Spring is here and it's time to get the gardens prepared for planting and the pastures for reseeding. If you have a tiller or a tractor with a plow or tiller you are all set but what do you do if you do not? Animal power to the rescue!
Pigs and chickens have been used to till up garden areas for untold centuries. Both species live to tear up ground! They're both more sustainable, and cheaper, than a tractor or a tiller not to mention Usually quieter (lol).
I have used chickens and pigs to till up areas and they do an excellent job. Turn a chicken into a compost pile or a pile of old bedding and hay and they will break it down into usable compost in simply no time. Most of us have had the misfortune of having a chicken get into a newly planted or mulched flower bed. The level of destruction those little feet can do is amazing.
About four years ago I had a 20 x 40 foot area that I wish to plant corn in but I had no tiller and no tractor and it was too large to spade over by hand (for my taste at least). I turned one of my sows into it and within three days she had it turned over better than any plow possibly could. I simply raked out a few clumps of sod and rocks and was ready to start planting.
So how do you utilize the chickens and the pigs without a big expense? You can use any type of fencing that is solid enough to keep a pig contained. I prefer to use hog panels or a strand or two of electric fence. They don’t need much encouragement to start turning over the ground. It’s in their nature. Those noses are built for it! I toss some corn out on the ground morning and night and let them go to it. It does help if the ground is damp and this time of year is perfect for tilling via piggy.
Much the same can be said of chickens. If you put them in a small area and toss a little bit of scratch grain on the ground that is all the encouragement they need. They go straight to scratching.
My chickens love to get into the buck lot where the waste hay is on the ground from the winter feeding. They scratch and tossed it about looking for bugs and dropped feed. They are saving me time, effort and money in their work. As they scratch and dig they break down the hay into usable material, they fertilizer and till the area PLUS feed themselves on dropped grain, seeds and bugs. All the while giving me delicious eggs. Win, win! In no time they can break all this waste down and prepare it for reseeding.
Every spring when I move the pigs off their winter lots I reseed the area. Here I typically plant turnips, rape, sunflowers, and pumpkins. Tossing in a little clover seed too. All of this provides food for late fall and into the winter feeding for the pigs and chickens which in turn help fill the freezer.
So don’t fret if you don’t have a tiller or a tractor. You don’t have to break your back to prepare your garden area for planting. Put a few chickens out there. Add in a pig and your garden will be ready for plants in no time.
Until next time, Enjoy the sun, Enjoy the fresh air, Enjoy the life you’ve made.