Author Login | Popular Articles | RSS Feeds | Sitemap

Livestock In The Garden

Home | Home-and-Family | Landscaping-Gardening

Garden Hens
Some gardeners will tell you that you cant have a nice garden and keep hens. That is a matter of opinion. Dont be fooled, hens can be hard work, they can be very messy and they do scratch around the beds and borders, but provided you have a fairly large garden and are sensible about where they can forage, you really can garden and keep hens.
For gardeners there are plenty of benefits in keeping hens. Their droppings are very rich in nutrients; much too rich to use neat, but you can add them to the compost heap to enrich your home compost beautifully. If you use a dust free sawdust for bedding, then the soiled bedding can be composted down to create a wonderful, nutrient rich sol conditioner.

If your garden is pristine then you can still allow the hens out in the autumn, winter and early spring when they will rummage around the garden feeding on bugs, slug eggs and other garden nasties. A couple of hens or a trio can be controlled and directed to particular areas where they wont do too much damage. Its essential to keep an eye on them and not to leave them in one place too long. Hens are useful for cleaning up the compost heap, where they devour bugs, weed seeds and pest eggs. Hens also eat a wide variety of edible weeds such as chickweed, fat hen, bitter cress and dandelions. They also create great entertainment too. The secret of combining hens and the garden is that you need to be able to contain them when the garden is burgeoning and restrict them to areas where they can do minimal damage for the rest of the time. If you can do that successfully your hens can live happily in harmony with your garden and you will reap their rich rewards.

There are lots of ill rumours that surround keeping hens in the garden, and of course there are always ups and downs, but most of it is down to common sense. You are dealing with real live creatures that need care and attention and a high standard of cleanliness and hygiene. Hen houses do provide shelter but hens are still susceptible to weather changes; extreme wet, heat and cold can all take their toll. Keep your hen house as clean as possible. A build up of droppings can cause respiratory problems and are a health hazard. Remove droppings daily to keep the house clean. Always use suitable and dedicated cleaners for poultry houses and do not resort to household chemicals that may affect your hens.

You are never far from a rat and of course, poultry food attracts vermin so you need to take precautions. Always store grain and seed in metal bins that are secure and dry and cannot be gnawed through. Take care where you feed the hens and dont leave food out overnight where rats can take advantage.

Sensible husbandry, good hygiene and the ability to cover your hen accommodation to protect it from wild birds are all powerful, but simple weapons to prevent problems with your flock.
Clean feeders, drinkers, housing and your own clothing, especially foot ware. Wash hands after handling your birds or collecting eggs.

Choose proper food and drink containers kept hanging off the ground, not in open bowls. Choose quality food. If you feed your hens just scraps you cant expect them to be reliable egg producers, they need a properly balanced diet to lay good quality eggs. Kitchen scraps can encourage rodents and is not good practice. Housing birds in fully wired movable arks are ideal, as wild birds cannot gain access to feed and water and so avoids contamination.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
To know more about Greenhouses and Livestock in the Garden visit http://www.growhouse-greenhouses.co.uk/greenhouses.php

Tags: greenhouses

, greenhouse

Print | Ezine Ready | |

Related....

Videos...

Recent Landscaping-Gardening Articles

Stone Cladding, Designer's Dream Materials By: Sandy Yeates | Sep 6th 2010 - Stone cladding is becoming a much loved feature of home design. It's simple, it's tough, and it's a great design feature. It's also a good alternative to other forms of cladding which may clash with the look of a modern home. This is one of the most dependable, easiest to work with forms ...

outdoor pavers

sandstone pavers

outdoor tiles.

Top 4 Benefits Of Pool Fencing By: Kim Jones | Sep 6th 2010 - Pool fencing is often designer fencing, very elegant, and well presented. It's also very useful in terms of pool area design, safety, and property value adding. Pool fences are also life savers. A good pool fence can prevent real tragedies. The need is for a great looking pool fence whic ...

Very Helpful Orchid Information For Beginners Or Experts By: Dane Swann | Sep 6th 2010 - Get your orchids into an amazing state with just a few simple basics. The light source you use, watering techniques and potting medium can all help any species of orchid to flourish.

Selling Scentsy Products Online By: Cristy Pacheco | Sep 5th 2010 - When choosing a home business, you should always choose something you love! This means finding a good product that you feel confident selling. Visit http://www.scentfrenzy.com/ for buying scentsy products, scentsy candles, scentsy wickless candles, scentsy flameless candles, flameless c ...

Scentsy

Scentsy products

Scentsy candles

Scentsy wickless candles

Scentsy flameless candles

Hints For Starting A Garden By: Daisy Mae | Sep 5th 2010 - Prepare the ground before you begin planting. Whether or not you want to believe this, you won't have any luck with your garden if all you do is put some seeds into the ground and hope they grow. Work the soil in your garden before you start planting your seedlings. Things like rocks and ...

Lazy Ways To Make Organic Compost For Your Garden By: John Yeoman | Sep 5th 2010 - Lazy ways to make high quality organic compost.for the organic garden. These practical gardening ideas help create a low maintenance sustainable garden without cost or labour.

A Clever New Way To Use Companion Planting In Your Organic Garden By: John Yeoman | Sep 5th 2010 - A clever new way to use companion planting in the organic garden to repel garden pests and diseases. Companion planting can work if done in this unusual labour free way.

companion planting

companion plants

grow more vegetables

The Truth About Companion Planting In The Organic Garden By: John Yeoman | Sep 5th 2010 - Practical companion planting in the organic garden to grow more vegetables. Myths about companion planting dispelled.

companion planting

natural gardening

grow more vegetables

Proven Tips For Orchid Repotting By: Janet Shapan | Sep 4th 2010 - One of the most important aspects of good orchid care is orchid repotting and knowing when and how to do it. Get the facts to do it right.

The Major Categories Of Free Gardening Tips By: Ruby J. Flanagan | Sep 3rd 2010 - Using free gardening tips, you have the power to change your garden or create something really nice. There are so many sources of free gardening tips and if you are wondering what to do, this is your answer. However, you will need to search for good tips that will suit you. The Internet ...