I'm researching for a type of fowl I can let loose in my vegetable garden for pest control that won't destory the vegetables. I know regular chickens are out because of their scratching habits,from experience I know geese will pull out weeds and the vegetables,guineas are out because the neighbors would hang me but I have found in some reading that the feather-footed batams might be a good pest control w/o the plant damage. Anyone have experience with batams in the veggie garden?
Peggy
Bantams in the garden?
peggy, i have 2 cochin bantams i let run in my yard. they don't destroy my flowers or dig anything up, but they did eat my tomatoes
edited to say, my guinneas don't dig nything and don't eat the maters
This message was edited Sep 26, 2008 6:40 AM
I would love guineas in garden and yard but if my neighbors didn't string me up,the dogs that are allow to range free in the neighborhood would kill them.
One of my banty hens set some eggs and hatched out 6...two are roosters. I'll get hub's to cover over old dog pen in the corner of the veggie garden and bring these guys over to experiment with.
I read somewhere,several years ago, that (peking?)running ducks are good in the garden but I haven't been able to find the info again.
Peggy
don't know about ducks, but you could try peafowl.
too noisey also....some neighbors waaaaaay up the road have some and they make some really awful noise.
McMurrays have the running ducks. I may get some next spring.
good luck, and keep me posted
I have a friend that has some silkies chicks I'd love to buy.
I saw an article about a gardener who built an movable run for her chickens. It's bottomless, and she puts it where she wants the chickens to scratch, moving it around. Keeps the chickens away from what she doesn't want them to get into.
Google "chicken tractor" -- I'm getting one!
I've heard about them.
My peafowl story.
We lived outside Raliegh, NC, and a lady about five miles away as the crow flies had peafowl. One spring a peacock began to arrive daily at dawn on the roof of the house across the street and serenade all of us. I'm an early riser and wasn't bothered (it was pretty funny, actually) but a few of the neighbors weren't at all amused. That thing was really loud.
A couple of times it appeared on our back patio and if one of us went near the big glass doors or onto the patio, it took a real aggressive posture with its feathers and tail spread and hissed and shook its feathers. Sounded a lot like a rattlesnake. The dogs and the cat were terrified.
I believe the bird came to have a territorial dispute with the bagpipe our neighbors son was learning to play.
Frank
Frank....LOL...bagpipes and peafowl...lordy what a duet
I reminded my wife of the peacock, and she thinks I have it all wrong. That peacock was in love!!
Frank
LOL
chicken tractor. that's brilliant. people are so creative!
maybe you could build a chicken golf cart that fits between the rows of your veggie garden.