Fabulous New Breed of Slug Eating Hens?

[cat]

Here in Ireland my chickens wander magesticaly through my garden, gently fertilising my roses and nibbling on pests as though they were canapes while I sit drinking pims on my pristine lawn.....

er, no... they destroy everything they come into contact with, stole all the strawberries, got into the lettuce and ate that but left the slugs, and they poop on the step

Where do these people get those wonder chickens, here in Ireland they are hooligans just like their colonial cousins

 

[JenEric Farms]

Mine won't go near slugs. I had a couple give them a good peck then I got to laugh hysterically for the next half an hour while they practically gave themselves whiplash, slinging their heads back and forth, trying to get that slime off their beaks, I finally broke down and washed it off for them.

 

[Rebekah]

haha! my mini-coop is actually in my garden. now that they've discovered that food is right outside their run, they take off like bats out of heck every time i open the door to feed & water them. they completely destroyed the hosta right next to their run, and the zucchini and cucumber plants are their most recent victims.

my garden wouldn't last 30 minutes if i let them run through it. i'll take my chances with the slugs.

 

[Forever Green]

So my 8 wk free-ranging Jersey Giants eat my garden slugs whole. They literally toss them up in the air and gobble them down in one bit. My 15 wk old BOs hate hate slugs. Maybe just certain breeds enjoy slugs? We used to let them in the garden and they did great at picking at the bugs until one day they found the brocolli and nearly destroyed the plants.....fence went up around the garden. They can find their slugs elsewhere

 

[Renee]

Cat, you had me sucked in for a minute- I thought, Gee, the problem really must be the uncouth habits of American chickens. But Irish chickens are just as bad, huh?

This must have something to do with British oppression, but I just can't seem to come up with the connection. I'll give it some thought tonight after a few pints...

 

[wombat]

I've seen a neat gardening concept where you built raised beds, leave walkways between each bed, and fence each bed with low chicken wire fencing.

You then build a large outer fence around the whole thing, add a coop, and use the area as a run. In theory, the chickens roam between the raised beds, eating every insect that tries to make a run for the gardens.

I've considered trying this, but what we have works; the German Shepherd keeps the chickens out of the garden, and I'm too lazy to re-do the whole garden set-up ... if I ever move further out into the country though, I'll be tempted to give this a try.

 

[chickbliss7]

I can testify that chickens will definitely eat slugs! When it rains (which it does frequently in Northern California), some slugs become easy prey as they slither right into their coop. Or I might be in the garden (right next to their runs) and I'll find some pesky slugs hiding under a particularly delectable plant (and eating it), I just pick them off, and toss in it in the chicken runs. The first girl wins! I tried feeding them snails (no escargot for them), and a banana slug. Ugh--they ignored them too. But, the slugs and earthworms, they could eat for hours! I just hope there isn't anything toxic in them...