope all chickens could be as happy
These are great ideas. Thank you. We are in a very high predation area. Northeast corner of San Diego county.
Then I suppose your fences will need to be predator-proof. We are so lucky not to have anything worse than roaming dogs to contend with.
Best wishes
I recommend fencing in, 2"x 4" grid, 5' high, the garden beds . Then an hour before sunset let them out to roam the remaining abailable yard. Be sure they will return to their protected roost by near dark. Chickens will not only eat the greens but their scratching will destroy the beds. I'd love to visit, you love your birds! I'd do the layout a little different, but it's about happy birds after all. You have different breeds, very colorful. Bet they all have names too.🌱
Hi there. Yes, I've always had a variety of breeds, not only for their looks but also their variety of eggs. And yes of course they have names. Everyone has names. You and I have names and all my chickens (well over 100 over the years) have names too! 😊🐥🐥🐥
Great video, I have a large run that is completely enclose because of the high predator load in the area here. I want to still provide them with fresh growing plants and have been looking at a few methods, this looks like a great method
Great. I'm always delighted to spark some ideas that you can adapt to your own situation. Depending on how high the ceiling is you might also include some low shrubs or bushes - just keep the root area covered until the bush gets established.
Thanks for the new video - I look forward to every one! I have plenty of land but can't free- range because of the predators in my rural mountain area in the US - hawks, eagles, coyotes, bobcats, and even mountain lions and bears! I have mobile chicken yards set up that I can easily move around for new pasture or set up on my garden areas in the fall so the girls can work over the soil. The pens are made of plastic pipe and hardware mesh. Small mobile "tunnels" connect to these yards from the door on the covered run. It works great. I also hang bundles of kale, beet greens, dandelion greens, and other greens inside their pens, especially in the winter. Fresh corn still on the cob while in season is also greatly enjoyed by the girls, and they love dry cracked corn at any time! I like your idea of setting aside strips along the edges of their runs to grow greens and give them the mental stimulation of reaching through the fencing. I know how fast chickens can denude patches of land, and my girls love the excitement of getting access to a new patch of greens after they get bored with their old one!
That sounds like an excellent use of your resources. I'm sure your chickens are very happy 😊
Thanks for your compliments. Have a great day
You can use fence to save from predators
So very much enjoyed this video!!! Thank You for sharing! What Breed are your Black & Whites? I have "one" I bought several from a Hatchery here in the USA, and they didn't identify them (they were supposed to be 15 of the Best Egg Layers...No Boys) and some I've had a tough time figuring them out. You are looking Fabulous & Happy Sis!! God Bless You & Your Hubby
Thank you so much! The black and whites are Exchequer Leghorns. A little bit skittery like most Mediterranean breeds although these are calmer than previous Leghorns I've had. Excellent layers of pure white eggs.
Interesting, thank you. If I had more space I would try this. Maybe one day when i reduce my vegetable growing space I will have just 2 chickens & use your idea 🐥
Whatever works for you. I just want to share what I've learnt and hope to stimulate some of your ideas so you can find what's best for you and your chickens 😊
Great video. Would love to have chickens on my site, within a moving 'chicken tractor' system, and it's interesting to see the timing of the moves that may be needed to allow regrowth of vegetation. Good to see some NZ content too!
Thank you. It's lovely to hear from another kiwi chicken keeper. Have you seen my video about how chickens came to New Zealand?
ua-cam.com/video/kgsImS_g4sk/v-deo.html
Have a great day 😊
@@chickensinmygarden I'm actually in the UK, but my partner is from NZ. Only visited once (so far) but will certainly be back! Will add your video link to my watch list. I've subscribed so I'll be watching more when I get a chance.
@TheWoodlandOrchard It takes me about a month to make each one but I have a lot worth looking at.
So it's a wonderful morning here but I guess it's "Good night" to you.
@@chickensinmygarden Yes it's late evening now. I tend to make videos when I get a chance, and have something I think may be of value. In a bit of a lull right now as I'm studying on an online Permaculture course, which chicken content of course. Once that's completed I'd like to get back to at least one video per month. In my last attempt at a channel I was doing 1 or 2 per week, which was unsustainable. Hope you have a good day!
Oh I've never found your channel. I must search for it
A charming and interesting video. Thank you.
Thank you so much!
Wishing you a wonderful day 😊
Love your video.. watching and support from glecious tv
Thank you so much 😊
Very interesting video, thank you for sharing. God bless you!
