Bonnie Jo Manion

Chickens are gaining popularity quickly. Not only are chickens fun and educational, but they're also beneficial to you and your garden. When you free-range your flock, you gain helpful gardeners who aerate the soil, rid plants of insects, provide composting, and, best of all, supply food — their eggs!Here's how to gain insight on good and bad plants for a chicken garden, layer your garden for free-ranging chickens, and guard against chicken predators.

Okay, you’ve picked out the spot. You know where in your garden you want to situate your coop and outside pen. You’ve carefully assessed the size of a chicken flock that is best for you.Chicken coops have many variations. They can be permanent, mobile, new, repurposed, custom, and innovative. Chicken coops can be cheap — as in free — using wood pallets or recycled materials.

If you love your chickens and have enjoyed free-ranging them on your property, it’s only natural to think of having other farm animals. What joy to have fresh milk, fresh goat cheese, or farm-raised lamb!Chickens are low-maintenance, leave a small livestock footprint, and are adaptable to many different environments.

Slowing down your chickens from eating your plants in the garden is hard to do. Chickens love tender succulent greens. You can choose to grow these in your vegetable garden for yourself, and hand-feed them to your chickens, or plant them amongst your various chicken runs or zones for your chickens only to graze on.

Creating a free-ranging chicken run or zone works well in orchards. Chickens easily forage around the trees, and on fallen fruit in an orchard. Trees are considerably higher in height than chickens, so the fruit doesn’t come into contact with the chickens, making it safe for humans to eat. An orchard is defined as a piece of land intentionally planted with trees for food production.

Chickens can be trained. They have keen eyesight and are extremely motivated by their desire to eat. Training your chickens is key to effectively managing your chicken flock. By training your flock, you can have them come to you whenever you like, herd them along if necessary, and generally have them respond and behave for you as you wish.

If you’re planning to keep chickens, it's best to start with a small flock — start with at least three. Chickens like to be active, and they require space for foraging in your garden or yard. They prefer space to roam, rather than confinement, although sometimes they need to be confined.If you have more space, perhaps you want a larger flock.

If you allow your chickens to have free range to forage, be sure to acquaint yourself with the more common ornamentals and edibles that are mildly toxic or poisonous to chickens. You’ll find a variety of plants that fall into these categories.Always err on the side of caution; if you suspect a plant is poisonous to your chickens, rid it from your garden.

To convert a dog house with kennel into a chicken coop and outside pen, all you need is time, muscle power, a few additional construction materials, and your creativity. Many unique chicken coops have been built with a lot of imagination and a little of re-purposing and recycling materials. Of all the structures that may already exist in a garden, the most common is a dog kennel.