Free Ranging Dilemma

[ventura67]

We have had free-range chickens for about 10 years. Our flock varies from 6-15 birds and our property is 7 acres, with about 2 developed, and the rest deep woods backed up to hundreds of wooded acres.

We have always given them free run of the yard as we have natural borders with neighbors that they stay within. But I have always had trouble keeping them out of our tended decorative areas around the house, and now with a bunch of new landscaping their tendency to dig my mulch up and spread it everywhere has become intolerable. What I don't get is why they spend so much time cruising the flower beds and decorative tree plantings when they have acres of woods and open field to cruise. As it is, their coop faces directly into the woods outback, and the house and the landscaped areas are in the opposite direction.

I find it hard to believe that they find anymore bugs to eat in my mulch than they would in the woods, where they do spend some of their time (not nearly enough) each day. I think part of it is that they just like being around us, so we've tried to be a bit less friendly. I've tried chasing them away from the manicured areas, I've made it a game for the kids to chase them away, and I even trained the Bouvier to chase them when they come near the house, but they still come with infuriating frequency. I can lock them up in their pen all day, but we loose the free-ranging benefits in their eggs, and our yard is way too big to try to fence off areas where we don't want them. I've even thought about getting a second timed door to let them out of their fenced yard with only a few hours of daylight, giving them little time to work up to the house, but this would still limit their nutritional intake.

Any suggestions for repellent methods?

 

[Daisy8s]

Wow, tough situation. I read a post by someone who said she used rock mulch around her flowers. That is, she put in stones instead of bark mulch because the rocks were too heavy for the birds to scratch away. With that said...my own birds have moved some pretty large rocks to get at the tasty bugs so I can't vouch for this 100%.

I found my birds were coming into my garden for two reasons. 1) they cleaned up under the bird feeders and 2) they ate freshly sprouted things. Do you have any bird feeders that might be attracting the birds to your yard? Once checking under the bird feeders or for fresh sprouts became a part of their daily ranging it was weeks before they quit (I took down the bird feeders but the chickens still checked that area).

I used a variety of small barriers to keep birds away from individual plants. I turned over plastic milk crates and planted squash under them. The plants were protected when small but could grow through the large slots in the sides.

I also made cages from two tall sticks and some chicken wire. Staple the wire to the stakes and then pound them into the ground. Pretty quick and simple. Even simpler and tool free: make a circle with the wire and then use bamboo stakes threaded through the wire and pounded into the ground. These items are so visually lightweight they don't detract from your view of your garden.

I moved all my strawberries from where the chickens range to inside a smaller fenced off area. While you said your yard is too big to fence entirely you might consider a fenced area for just a few things that are particularly tasty. I have a cute white picket fence that adds to the landscaping even though it's there for a real reason. You may need to bury chicken wire along the bottom to keep them from going under and add decorative objects to tops of the fence posts since my girls would hop onto the 4-5 ft tall fence posts and then hop down into the garden.

I hope these suggestions help. If you look under the Miscellaneous thread there is a thread about gardening where people have talked about keeping the chickens out of their gardens. Good luck!

 

[centrarchid]

I have not been successful with repellents but have been able to shift foraging habits by placement of feeding stations.

Where do you feed birds?



Chickens are derived from wild birds that prefer edge habitat that is early successional (usually short). Your plantings approximate that better than the woods or open area of yard. That is a hard problem to lick

 

[devora]

Welcome to BYC!

Who is Bouvier??

 

[2Old2Crow]

Welcome! I put out 2 Scarecrows after my raised bed became a mud/dust bath zone. They also protect my grapevines from the deer and chickens. They're about 50 bucks a pop, but they work, cause my birdbrains hate water!

 

[Smarcebird]

I do the Scarecrow sprinkler too. They hate the noise and the water. Used it all last summer, haven't put it out at all yet this year - I think the chickens just believe that it is still there.

 

[dl9976]

The scarecrows work and once they know they are there you wont even have to turn them on..they will remember!

 

[Imprfctme]

I found this thread searching for Bouviers since we have a 4mth old puppy of our own. There is a good gardening with chickens book out there, I think the publisher is Timberland? Based in Oregon I think. I have stopped using mulch in my gardens in general because it is either poisonous for dogs (cocoa) or destroying Louisiana bayous (cedar). Try gravel, sand or ground cover instead. They are kicking up the mulch because bugs love hiding under wood next to soil. You can try making a chicken specific scratching area by wetting soil and putting a log on it. In a few days, flip the log over - instant bug buffet.

My big problem right now is the puppy! I was hoping she'd chase off the woodchucks and the rabbits, and instead she's eating all my asparagus, entire cucumbers, melon leaves *sigh*. Then she chases the chickens in circles. I don't know how to train her to herd properly, any tips? I'm afraid she might hurt one of them.