Chicken playground

[chalet girl]

Hi,

I hope I'm posting this in the right place...

I've not yet got my chickens and still deciding if it's for me or not. My husband isn't completely against the idea but he wants very little to do with them so it's got to be up to me to look after them.

One concern I still have is the ‘garden’ or backyard. I run my business from a small chalet in the bottom of the garden and I want the garden to remain ‘pretty’.
I know the chickens will probably go where they want when they are out of their run but I thought if I give them an interesting 'playground' maybe they would prefer to go there.

We have a patch of grass that we don't use but have to mow along one side of our home. I thought I’d plant this with field flowers and put some bark down. Hopefully I can make it interesting enough that they will do most of their damage over there. I have access to plenty of rotting logs etc. and can make sure they have water there as well. The fence is a little over 4ft and Hubby says they might get over it...if so I could something up to keep them in.

If I shoo them out of the flower beds and into their playground would they learn to spend time there eventually?

 

[Sonya9]

Chickens will go where they like. If you don't want them in your garden you will need to use a fence. Yes they can go over a 4' fence, the simple fix for that would be to buy avian netting for the top of the run to keep them in and more importantly hawks out especially until the chicks are grown to adult size (about $50 give or take on amazon).

If you have the space I would fence off as big an area as possible, they love to eat grass and scratch around to find bugs etc... that is their major joy/hobby in life and it is also healthy. If the area is small then they will kill all of the grass and end up on bare dirt. I am not sure about bark though, get other people's advice on that.

 

[chalet girl]

Chickens will go where they like. If you don't want them in your garden you will need to use a fence. Yes they can go over a 4' fence, the simple fix for that would be to buy avian netting for the top of the run to keep them in and more importantly hawks out especially until the chicks are grown to adult size (about $50 give or take on amazon).

If you have the space I would fence off as big an area as possible, they love to eat grass and scratch around to find bugs etc... that is their major joy/hobby in life and it is also healthy. If the area is small then they will kill all of the grass and end up on bare dirt. I am not sure about bark though, get other people's advice on that.

Thanks Sonya9!

Sounds to me like your advice will certainly make life easier for me....instead of planting and putting down bark I'll let the hens out on the side of the house (making sure they can't get out or the hawks can't get in) It's a large space and I (about 20 meters2) and I also have a 'flower bed' that has gone a bit wild at the end of the property...I'll see about getting some lightweight moveable runs made up for them....that way I can make sure they are safe when they are out.

OH!!!! I am so looking forward to this!!!