I doubt the chickens made a great difference in soil structure within six months so i suggest adding compost and double digging or tilling it in. While fertility might be too high in top 2 inches for seed,blending top 6 inches will handle that. If soil isn't compacted,transplants will do fine as is.

I tend to agree with the above. How many chickens we talking in that 5x12 space?

You do want some time for the last of the chicken poop to decompose and let harmful bacteria fade away, so regardless of how much they pooped, it would be good to move them out a month or three before planting.

I have 9 chickens. I read that each produce about 1 sq' of manure every 6 months. Nine sq' would be almost 2" of manure spread evenly throughout the bed. I've added probably about 8 garbage bags of leaves and pine straw (and even some shredded paper), over time which seems to have been worked in and composted down pretty good.

Yeah, having had chickens before I know what they are capable of producing! I suspect they've done a nice job for you.

If it were me, I'd get them off of there pronto since you don't want to have fresh manure in a food bed. Then I'd get all that good stuff dug in and let it all sit for a couple months. Around here we get enough rain (3-5 inches a month) that freshly dug in compost gets well integrated into the soil in a short time.

Personally, I think that was a pretty clever idea to let your chickens do the heavy lifting for you over the winter! And I'm jealous of your fresh egg omelets...

The worms are going to have a feast when it warms up enough for them to get going.

Its funny that you mentioned worms. I was just wondering about worms. I assume that a healthy worm population would help break down the chicken manure quicker. I do not know how many I have in there. I guess I will find out when I move the pen and investigate.

Thanks.

Here is my set up. It looks a little redneck - I am in Mississippi after all. lol

I have two identical beds, so I can just move the chickens from one to another.

The only thing I did not think through when I built it is how long I would have to let a bed sit, after moving the chickens, before I planted.

and the girls wanted to say hello

Cool setup. Well you can always make more beds if you have to. :-]

We'll be over for omelets. How's tomorrow look? You got some of that coffee with chicory in it?

Oh honey, don't you know? You can put a nice little white picket fence around just about anything and it will wash the redneck right out!! Love it, what a great set up.

As for the timing thing, the Organic Standards say 1 month after the application of fresh manure to harvest crops that are not on the ground and 3 months after application for crops in/on the ground. So, a little crop placement planning with your warmer thing like tomatoes in the chicken bed and use your other bed for the cooler season crops that will go in a little earlier or be harvested earlier. You're good to go!

I'll bring the coffee, Toxcrusadr you can bring the chicory.

;-D

I wanted to do something similar (chicken tractor), but I found my cholesterol was running high and I have to limit my eggs and other things :( .
I guess I could sell the eggs! Nancy

Hey, no joke, ya'll come on down. Bay St. Louis is a great vacation spot. We are right on the water of the Mississippi Gulf Coast with a beautiful new marina. We have an active artist community with shops, galleries, antiques, etc. Some great restaurants and more. No, I do not work for the tourism department or chamber of commerce. lol I'm just a local pastor who believes this is a great place to live, work, play, worship, and visit.

Anyone from GardenWeb, if you stop by, I'd be glad to make you an omelet. I have a big screened in porch, with an outdoor kitchen, overlooking the garden. The coffee is always on. :)

Nancy, not to get too off-topic, but chickens you raise yourself on good feed and allowed to eat bugs etc produce eggs with the "good cholesterol" instead of the "bad cholesterol." I learned not to assume that and egg is an egg is an egg. Yard raised chickens and industry raised chickens produce vastly different nutritional content in their eggs. The comparison is really amazing.

Folks on this forum can probably attest to the big difference in vegetables raised at home in good soil compared to industry grown chemical fertilizer, GMO, pesticide drenched vegetables. Its like that.

Thanks for the invite Elbourne! I love LA, been there a few times but mostly to New Orleans. Your spot sounds wonderful.

I have high cholesterol but I take Simvastatin so I can have an egg when I want one. BTW (chemist pet peeve here) "cholesterol" is a single chemical compound, which is different from high or low density lipoproteins (HDL and LDL) which are also measured in blood tests. I even hear people in the medical field refer to good and bad cholesterol, and I hate it when they do that. ;-] I do agree with nancyjane's point that farm eggs can be quite healthy - i.e. lower in cholesterol - but I frankly do not know anything about the fat content (saturated vs. unsaturated) which together with cholesterol affects LDL/HDL balance. I get farm eggs from someone at work, I have several per week, and they are so good that, well, to heck with cholesterol!

I was absolutely furious when I was told I had 'high cholesterol'. I just couldn't believe it. I am not overweight, take loads of exercise, don't smoke, barely drink, and fill my face with more fruit and veg than you can shake a stick at. It's not fair .....

I am choosing to follow the British Heart Foundation advice and now often eat an egg when I would previously have eaten a chop or such like.

"For most people, the amount of saturated fat they eat has much more of an impact on their cholesterol than eating foods that contain cholesterol, like eggs, liver, kidneys and shellfish. Unless you have been told otherwise by your doctor or dietician, if you like eggs, they can be included as part of a balanced and varied diet."

We'll see what the blood test says in a few months.

shhhhhh, don't anyone tell tox but while we are in Ms having eggs and coffee tox will be wandering around the La coast searching for Bay St Louis.

Chickens that get outside, eat off the land and exercise produce eggs with:
1/3 less cholesterol
1/4 less saturated fat
2/3 more vitamin A
4 to 6 times the vitamin D
2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
3 times more vitamin E
7 times more beta carotene.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mother Earth News

klem, in Tox's defense, we are less than 10 minutes from the Louisiana state line and only about 45 minutes from the New Orleans French Quarter, where it is hard to find coffee without chicory in it. I prefer without chicory, but that's just me. Community Dark Roast Coffee of Baton Rouge LA fills my pot every morning.

Here is a link that might be useful: Community Coffee