By Jonathan O.C. Kubesch1,2, Derek Hilfiker 1,2, Frank Reith 1,2, Dillon Golding 1,3 , Joe House4, Jenna Beville1, Peter Arnold1,5, and Forrest Brown1
- Virginia Tech School of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Blacksburg, VA
- Country Home Farms, Pembroke, VA
- Hoot Owl Hollow Farm, Woodlawn, VA
- Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
- Arnold Classic Farms, Chestertown, MD
The vast majority of Kentucky’s population is not directly involved with livestock. However, backyard chickens have become a popular trend in recent years. Many people are raising chickens both for their fresh eggs and as pets. Some households even dabble in turkeys and ducks. While these birds can be a fun and rewarding addition to any backyard, there is some debate about whether or not they harm native plants and landscaping. In this article, we discuss both sides of the argument to determine whether backyard chickens help or harm native plants. Potential solutions and management ideas will also be presented in this article to balance your interest in native plants as well as backyard poultry.
Benefits of Backyard Poultry for Native Plants
There are several ways that you and your native plants can benefit from raising backyard poultry. In this section, we’ll review a few.
Pest control
One of the primary benefits of backyard chickens and other poultry is that they can help control pests. Chickens love to eat insects and other small animals that can be harmful to native plants. A few examples of this are chickens searching and eating beetle grubs such as June beetles (Cotinis nitida), common black ants (Lasius niger), and brown marmorated stink bugs (Halyomorpha halys). Removing these insects can be beneficial to desired plants. By reducing the number of pests in your backyard, your plants are more likely to thrive and grow.
Free organic fertilizer
Another benefit of backyard chickens is that they can provide a source of natural fertilizer. Manure is composed of ammonium, which is a volatile form of nitrogen, and organic N, which is stable but not immediately available. Poultry manure has one considerable advantage: it does not require commercial production and is a by-product of livestock production. Chicken manure is high in nitrogen, which is essential for healthy plant growth. By adding chicken manure to your garden, you can improve the soil quality and increase the nutrient content of your plants. This can help native plants grow stronger and healthier, making them more resistant to pests and diseases.
Poultry manure is a valuable resource that is often undervalued and subsequently misused in gardens and on farms. Fresh poultry manure typically contains 1.3% nitrogen (N), of which 55% is available for crop uptake (Zublena et. al 1996). Poultry manure also contains between 1.1-1.3% P2O5 (phosphate) and 0.5-0.8% K2O (potash). When using recommended poultry stocking rates, an average of 19 lbs N/ac, 31 lbs P2O5/ac, and 16 lbs K2O/ac are defecated in poultry manure monthly. If you were to assume a 40-lb bag of 13-13-13, a commonly used home fertilizer, costs $20, then accounting for the nitrogen contribution of poultry manures saves you $73 per acre each month on fertilizer. Scaled to your backyard, this might translate to $33 of nitrogen savings.
Of course, the nutrients from the manure need to be utilized, otherwise the full economic benefits will not be realized. Native plants are often slower to use nitrogen compared to introduced species, and so limited applications of poultry manure are preferable to larger deposits. To best utilize the manure nutrients, consider rotating poultry through garden or lawn areas, which will help nourish plant growth without the need for synthetic fertilizers. Backyard gardeners might prioritize getting their bird manure into vegetable gardens, then cool-season lawns, and finally into native plantings. Synthetic fertilizers are incapable of adding carbon to the soil as they do not contain carbon. When considering the immediate savings on fertilizer and the long-term increase in soil carbon, having poultry provides many other benefits beyond the meat and eggs produced.
Nitrogen cycling in mineral soils is a complex process with several pathways: plant uptake, soil-bound, aqueous losses via leaching, gaseous losses via denitrification, nitrification, and urea hydrolysis (Figure 1). Although manure and urea forms of nitrogen result in gaseous losses, utilizing litter as a part of a fertility regimen is a beneficial use of a by-product of livestock production. Additionally, using a mobile coop may be advantageous compared to stationary chicken coops, which often result in exposed soil. Exposed soil presents an issue when considering the advantages of poultry litter fertilization. When there is a lack of plant cover to protect the soil, there is additionally a lack of plant matter to incorporate nitrogen from poultry litter.
Improved soil organic matter
Poultry manures also provide valuable carbon (C) to the soil, something that inorganic fertilizers cannot do. Coops and runs full of wood shavings, sawdust, or other carbon sources can bind up the nitrogen in poultry manure and produce a more stable compost. Poultry manure can be a more stable form of fertilizer for native plants as the bedding material immobilizes nitrogen and then gradually releases the nitrogen back into the rhizosphere.
