Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[Flossieflipflop]

I've had my chickens for just over a week. We have a cube and the largest Omlet WIR. I'd love to let them roam free in our garden but have a lot of foxes and badgers in the area.

We have plans to get electric fencing soon and fence off the orchard alongside the coop and run but I wondered if an orchard might not be the best place - would the chickens just pig out on the windfall apples?

[Cat tails]

I have a pear tree in my garden and the chickens will have a go at the first few that fall, but I think at one point get fed up with pear too... They haven't bothered with them most of the season and left them to rot for the butterflies.

[Olly]

I don't have an orchard, but I do have four apple trees in my garden. It's never been a problem, they will peck at a windfall and sometimes I throw one into their run that's been partly pecked but mostly they seem to prefer searching for bugs and scratching around. They certainly don't clear them all up.

[Flossieflipflop]

Oh thanks for that, you guys. I was worried that they'd fill up on apples and not eat their pellets. I'd love them to have this area though - much more interesting for them than being confined to a run.

[gavclojak]

The largest WIR....an orchard.... #welljel

[Cat tails]

I would definitely keep them in my orchard... If only I had one!!

 

And they provide your trees with manure for free!

[mullethunter]

My mums are in an orchard with Apple and plum trees. They ate as many as they wanted and suffered no ill effects.

[Luvachicken]

The largest WIR....an orchard.... #welljel

 

Me too

[Beantree]

We kept hens in an Orchard for years. Only major problem was eating damsons whole and impacting on the stones. We had two got 'drunk' on fallen pears, which was quite amusing at the time. Generally they left all fallen fruit (except cherries) and just grubbed around.

[Valkyrie]

Perfect habitat isn't it?

[Daphne]

The only snag I had when letting the birds FR was that the cockeral would jump up and take pecks out of the lowest apples as they grew (they were on dwarfing rootstock) which meant the hens would copy him and being big LF orps they could reach. They didn't eat so much they didn't eat their pellets but they did ruin the apples for human consumption The orpingtons also found windfall plums to be the best food around so they did eat every one they found on the ground, I think they liked the soft texture. It got so bad that I did try to clear some of them up as I was slightly worried about too much acid/fermentation/eating a unsuspecting wasp and getting stung

 

The other thing is that you need keep an eye on the long grass, unless its a mown orchard. Chooks shouldn't eat long grass as it can get compacted leading to sour crop. Generally speaking they will go for shorter grass and grass seedheads, but in pulling at the seedhead sometimes more grass than anticipated disappears down the gullet as well. I know this sounds like I'm being the voice of doom, but its just as well to be prepared. My own garden has half a dozen fruit trees so I can't call it an orchard, but the whole plot is rather ahem 'natural' which is code for having lots of long grasses and other gardening untidinesses Having said all that - I wouldn't dream of not letting them FR

[Mars]

Generally chickens are beneficial for orchards. they keep weeds, grass and insects under control. and they provide some manure, and when they die you bury them under a tree.

The only real thing to mind for young trees and dwarf rootstocks is not to put organic matter close to the trunk, hens will dig any organic matter looking for insects and worms or for dustbathing. if that happens you need to protect around the trees with stones or plastic mesh or something similar

[Chortle Chook]

I'm so envious what a dream - an orchard and a large WIR!!

 

I have 2 dwarf apple trees a pear tree, a greengage tree and a plum tree squashed into an end of terrace garden. My chooks love the soft fruit (greengages and plums) and don't seem troubled by any wasps, but are dead lazy when it comes to apples and pears. They start off with good intentions, swinging from any low hanging fruit, but quickly find that they prefer my apple cores to doing the work themselves. The only problem I have is that sometimes they eat too many green / un-ripe fruit at the start of the season which makes them very loose. I now do my best to remove these when I see them.