Rototiller Chickens

This is the first year that we have had chickens in our backyard. Although I spent time helping my aunt and cousins with thier chickens when I was growing up, I have learned much of what I know by reading books and looking through websites on raising chickens. It has been a fun experience and the fresh eggs are wonderful. I have also been amazed at how much better the texture of our baked goods seem to be.

Over the weekend, we decided to try a new thing and put the chicken coop and run over the garden.. I had already raked some leaves on the garden to be manually churned into the ground later. I have been reading about how good it is to put the chickens on the garden over the winter. They naturally put down their own fertilizer and dig it in themselves. As an added bonus, they eat all the grubs and bugs overwintering in the soil.

Watching the chickens after we moved the coop was like watching two little kids being turned loose in a candy store. They busily scratched and dug for hours. Within 24 hours you could no longer see the leaves because they had so finely chopped them up in their digging. The soil looked like Chuck had gone out and rototilled it himself. Best of all as we leave them there they continue to churn up the soil looking for bugs while they dig in their own donation of fertilizer.

I have decided to leave them in this area of the garden for a while then move them to another part. In the meantime, I am going to be adding leaves to their run. Not only does it provide them entertainment but they can dig them into the soil for me. Who knew that chickens were such good rototillers?