Landscaping with Chickens???

[Rose66]

We let our hens free range every afternoon over our entire yard and woods. We're not heavy into landscaping but we do have a few Crepe Myrtles that we planted a couple of years ago that we would like to put something around. We've done brown mulch once and then pine straw once and our hens have completely destroyed both of them each time. They scratch all the stuff away from the trees in no time at all. Is there anything we can put around the trees that the hens either won't want to scratch in or that they can't scratch in?

Thanks for any help anyone can offer!!

 

[N F C]

Chickens love to scratch (and dig) so I'm wondering if you wouldn't have more luck with something like these tree rings. They look similar to mulch but they are made from recycled rubber. Here's a link to Home Depot's rings but you can probably find them at other stores too:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Vigoro-2...-Tree-Ring-TR24912-30V/203894602?N=5yc1vZbx4q

Good luck with whatever you choose!

 

[pastryman]

You can also put some chickenwire on top of the mulch. Or a one foot high edge around the mulch.

If you have to many trees to do that, you might need to use a chicken tractor or a large run.

 

[Rose66]

Thank y'all so much for the suggestions! NorthFLChick, I have never heard of the tree rings you suggested but I'm going to try them on our two small trees. I think they will work perfectly at least until the trees get bigger and they need a larger outside diameter ring to cover to the drip line. I'm going to buy them tomorrow.

Pastryman, chicken wire on top of mulch is also an excellent idea. I'm going to try this on our two larger trees. I'll get a small roll of chicken wire and another bag of mulch when I go buy the tree rings tomorrow. I will have to stake the chicken wire down over the mulch somehow. I'll try landscaping stakes first and if they are not long enough, I'll figure something else out. That part shouldn't be too hard.

Again, thanks for the great suggestions! It will be interesting to see which idea holds up the best but I think they will both work great for small and large trees respectively.

 

[N F C]

Hope either the rings or the chicken wire (or both) help! Keep us posted on how these work out for you.

Good luck!

 

[pastryman]

A little international cooperation can go a long way (I am in Denmark). Good luck