Thank you. And best wishes to you (and your chickens) 😊
Loved that, thank you very much. Our place is too small for any kind of garden but I would love to have chickens in my garden. I used to have an area of garden alone of 250 sq metres with an area of lawn available for free ranging chooks that would have been another 200 sq metres. I think I took our downsizing too far.
Oh dear "too small for any kind of garden"! Even in apartment there might be room for a few containers of herbs?
Or dig up the lawn (like I am slowly doing)
Chooks might never be an option but even a parsley plant next to the front door is a boon😊
Thank you from West Wales UK. I had planned to extend their run, and I know they love chard, spinach, and lettuce, so I am going to try to net off an area to grow these veggies. Hopefully, slugs who wander over to eat them will be spotted.
and devoured by the chickens!
(Although weirdly my chickens fight over a snail but ignore slugs!)
@@chickensinmygarden Mine ignore the slugs... that makes me sad! I have soooo many slugs in the garden and yard. I was hoping they'd help me with my slug and snail problem. They were slackers this growing season! LOL!
The thing for slugs and snails is ducks. But then there is a whole other set of challenges!
@@chickensinmygarden I don't really want ducks! My neighbor has geese! They get into our fields and leave their slimey poo everywhere! I knew a couple people with Ducks. also slimey poo! I used to get duck eggs from one lady for free, as she had 3 rescue ducks and didn't like the eggs! LOL! Very rich eggs! I enjoy m y chickens.
@lnxjenn I agree. Ducks poo much more than chickens, and I do prefer chicken eggs.
Good advices, thank you!
Thanks for watching 😊
Nice ideas. Thanks.
Thank you!
I tractor my chickens on my town lot, move them every day before the grass is uprooted and the lawn looks great plus they have fresh ground every day.
Excellent! How many chickens do you have and how many days before they get back to the same patch?
Thank you for sharing the precious information
You are very welcome. Thanks for watching 😊
Love it. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Thank you for saying so. 😊
Very interesting I really enjoyed It just watching them...really relaxing😂❤
Love to visit across the 🌏 to watching love Chicken 🐔.Thanks
Thanks for watching. Have a great day 😊
Very interesting 😁😁😁and the chickens are so beautiful ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you so much 😊
very nicely explored and explained. Thanks!
Thank you 😊
Thank you for this informative video 👏👏
I am starting my own food forest journey this year and working towards having a chicken run on the property. This video is very helpful. I think I will adopt this concept. 😊
Once the trees and shrubs get established the chickens will mostly not damage them. I have run chickens under established trees successfully - see some of my early videos. But there was one variety of tree that they continually pecked the bark until they ring-barked it. It don't know what kind it was, one of the New Zealand native trees. Maybe there were bugs under the bark. Anyway most of the trees were fine. Short black currant bushes got jumped on a bit when fruiting but survived. Just make sure the root area out to the drip line is covered while the trees are getting established. Biodegradable wool or even cardboard works.
Good luck
@chickensinmygarden thank you so much. I do intend to add fruit trees ect...so this is really good to know 😊
I’d love to have chooks again but my garden, now, is just too small, so I’ve ‘downsized’ the chooks to quail!! I love their dear little spotted eggs and they satisfy my love of poultry!
Quail sound really cute 😊
Yes quails are great and have quite large eggs if you get the right breed. I had mine in a small shed lined with organic sugar cane mulch on the floor (which they also love to eat) and a UV lamp to make up for the lack of sunshine. They were healthy and laid prolifically. I gave them greens from the vegetable garden and seed specific for quail. Having them on a cement floor kept vermin away and made collecting their droppings mixed with the mulch easy. Good garden fertiliser. In the summer we kept the door open and placed a wire screen in its place and kept the door shut when it was cold. Quail are very cold hardy and lay right through winter
Sounds great. Can you keep quail and chickens together?
I never saw a chicken eating nasturtium before. You have a lovely garden and setup!
Thank you 😊 Chickens will peck at anything to see if it's edible, even a spot on my boots!
@@chickensinmygarden Gotta try everything once to figure out if it's tasty.
Thank you. Very informative
Thank you. Much appreciated
I grow runner beans up the east outside of the run. They get shade and beans and bean leaves and I get beans too!!
Excellent idea! A win, win, win, win!
One year I planted beans outside the net-covered run and the vines grew up the net wall and over the inside of the roof. It was fun to walk into the run and pick beans from above my head, rather like picking grapes from some Mediterranean pergola.
What helpful ideas!!!! Thanks so much! 👍😍
You're welcome! I hope some of the ideas are useful to you and your chickens 😊
Yes, mulch harbors many insects, but here in the US, the commercial brands have chemicals that are probably toxic.
