   Gardening with Backyard Poultry - December 16, 2020 Jeff Schalau, Agent, Agriculture & Natural Resources University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Yavapai County Many gardeners live in rural areas with space (and zoning) that can support small poultry flocks. Poultry can benefit gardeners in several ways: 1) food from eggs and/or meat; 2) weed control; 3) insect/snail/slug control; and 4) nutrient-rich manure that can be composted or used as a soil amendment/fertilizer. Beside these benefits, home food production is fun, educational, and rewarding. For gardening and manure production, a small flock of chickens is ideal. Manure can be collected inside the pen and the night roosting area (chicken house). Free ranging chickens also fertilize the area, but it’s difficult to collect the manure (except on the bottoms of your shoes). Chicken manure contains a good balance of essential plant nutrients. On average, it will have about 1-2% nitrogen, 1-2% phosphorus, and 1% potassium. If chicken manure is directly incorporated into soil, planting should be delayed for several months (120 days) to mitigate foodborne illness risks. If composted, the nitrogen in the manure will enhance biological activity and consequent breakdown of other materials. I highly recommend the composting alternative. An egg-producing chicken flock should be replaced every three or so years to maintain production levels. Buy chicks from reputable sources. Local feed stores usually get chicks in early spring. However, catalogs ship day-old chicks via air mail through summer and into fall. Some suppliers will determine sex of the chicks (with about 95% or greater reliability) which generally costs a little more. Chicks purchased from feed stores are usually “general run” having a mix of males and females. By the way, you do not need a rooster to produce eggs. In fact, the absence of roosters may be greatly appreciated by your neighbors. Young chicks need lots of care during the first few weeks and you should be prepared for them when they arrive. Reputable suppliers will provide feeding and care instructions. The smaller the hen, the more efficient her egg production which also lowers your feed cost per dozen eggs. Leghorns and sex-link crosses have been developed for egg production and disease resistance. Most pullets come into egg production at 20 to 24 weeks or age. You can expect about get a dozen eggs from four to five pounds of feed consumed. My wife and I are on our fourth flock of chickens and preparing to order a replacement flock this spring. Breeds we prefer for egg production include Americanas, Barred Rocks, and Rhode Island Reds (we’ve tried many others). We use pine shavings or shredded paper as bedding inside the chicken house and compost this with our other garden and household waste. We also rake out the pen and compost the manure we collect. Our chickens free-range about half the time in our fenced yard and are shut in each night to protect them from predators. The coop has a small run which is completely caged-in (including above). Our vegetable garden is fenced to exclude the chickens, but they have access to the entire garden perimeter. The garden is within a larger fenced yard and they have free access to our compost pile (the chickens do most of the compost turning for me). I like to think this arrangement helps control insects and weeds. The free-ranging also makes them vulnerable to predators such as hawks and bobcats. Turkeys are great for meat production and are usually processed when they are 20-30 weeks old. Young turkeys need a little additional coaxing to get them to eat and drink. Guinea fowl are considered superior to chickens for garden insect control but are also elusive and can fly. Ducks and geese are easy to raise and grow very fast. By the time they are 5 or 6 weeks old, they will eat lots of fresh green grass if it is available. Swimming water is not necessary, but fresh drinking water must always be available for any poultry species. Now is a good time to start building facilities and preparing for a new backyard flock in the spring. For more details about poultry care, feeding, space requirements, facilities, there are many great books and web resources available. Also, before starting a flock, you should have a look into local zoning ordinances and homeowner’s association rules to determine whether your community allows backyard poultry. Additional resources are included below. You can follow the Backyard Gardener on Twitter – use the link on the BYG website. If you have other gardening questions, email the Master Gardener Help Desk in Prescott (prescottmg@gmail.com) or Camp Verde (verdevalleymg@gmail.com) and be sure to include your name, location, and phone number. Find past Backyard Gardener columns or provide feedback at the Backyard Gardener web site: https://cals.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/. Images 
Chicken coop and enclosed yard where food and water are provided. The yard has poultry wire completely enclosing it to exclude predators (photo by Jeff Schalau, University of Arizona).
Poultry waterer is on a heated base which prevents freezing during winter months (photo by Jeff Schalau, University of Arizona).
Nest boxes can be accessed from outside the coop which saves interior space and makes for an easy-to-clean interior (photo by Jeff Schalau, University of Arizona).
Backyard poutry flocks enjoy fresh garden produce and kitchen scraps which are accessable in the compost pile. This provides them with a diverse and nutritious diet. They also assist in turning the compost (photo by Jeff Schalau, University of Arizona).Additional Resources Small and Backyard Poultry Resources, eXtension poultry.extension.org/ Establishing a Backyard Poultry Flock, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach www.extension.iastate.edu/smallfarms/establishing-backyard-poultry-flock Backyard Poultry Resources, University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources ucanr.edu/sites/poultry/Resources_335/Production/type/backyard/ Poultry, University of Maine Cooperative Extension extension.umaine.edu/livestock/poultry/  |