Chickens and the Garden

[Sunny Side Up]

To a chicken the world is their salad bowl and their dust bathtub. An open veg garden is just too tempting to their gobbling beaks and their digging dinosaur feet.

I got some discarded pool fencing to put around my veg garden, then added orange plastic safety netting above that when the guineas started flying in.

 

[farm_mom]

I let my birds free range in my garden all year round. They're particularly good for scratching up the bugs, eggs and larvae in the spring before planting and in the fall after harvest. I have raised beds with row covers to protect my vulnerable baby plants. As they get bigger though, and uncovered I just keep an eye on my flock while they're in the garden. If they get too destructive I just shoo 'em out!

As I am an organic gardener, I enjoy the natural pest control.