How to Keep Chickens for Pest Control
Though chickens are usually raised for their fresh eggs, chickens are also highly effective at bug and slug control. In the May/June 2009 issue of "Grit Magazine," Pam Maynard calls chickens and poultry "the ultimate low-cost, chemical-free approach" to pest control. Chickens are not picky, and will eat bugs in all three stages: adult, larval and egg. Keeping chickens for pest control is simply a matter of providing them with food, shelter and room to roam.
- Difficulty:
- Moderate
Instructions
Things You'll Need
- Chicken coop
- Chicken feed
- Cage or box
- 100 watt light bulb
- Pine shavings
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Raising Chickens
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1
Purchase chicks at a local feed store (usually available in spring), hatch your own with a homemade chicken incubator or search online for chicken suppliers.
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2
Keep your chicks in a small cage or sturdy cardboard box lined with pine shavings for the first 60 days or so.
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3
Provide them with starter food and water. Keep a 100 watt light bulb in one corner, keeping them at 90 to 100 degrees F the first week, and decreasing about five degrees in each subsequent week.
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4
Transfer the chickens to a chicken coop after the first 60 days. Make sure that each chicken has approximately two to three square feet inside the coop and four to five square feet in an outdoor pen.
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5
Make sure the chicken coop is secure from local predators.
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6
Provide pine shavings or hay inside of the coop, as well as regular food and water.
Using Chickens for Pest Control
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1
Let the chickens loose in your garden (or other areas you need pest control) in the springtime when bugs are becoming active.
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2
Perform "controlled" pest control by putting the chickens in a portable cage that allows them to scratch through the dirt wherever the cage is placed.
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3
Let the chickens loose in the autumn after all harvesting is done so they will clean up the soil for the following spring.
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