Chickens can be helpful – and challenging – for gardeners
Raising small flocks of backyard chickens has been a trend among city dwellers for a decade or so, and putting the birds to work can be a boon to gardens. You can use them for tilling, grubbing for worms and for their manure, which makes excellent free fertilizer.
But raising chickens does bring challenges, especially if you give them the run of the yard.
“These ‘free-ranging’ chickens will eat large amounts of insects, grasses and seeds,” said James Hermes, an extension poultry specialist with Oregon State University.