Chickens & Their Besties

It’s no secret that DIVERSIFIED farming is the best farming.

The more diverse your farm, the more resistance to any trauma there is because each element can protect one another.

Today I’d like to discuss a chicken’s best friends, and some of the animals or landscapes your chickens should probably avoid.

Starting with who/what you should definitely keep your chickens around…

Chickens’ BESTIES:

Cattle, sheep, meat goats, & horses. Chickens are great at picking through these animals’ manure and utilizing the nutrients from it. They also help decrease fly and other parasites on the land that can be found in the manure by eating the larvae. For horses, chickens can help them spook less.

Orchards & pastures. With these types of environments, chickens get to get in their exercise, follow their natural instinct to forage, & breathe in fresh air and sunlight. All the while, they eliminate bugs, repurpose unusable plant material and fallings, and fertilize!

Chickens’ “Just friends”:

Turkeys. Chickens can become immune to certain diseases by hanging around turkeys, but also can get more susceptible to other diseases. Kind of a roll of the dice.

Gardens & forests. Chickens do wonders for fertilization in both areas. They also have the opportunity to get exercise, breathe fresh air, and receive sunlight. But, they can cause damage to plants if not monitored and can also attract predators.

Chickens’ “No, Thank You’s”:

Dairy goats & pigs. Dairy goats tend to eat the chickens’ food. & Pigs and chickens can easily spread disease to each other, especially avian tuberculosis.

Wetlands. Damp environments in general are unhealthy, and can be a host of parasites and other bugs that are harmful to chickens.

Alrighty! These seem to be the big ones. Hope this brought you some guidance and general information for how to best raise your chickens in a diversified landscape.

Remember, just because chickens don’t mesh well with some of these animals does not mean you can’t have both! Just keep them separate and always pay close attention to any health signs.

In Soil We trust,

Tiffany