Integrating Horses and Chickens is a common practice among farm owners, and it’s no coincidence. Chickens are entertaining, low-maintenance, and full of personality. Beyond their charm, there are several benefits to having chickens on a horse farm. However, as with any co-mingling of animal species, there are also challenges to consider.
In this article we cover these challenges, how to overcome them, the many pros of chicken ownership on the horse farm, and tips for horse owners wanting to become newbie chicken owners too!
The Challenges of Co-Mingling Horses and Chickens
Horses and chickens can co-mingle successfully with a number of benefits. However, there are still a few challenges that you should be aware of when owning both types of animals in such close proximity. Chickens are natural scratchers and will spend their entire day foraging and pecking around your farm. So, if they have access to things like your horses’ hay, this could be problematic. Chickens can damage stacked bales if they get on top or inside them. They may also tear open unattended horse grain bags. Even the mulch in your garden isn’t safe from their scratching and foraging. Luckily, there are ways to prevent this.
Place the chicken coop further from the barn or near an area where you want them to scratch. Keep grain in sealed containers. Store hay where chickens can’t reach it. This helps if you want them in the barn for other benefits we’ll discuss later. Remember, chickens can jump onto things and climb into hay stalls that way.
Feed contamination from chicken droppings is also a potential concern. Bacteria is naturally found in every animal’s droppings, including chickens. But if the bird is healthy and getting high-quality feed, it reduces this issue. If the horse’s food and hay are stored safely and kept away from the chickens, contamination is almost completely avoided. You can also build a run for your chickens. This keeps them contained instead of letting them roam freely.
If chickens are foraging near the barn, them eating horse feed isn’t a big concern. It’s less of an issue compared to horses eating chicken feed. Chickens have a broader nutrient tolerance and sturdier gut health. If a chicken pecks at some horse feed scraps, it’s usually fine. The bigger risk is horses eating chicken feed or food contaminated by chicken droppings.
The Benefits of Co-mingling Horses and Chickens on the Farm
Fortunately, there are many more benefits than challenges to owning chickens and having them around your horse farm.
Chickens are great for bio-recycling, which means less waste and cleanup around the farm. As mentioned before, chickens do a great job of cleaning up the pieces of grain dropped in the aisleway after feeding time. This could also be dually beneficial to give rodents less of a reason to hang around the barn.
While a chicken’s main source of nutrition should come from a high-quality feed, they can also be fed scraps from the house, too. They can have things like scratch grains and other kitchen scraps—most things that humans can eat chickens can eat.
Every animal (and human) loves carbohydrates, especially chickens. So, just keep in mind that they’ll overeat those scraps and they’ll under eat their chicken feed if given the chance. Limit those treats and kitchen scraps to about 10 to 15 percent of their total feed intake.
Chickens also act as natural bomb proofers for horses—and who doesn’t love a little extra bombproofing? Depending on the breed of chicken, whenever they are frightened or they feel like they need to take cover quickly, they will flush. That means they might jump, run, or flap their wings quickly. Especially when trail riding, you will likely come across an animal that will flush or move quickly in the woods. So, if the horses are used to chickens running around doing all sorts of “spooky” things, then they might just be less likely to spook on the trail or at other things when you take them off property.
Fly and bug control is probably one of the biggest benefits of horses and chicken co-mingling. Bugs, especially flies, are a constant problem in the summer for horse owners, despite their best efforts. This is where the chickens natural scratching and pecking behavior comes in handy. When a horse drops its manure, a fly will lay its eggs, and then the larvae will develop inside the manure. Chickens will scratch and peck around the manure of all animals, including horses. They’ll spread the manure out, and then if any fly larvae do start to develop, chickens will eat the fly larvae. This helps with overall fly and bug population control.
If you also have a garden or flower bed on your farm, many people will churn the dirt over in the spring and they’ll let their chickens loose in the garden to help with the bug and weed seed control in the dirt. As mentioned above, chickens are also great at spreading manure. If you are spreading your horse manure instead of having it picked up, chickens can really help with this process. They scratch around and spread manure more evenly. They work the material into the ground better than farm equipment. Flies are attracted to the manure’s smell. The chickens go after those bugs right away. This also helps with bug control.
For those feeding hay or round bales in the pastures and paddocks, chickens are also great for weed seed reduction. Depending on the quality of hay you’re feeding, there will be a small to moderate number of weeds in that hay. This means the weeds that the horses might pick around will end up on the ground, causing more weeds in your pasture than you would like. Fortunately, chickens are great for scratching around, turning the soil over, and eating a lot of those weed seeds. Typically, this will then help reduce the number of weeds that come up next year and help with pasture maintenance overall.
Tips for Horse Owners Who Want to Become Chicken Owners Too
Once you’ve decided to hop on the chicken-ownership bandwagon, it’s important to note there are several breeds of chickens to choose from.
Typically, most people want chickens that are specifically reared for egg production, so you have the added benefit of fresh eggs too. You will also need a place where you can brood your chickens, like a coop. If you purchase babies, you’ll also need to have a place where they have access to a heat source, so the coop should be within range of electricity. If you get adult birds, they usually acclimate well to all temperatures, meaning you don’t need as much equipment. They will just need a safe coop that they can get into at night. If you don’t want them to be free range, then be sure to add a safe, predator-proof run, too. Unlike horses, chickens put themselves away at night! All you have to do is go shut the door and lock them in safely once they’ve gone into their coop. They usually lay their eggs in the morning, so depending on what time you want to let the free-range chickens out, you can usually go out mid-morning, collect the eggs, and then let them out.
Like horses, chickens have their own set of needs nutritionally based on breed and their life stage. Laying hens, for example, should have enough protein and calcium to give them the energy to keep producing eggs and keep their body scores at a healthy level while doing so.
If you’re a soon to be new chicken owner, Kalmbach feeds makes a variety of poultry feeds that are high quality, with the perfect balance of nutrients and proportions for every stage of life.
Article By: Sarah Welk Baynum | Courtesy of Tribute Equine Nutrition