How to keep them out?

[mrbstephens]

Please post pics and give me ideas on how to keep the chickens out of the vegetable garden. Last year they ate everything!

 

[MistyValley]

We had the same problem last year. I found through this site that you can get Deer netting at Lowe's 7'X100' roll for 12.97. My plan is to cut some in half enough to put around my garden beds using metal fence posts that we have, and make tipi structure for the rows of corn. Don't know it this will work but it's not expensive to try it out. Item number for Lowe's is #119610.

I'd post a picture but we haven't set it up yet.

 

[sherrydeanne]

Yep, the deer netting works. BUT, you MUST stake it to the ground every few inches. It's so lightweight that even grass will push it up, and the chickens will of course be near the edge and once one figures out they can go under, there they all go. If you have scrap wood, you can weight it down but I just used the garden spikes for landscaping cloth and they worked great.

 

[mrbstephens]

Sounds interesting, but hard to picture. Will it be ugly?

 

[teach1rusl]

Deer netting!! What a great idea! I'm gonna' check it out this weekend at Lowes. It's hard to tell what it looks like on-line. But I've been pricing chicken wire, and if the deer netting isn't butt-ugly then that's a great deal, especially if you cut it in half like mistyvalley suggested. I'd think 3 1/2 ft. is plenty to keep the birds out.

 

[Backyard_Chicken_rancher]

Depending on the size you can also buy rot iron post (small ones) and place them at all four corners and in the center either side and bend half inch PvC over it then place the deer netting ove top of that and secure it with lanscaping spikes and zip ties.

Good luck to you.

 

[mrbstephens]

And how do you get in? Guess you gotta make a gate?

 

[obchix]

Lowes and Home Depot have safety netting that works really well. It comes in safety orange which is good for highways but also dark green which is great for your garden. The holes are about 1.5inches in diameter, so you can put a stake/metal pipe through the bottom if they are really digging under. I use it to line the outdoor run and they havent gotten around it yet(fingers crossed). Good luck.

 

[CityChook]

I feel your pain, mrb! My oh my, did my hens RUIN my vegetable garden their first year. So for my birthday last spring, my DH built me a proper fence for the vegetable garden. It was very simple and only cost around $120 in materials - green treated 4x4s, 2x4s and welded wire with screws/washers. With the poo in the compost and the new fence to keep chickens/deer out, my garden was the best ever last year. Below is a photo from early summer.

Good luck!

 

[Backyard_Chicken_rancher]

Quote:
You could do that or just pull up one corner of it to get into it just be sure it is high enough for you to walk around in it.