Plant roots can then uptake this nitrogen. This carbon is cycled by soil microbes into soil organic matter, which helps soil hold more water and provide more nutrients to plants, among many other benefits. While it is difficult to place a monetary value on the carbon additions of poultry manure, repeated applications will build up soil organic matter, saving you money in the long run from the countless benefits seen from increased organic matter. It should be noted that shavings are an additional cost to consider. This organic matter can also serve as an enriched mulch around native plant beds that can suppress weed seedlings.
Health and safety considerations
The direct application of fresh manure can also be detrimental to plants and their fruits. High levels of nitrogen, in the forms of urea and ammonia, and salts are often toxic to common vegetables and fruits. A direct application may quickly kill many desirable species. Conversely, manure with shavings will increase the amount of carbon present, which will immobilize nitrogen, making it less available to plants (Mahr, 2012). Bacteria harmful to humans such as E. Coli are often present in manure as well.
Composting recommendations vary, but it is generally accepted that poultry litter should be aged for 3-5 months and have reached a temperature of 140-160 degrees Fahrenheit. The USDA recommends waiting 120 days before eating crops fertilized with manure (Swanson, 2016).
Native plants for the backyard flock
Certain native plants can tolerate disturbance and high soil fertility, such as the rare previously federally-listed running buffalo clover (Trifolium stoloniferum). In another case, wild onions (Allium canadense) tend to grow rapidly, exhibit good health, and have increased numbers after a period of poultry foraging (F. Reith, personal observation). Across eastern North America, some native plants can even require regular disturbance to remain useful to wildlife (Table 1) (Kubesch et al., 2022; Brooke & Harper, 2018).
| Common name | Scientific name |
| Big bluestem | Andropogon gerardii |
| Little bluestem | Schizachyrium scoparium |
| Indiangrass | Sorghastrum nutans |
| Black-eyed Susan | Rudbeckia hirta |
| Maximilian sunflower | Helianthus maximiliani |
| Annual gaillardia | Gaillardia pulchella |
| Running buffalo clover** | Trifolium stoloniferum |
| Wild Onion | Allium canadense |
*Based on ongoing research at Virginia Tech as part of Bee-Friendly Beef; Kubesch, 2018.
**Running buffalo clover will be commercially available in 2027 in Kentucky. The authors anticipate that commercial availability will allow this species to serve as an alternate turf.
It is important to have woody plants that can benefit poultry year-round and cater to their needs. These species should provide shelter, protection, and serve as a food source. A variety of trees and shrubs can create layered diversity even across a “thin” woodland or a mixed range. Picture this as a layered forest garden for your flock.
Amongst the native species, there are a few that stand out and will serve your birds well:
- Mulberry (Morus spp.) is a native deciduous tree that most landowners probably already have on their property. It produces sweet berries that are loved by poultry and it can tolerate a wide range of soils and is easy to grow.
- Another great woody plant is serviceberry. Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea) is another native deciduous shrub that can tolerate poultry well. It produces clusters of white flowers in the spring followed by blue to black berries in the summer.
- Elderberry (Sambucus spp.) is a small tree that you might already have due to its preference for rich soils. This tree would do well downslope in a backyard. It provides shade and serves as an additional food source.
- A tree that also might be found downslope is the dogwood (Cornus spp.) as it too thrives in rich, fertile soil. It will provide your flock with late season fruit to further diversify their diet.
- Another great tree, especially for the winter months, is the crabapple. Crabapple (Malus spp.) has a tendency to hold onto its fruit until late fall/early winter and gradually drop off.
- Further recommendations for shelter include eastern red cedars (Juniperus virginiana) and Willows (Salix spp.). Additional woody plant suggestions include various bramble fruits that are easily accessible to your birds. These include, but are not limited to blackberries, raspberries, and dewberries (Rubus spp).
Poultry can also be used to convert lawns into native plantings by destroying the existing vegetation (Arnold et al., 2022). This process is often unintentionally done when people first get into backyard chickens or poultry; however, it can be beneficial. Birds will forage and scratch through existing vegetation repeatedly when looking for food. Poultry preferentially eat broadleaf plants over grassy ones which can help to control the succulent broadleaf weeds around native plants. Furthermore, the continuous presence and addition of manure will also suppress and kill plants.
These actions combined will rapidly convert land to mud, dust, and manure when there is a large and stationary population. Poultry will not disturb more than the first 2-3 inches of soil generally, but nonetheless are an efficient form of “tillage” (Lee & Foreman, 2011). Such shallow tillage might be ideal for native plant seeding as it creates a fertile and loose seed bed. This scratching will likely be insufficient to plug plants. Controlled long-term presence of poultry may therefore allow for a natural, low cost, and easy form of native seed bed preparation.
Continue reading Considerations for backyard poultry and native plants
