Best way to water trees growing in chicken run?

[kathrync]

I have a mini fruit orchard in the area where my chickens free range. Up until now, I’ve been hand watering my trees, but would like to put in some soaker hoses to save my time. Or, some kind of drip system so that I don’t have to spend 2 hrs every weekend watering.

But I’m worried that my hens will destroy the hoses with all their scratching. You see, my orchard has a layer of woodchips and the girls love to scratch through them all day long.

I suppose I could just lay the soaker hoses down each time I want to water and put them away when I’m done, but I’d prefer to just put them down once and leave them there for the season.

Has anyone here figured out a way to incorporate a drip system into a chicken run successfully?

 

[igorsMistress]

I have a mini fruit orchard in the area where my chickens free range. Up until now, I’ve been hand watering my trees, but would like to put in some soaker hoses to save my time. Or, some kind of drip system so that I don’t have to spend 2 hrs every weekend watering.

But I’m worried that my hens will destroy the hoses with all their scratching. You see, my orchard has a layer of woodchips and the girls love to scratch through them all day long.

I suppose I could just lay the soaker hoses down each time I want to water and put them away when I’m done, but I’d prefer to just put them down once and leave them there for the season.

Has anyone here figured out a way to incorporate a drip system into a chicken run successfully?

I move my hoses out of the way when I’m done watering. Staking them down leaves them exposed to the elements and they rot a lot faster.

 

[perkolator]

I don't really see chickens being able to destroy a garden hose or even drip irrigation hose. Old soaker hose, perhaps - that stuff gets brittle.

Our orchard was setup with a sprinkler system between the rows, but I don't even use it. I just move around a hose with a rotor or impact sprinkler that does like a 30ft radius, and leave it there for a day or two to deep-water (have non-potable irrigation water on a flat rate). Chickens seem fine with it, some will move away or take shelter under the foliage when the water stream is coming, some just stand there and get wet