# Chickens in the orchard? Yes or no?



## Texas.girl (Dec 20, 2011)

I am trying to decide where to build my chicken coop. A chicken tractor is not possible here due to rocks. I have an area that looks promising for a mini orchard. I am wondering what others think about having chickens living in an orchard. I am thinking they will help fertilize the trees but is there any danger to such an arrangement? The orchard will have to be fenced to keep the fruit trees safe from deer and other wild animals.


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

Chocken poop can be great ferterilizer so that may work great. It would be good to have a coop to lock them in at night to reduce losses to predators.


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## Texas.girl (Dec 20, 2011)

The only reason I don't have chickens this very second is because we first need to build a coop. I know a coop is a must. The question is where to build the coop because once it is built it cannot be moved. 

I saw a video yesterday where ducks liked to hang out under one tree. There were 2 identical trees but one was a lot healthier then the other and the only reasons were those ducks, which made me start thinking about chicken poop. But would the chickens want to eat the fruit off the trees?


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## Arkie (Sep 25, 2012)

Texas.girl said:


> The only reason I don't have chickens this very second is because we first need to build a coop. I know a coop is a must. The question is where to build the coop because once it is built it cannot be moved.
> 
> I saw a video yesterday where ducks liked to hang out under one tree. There were 2 identical trees but one was a lot healthier then the other and the only reasons were those ducks, which made me start thinking about chicken poop. But would the chickens want to eat the fruit off the trees?


Yes, chickens will eat/peck holes in any type fruit, but any fruit you plan to keep/store/eat should be picked off the tree before it falls. I don't see any negative to doing this, as they'd also eat a lot of the bugs that harm the trees and fruit. You'd probably want to keep one of their wings clipped (you just cut the feathers, not the bone and flesh, so it has to be done yearly or so) to keep them from roosting in the trees and using them as vantage points to fly down on the wrong side of the fence.

Bob


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## mjgh06 (Sep 4, 2012)

This is just from my experience.

Yes, chicken poop is a great fertilizer when mixed into a compost pile, not used by itself. It is extremely high in Nitrogen content. If chicken are maintained in a permanent coop non-moveable, there will be a build up of nitrogen which will kill all the growth on the ground an bring the area to hard dirt. You don't want the coop anywhere you want to save the ground. To avoid this, the area will have to be cleaned - raked out at least once a week. Place all removed material into a compost pile with leaves, straw, etc. Stir up every other week for six months and then you will have Great fertilizer to use. Using pure chicken poop on plants as fertilizer will kill them.

And yes, chickens will peck at the fruit but only what they can reach. I wouldn't think of this as a big issue as long as the trees are pruned and picked regularly. It may cause diarrhea in the chickens if they eat too much of it.

We built 24x20 semi-permanent coops for our chickens. We would take it apart once a year and move it to a secondary location to give the ground time to heal.


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## Arkie (Sep 25, 2012)

I guess how many chickens on how large an area would be pertinent information here?

Bob


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## xymenah (Jul 1, 2011)

You can also make a moveable coop. They are really not that hard to make.


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## Jodi_berg (Oct 29, 2012)

I thnk it would be great in an established orchard, if your trees are small the chickens will go Godzilla on them. Last year I had to cayenne pepper all my flower gardens then the Darn chickens just figured out to scratch first then peck......


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## Texas.girl (Dec 20, 2011)

xymenah said:


> You can also make a moveable coop. They are really not that hard to make.


Thanks for all the advice. I might stick to my original location plan for now. The problem with a Chicken Tractor is not building one but moving it. 









This is not a pond, it is a sheet of rock and every time it rains the water flows into it but cannot drain. What the wild life doesn't drink eventually evaporates. Right now it is totally dry.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

You live in a beautiful area! Can I have some of your rocks to cut down on hoof trimming?? :laugh:


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## Texas.girl (Dec 20, 2011)

Woodhavenfarm said:


> You live in a beautiful area! Can I have some of your rocks to cut down on hoof trimming?? :laugh:


Sure, come get all you want.:thumbup:

I know people do sell rocks off their place. Not sure how they find the market, but I know it is done. We do have plans for some of the rocks; building, etc. But as the joke goes around here, the more rocks you dig up the faster they reproduce.:sigh:

BTW, what is hoof trimming?


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Texas.girl said:


> BTW, what is hoof trimming?


Don't be cruel  :laugh:


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## xymenah (Jul 1, 2011)

Your mew mew keeps photo bombing lol. Yep I can see where moving it might be a problem though.


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