Keeping chickens away from the garden ?

[BruceAZ]

it's good thing i only let them out of the run for about 40-90 minutes a day.. if it was all day then there's probably nothing left of my garden

i thought i saw some small melons/water melons forming but i think they ate them all .. even new sprouts from my citrus trees, etc..

what's a good way to keep the chickens from the garden areas ?

i could get some bird net.. but it might not be a good idea..

i want them to roam around my yard when i'm cleaning out the coop/run + refill the feeders.. but i also want to keep them away from my garden beds..

 

[Chick Charm]

Thus the conundrum, can chickens in gardens work? My simple take is NO. They love good food as do we. Find a way to keep them out while growing.

 

[azygous]

Chickens are to gardens as a plague of locusts, guaranteed to lay complete waste to everything edible. The only solution is to fence everything you wish to protect.

There are some things, though, that are so tough and fast growing that they will survive and even thrive under the onslaught of a herd of chickens. Hollyhocks. penstemon, and native bunch grasses are some plants that can successfully co-exist with chickens.

 

[MedSchlFarmers]

I could end up eating my words and not my garden. Hopefully not. We have a raised garden bed. Everytime the chickens jumped up on the wood surrounding the garden I said "No" and brushed them off. They don't even try to hop up there anymore. Fingers crossed. I have 8 pullets that were hatched in January.

 

[Folly's place]

Nice, but most of us don't have that kind of time. Fencing is generally the only solution, or having much lower expectation of the garden. My birds love to move the wood chip mulch out of the planting beds, although they did keep the potato plants clear of those nasty potato bugs last year! Mary

 

[BruceAZ]

Nice, but most of us don't have that kind of time. Fencing is generally the only solution, or having much lower expectation of the garden. My birds love to move the wood chip mulch out of the planting beds, although they did keep the potato plants clear of those nasty potato bugs last year! Mary

true.. i can't be outside all the time to keep an eye on them..

plus my dog also use the yard. so i can't really fenced out the whole yard..

 

[MedSchlFarmers]

We don't have a fenced yard either, so whenever our chickens are free-ranging I am out in the yard. That is how I have been able to train them to stay out of the garden.

 

[BruceAZ]

We don't have a fenced yard either, so whenever our chickens are free-ranging I am out in the yard. That is how I have been able to train them to stay out of the garden.

how long did it take to train them ?

they keep eating my melons/watermelons leaves and flowers .. and now my blueberries..

i caught 3 of them standing in my blueberries planter.. now all the new sprouts are gone..

 

[MedSchlFarmers]

Quote:
I don't have blueberries, or any fruit for that matter, so maybe your garden is more appealing!

It may just be that I am out there with them, but they really don't try anymore, so maybe they are trained. Fencing is expensive, so it wasn't really an option. I would say it took a few weeks of constantly brushing them off the raised bed wood surround, or chasing them out of the garden right after they entered. Or maybe they decided they didn't like what was in there. Who knows? I also give them treats often, so they aren't looking for other food maybe? All theories of course, we are new to this! Mine are still pullets too. They are 22-24 weeks old.

 

[BruceAZ]

I don't have blueberries, or any fruit for that matter, so maybe your garden is more appealing!

It may just be that I am out there with them, but they really don't try anymore, so maybe they are trained. Fencing is expensive, so it wasn't really an option. I would say it took a few weeks of constantly brushing them off the raised bed wood surround, or chasing them out of the garden right after they entered. Or maybe they decided they didn't like what was in there. Who knows? I also give them treats often, so they aren't looking for other food maybe? All theories of course, we are new to this! Mine are still pullets too. They are 22-24 weeks old.

22-24 weeks?

i thought most chickens will start to lay around 16-18 weeks while some 20 weeks..