I’ll put this method to use right away. Thanks
Excellent! I'm sure your chickens will thank you 😊
So nice😍 , thank you!🙏
Thank you 😊
I have the same problem except I have the land but I have a lot of hawks and eagle's and they have tried. Your video had given me some good ideals thanks
That's great to hear.
Best wishes and thanks for watching 😊
Such beautiful speckled hens. I want to keep hens too.
They are a mixture of colours of Barnevelders plus a couple of Leghorns, Hyline browns and a Buff Wyandotte. I love having different hens, plus they lay a variety of sizes and colours of eggs. I hope you get a chance to have chickens one day. I was 50 years old before I got my first ones, but I've made up for it since then 😊
Your multicolored chickens are so pretty! My parents kept Bantam Black Cochins for a decade or so in Texas. Insects were devouring their gardens, until they obtained some Weeder Geese. The poulterer threw in a pair of chicks as a gift. My parents protected their garden with a chain-link fence, but would periodically allow a little family-hen, rooster, two babies-to spend some time in the garden. The hen would scratch up bugs for her husband and kids. They would only be there for a few hours, so they were not allowed to damage the garden.😊
Ah yes, chickens are so delightful, aren't they!
Your girls are beautiful!!! Thank you for sharing!!!!
Thank you. Have a great day 😊
Very beautiful ❤❤❤
Gee thanks! Nobody has called me beautiful before! Oh, of course, you mean the chickens 😄😄😄
Slick setup! I'd hate to have to keep my birds confined but you have to live with what you've got and you're obviously making the best of it. Well done!
I've only got just over an acre but my birds keep inside the boundaries very well and stay out of the road in front. An occasional coyote or hawk drops in. Hawks don't want to tangle with my roosters more often than not. Coyote are mainly nocturnal but get out early or go in late now and then but there are a few of us around that will take them down if the opportunity presents.
Beautiful girls you've got!
Thank you. Yes I did love letting my chickens out to roam over 2 acres but sadly old age brings a few losses and that was one of them. However I'm very lucky to still be able to enjoy happy chickens even on a small town property.
Very happy for you! Think I would be quite lost without my birds.
Indeed! When we were planning the move I had a list of what we wanted (walking distance to cafes and shops, quiet neighbourhood, well-insulated house etc) and top of the list was Where can we put chickens and garden 😄
thank you so much.I was wandering what I can do to make my chicken happier as they ate all grass
I'm sure you'll find a way to include some ideas like these for your chickens to enjoy 😊
What a lovely video! ❤
Thank you so much 😊
I have chicken coop with netted run in the middle of my vegetable garden. On the right and left side of my coop I have two 150m2 plots. In one year I grow vegetables in first plot, and in the second I grow cover crops and let the chicken roam. Next year I switching the plots. This way I have vegetable-chicken garden. I need to find out how I can add rabbits to this system, so I can also have meat.
That sounds wonderful. 150m2 is a great size!
I don't know anything about rabbits but if you have a rooster you can raise chicks and eat the cockerels.
What would happen if you put that netting on the ground? Straight on the ground, so not preventing then accessing the green, but prevents them using those strong legs to demolish the roots. If you combine that with sectioning, you might just manage to beat their pace of destruction.
Hmm, combined with sectioning it might work 🤔
I would imagine that shorter days in each paddock so that the greenery is still robust when you remove the chickens, it will recover quicker.
You're right - it would recover more quickly but that would mean only 2 or 3 days in that paddock and 3 to 6 months recovery (depending on time of year). I don't have enough space for that.
Thank you for your ideas.
Thank You 😊
Nice, I like this video!
Thank you! 😊
Thank you very much 😊
Great work
Thank you so much!
So beuatiful
Thank you, from me and my chickens
Thank you, that was so informative.
Excellent, I'm so glad you found it so 😊
This is great. Thank you!
That's good to hear, thank you. I hope it gives you some ideas you can adapt for your own situation and flock 😊
I love chickens
Yes, me too. That's why I make videos about them. I hope you enjoy watching 😊
Thank you.😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
You are very welcome! Thank you for watching 😊
all my chickens are still birds and prefer to live in the trees :) They are not really roaming birds like fowl so a tree is a perfect hen house :)
There fun to watch
They certainly are 😊
Very Good , Thanks for this , very informative 🐓
Thank you.
Have a great day 😊
Ingenious❤️🐓definitely will try this
Great! Best wishes 😊
Good stuff ....from Wales uk
Thank you so much. Kia ora from New Zealand 😊