Tomáš Trejbal: 9 reasons to keep chickens

1. Eggs

They are probably the biggest motivation for raising chickens own home-grown eggs. They are clearly tastier and more nutritionally valuable than standard ones. Even compared to those from the farmer’s market, organic or directly from the breeder, you have the advantage of knowing exactly what you fed the hens.

If eggs are your main and biggest motivation, choose a breed that has a good clutch. Of the purebreds, I recommend Leghorns, which lay approximately three hundred white eggs per year, Rhode Islanders, Plymouths or Australians.

2. Eyes

Who won’t be offended, another motivation for owning hens or chickens is meat. Chicken broth is rich in amino acids and minerals and has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects. Homemade chicken meat is beautifully tender, juicy and full of flavor. Due to the fact that rooster meat is older and has more developed muscles, it has a more pronounced taste.

Of the purebreds, Plymouths, Sussexes and Australians have a good combination of performance, i.e. a decent litter and excellent meat.

If you were to put meat efficiency above eggs, I definitely recommend Bresse Gauloise, which has been bred in France for centuries for the best meat. An alternative can be the La Fleche breed, which has been competing with the Bresse Gauloise for years.

3. Decomposition of organic material

It is true that no organic material should be removed from the natural garden (the only exception is plant parts infected with diseases). You can first offer the materials that would normally be composted to the hens. The hens will take the nutrients for themselves from the organic materials and thereby support their health, taste and quality of eggs and meat.

In gardens where a lot of organic matter is naturally produced (including grass from the lawnmower and leaves), it can also be a great advantage that the hen significantly reduces the volume of waste. Times have changed and I certainly wouldn’t give the hens classic kitchen scraps.

4. Manure and fertilizer

Chickens are the best “producers” of natural fertilizer. Even the most expensive organic fertilizers can be fully replaced in the garden with chicken manure. In addition to nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium – essential nutrients that plants need to grow and flower, chicken droppings are also rich in calcium and magnesium for healthy fruit vegetables.

Jícha from the chicken coops

1 part chicken droppings
10 parts water (preferably rain water)
plastic or enamel container (barrel or bucket) stirring sticks
strainer (I use an old pasta strainer)

1. Put chicken droppings in a bucket or barrel and cover it with (ideally) rainwater. Take the ratio as approximate, I put a shovelful of dung and water about ten times more.
2. Stir the mixture and cover loosely with a lid or a piece of cloth. You don’t want weed seeds or animals to get into your container, but you do need the mixture to breathe.
3. Let the mixture ferment for two to four weeks. Fermentation time will vary depending on outside temperature. During fermentation, stir the contents of the container every two to three days to speed up the fermentation process. Place the container in a sunny and warm place away from the places where you stay. The container smells intensely during fermentation.
4. You can tell the end of fermentation by the fact that bubbles stop forming on the yeast.

You can consume the fermented broth gradually. You should use it all up within a few weeks. You will therefore do it several times during the growing season. You can increase the shelf life of the plant by moving it to the shade or cool place.

Yarrow is a concentrated fertilizer that needs to be diluted at a ratio of 1:10. For young or sensitive plants, you can use an even weaker concentration of 1:20. Use gloves when handling Yarrow. Chicken droppings can contain pathogens that are not destroyed by fermentation. Drain it before pouring it into a watering can or bucket, the remaining material can be composted.

5. Elimination of pests

Chickens are great hunters for overwintering insects thanks to their digging. As soon as you release them into the garden, they will start looking for and eating various bugs, larvae, but also snail eggs. When hens move around the garden and dig in the ground, they are looking for insects and their larvae, including ticks, or autumn caterpillars. The symbiosis with the chickens in the vegetable beds is great.

From autumn to spring, you can let the chickens dig through the beds. These will rid you of the larvae of the leafhoppers, wireworms, overwintering whiteflies, whiteflies and others.
The symbiosis of hens under fruit trees and bushes works in a similar way. Insect pests hibernate in the grass under the trees, which damage the trees during the growing season.

Release the hens in the orchard to get rid of the cherry weevil (Rhagoletis cerasi), the apple wrapper (Cydia pomonella), the nut weevil (Rhagoletis completa), the hazel weevil (Curculio nucum), the autumn weevil (Operophtera brumata) or the pear borer (Cacopsylla pyri).

6. Weeding

Hens are known for digging green matter down to brown ground where you leave them for a while. If you don’t want to have bare spots in the garden, the chicken run needs to be well sized or moved regularly. But you can also take advantage of this feature. Fence off the area where you want to start a new bed or where you are having trouble getting rid of weeds. When weeding, the hen will fertilize your soil at the same time and make it flourish.

7. Swelling

Even if you don’t want to get rid of pests or weeds, you can use chickens to loosen the soil in empty beds. Heavier and more dexterous breeds are able to loosen the soil deeply with their claws and can cultivate a large area in a day. Choose Brahmins, Jersey Giants, or Mechelen Women for effective cultivation.

8. Raising children to be responsible

Our children reached the exact age when they started asking for a rabbit or a guinea pig. We agreed that the first pet would be chickens, which they would have the opportunity to take care of and socialize. So far, a month after the acquisition, the enthusiasm is permanent and all three go to the hens several times a day – to pet them, but also to feed them and clean the chicken coop.

I take it as the risk that they will stop enjoying it is great, but the animals that I myself want and will use in the garden will remain my concern and for pleasure. In addition to care and the fact that the animal must not be forgotten, the chickens teach the children the transience of life (one of our chicks died), that meat is not a plastic bowl wrapped in a store and much more.

9. Connecting between generations

For me, chickens are not only something that I want to pass on to my children, but also a legacy from my grandfathers, who both had chickens, and a link to my dad, who still has a flock today and runs a pure show line. My dad and I have the garden and things around it as a deep topic of communication and it helps us to have a better relationship. Just as there are old varieties of fruits or vegetables, so are old breeds of chickens. Some were threatened with extinction, and thanks to a few enthusiasts, the pure bloodline manages to keep up to this day.

A strong legacy within the Czech Republic can be the breeding of Šumavanek and Zlatý české kropenka, our national breeds. Ornamental breeds can also be valuable for their appearance and addition to the garden. Some breeds of chickens are cuddly and can be raised to the level of a pet.

About the author

The road from the city led Tomáš Trejbal to the nature garden. He builds his, beautiful and sustainable, with great passion. www.chciprirodnizahradu.cz

Source: Receptář magazine