I knew from the beginning that I was going to want to have chickens as soon as my husband and I moved onto our two acres.  After getting all the Pine trees cut down, we started planting trees we wanted on our property.  We left any Oak, Mimosa, and Maple trees where they were.   Our property was not fenced at the time either.

The property next to us was wooded so we gradually took small trees off that property and planted on ours.  If anyone was to move onto the property next door, the land would have to be cleared and all the trees would be lost.

I knew I wanted my chickens in the back left-hand corner of our property which had a lot of shady Oak trees along the property line which we shared with my sister-in-law.  We planted trees in that area right away to get some shade started for the chickens.   Our summer months in Florida are sooooo hot and shade and plenty of cool water is important for the chickens.

We planted Oak, Crepe Myrtle, Mimosa, Maple and Elm.  I must admit, the Elm are the best if you need shade right away.  I am amazed at how big those trees got so quickly.  We planted them probably six years ago and they have already passed the Oak and Maple trees.

I planted only two trees inside the chicken yard.  If you plant on the east and west sides of your property, the shadow of the trees will keep your yards shaded.  But a couple of trees on the inside will make shade when the sun is directly above.

I told my husband from the beginning, we need to plant trees.  The bushes and flowers and yard can improve and grow much faster than the trees do.  And you can find FREE small trees along roads, especially if you live near or out in the country.

We bought some Leland Cypress trees that we planted along the back of our property for privacy but a few of them have died.  I think the cedar are much hardier.  We originally paid 2.25 for them at the flea market many years ago but Walmart recently had some for 5 bucks so we replaced some of the trees that had died out for some reason.

So, I also had a friend who had cedar trees in his yard and I dug up six inch trees from his yard.  My sister in NC also had cedar trees in her yard.  I used the trees as privacy fences between my neighbors on all three sides of my property.  We also planted them along the front of our property on the easement.  We live on a dead end road and the electrical lines are on the other side of the road.

I am going to put an ad on Craigslist to see if anyone has small cedar trees on their property that I can dig up.

Twenty years later, our chickens have a little paradise.  We have a swing next to the chicken yards and the it is also shaded by trees we planted.  It is peaceful to sit there with a cup of coffee.  And no, there is no odor.  That will be another post.