Time lapse of pigs and chickens preparing a garden for planting

Inspiring.

I've had trouble getting chickens to prepare my heavy soil on their own without lots of mulch, but maybe pigs combined with chickens are a good option for preparing larger bits of land.

Has anyone here tried this with pigs and chickens at the same time?

I noticed in the video that he was out there broadforking as well. I think there is still a fair amount of human effort involved in this process.

Great video but as a warning to anyone considering this, be careful about mixing pigs and chickens.

My pigs LOVED chicken !

That's Justin Rhodes I have been following his Youtube channel for a while now.  I do not recall the specific breed.  But, those pigs are particularly small and nonagressive.  He will broadfork the entire area while the livestock is there (as a form of exercise).  Also, when he finds deep rooted weeds with the broadfork he dumps grain down the holes so the pigs will go after it and dislodge the roots. So, this is not a labor free  method.  But, he is getting help with tilling and fertilization from his livestock.

Irene Kightley wrote:Great video but as a warning to anyone considering this, be careful about mixing pigs and chickens.

My pigs LOVED chicken !

I was thinking that myself, Irene. I would love to mix but have heard such horror stories!

Kate Downham wrote:
I've had trouble getting chickens to prepare my heavy soil on their own without lots of mulch, but maybe pigs combined with chickens are a good option for preparing larger bits of land.

Has anyone here tried this with pigs and chickens at the same time?

As Irene says, can be tricky, but you could follow the pigs with the chickens, then the chickens would benefit from any maggots hatching in the pig dung.

We've successfully introduced young pigs to a pen with chickens and had them co-exist happily for the whole season.  We've also introduced chickens to a pen with pigs that are a little bigger (~40lbs?) and they were quickly eaten.  I think the key may be put them together when the pigs are very small.  At that point the chickens are too big to be considered food.