Garden did not impress them...

[augustmomx2]

I moved 4 of my girls to the garden for a little soil-turning & poo. I thought they would enjoy the new soil to scratch around, but obviously I was wrong

They all were going for the door & trying to get out . One even wedged her self between the chainlink fence & chicken wire we lay @ the bottom to keep the bunnies out. They were only out there for about 45 minutes and ended up crowding around in a corner.

Goofy girls!

 

[Chicken Boo]

Mine had been totally ignoring the garden, too. I ran the tiller through the garden and they had a field day eating worms and grubs. Try turning over a few shovel fulls of dirt to get them started if you do not want to till yet.

I just dug the trench for my new asparagus. The worm population too quite a hit.

 

[augustmomx2]

Wooo...thanks for the tip! I never thought about that...I'll have my dh do that tomorrow, he needs to till my garden anyways

 

[shawnm2639]

What about putting them in a young garden to eat the bugs...to much damage to little plants? I have ants and thought they would eat them...any thoughts?

 

[moosenbudda]

WOW y'all are so lucky ! I have a 800 sq ft garden and I cant seem to keep our chickens out of it ! But they again this gardens started and we have alot growing..........

 

[Chicken Fruit]

You gotta sit in there and scratch around with your fingers and purr at them. They'll figure it out.

 

[RavenStorm]

Was this the chicken's first time in a garden? When the weather turned nice and I was finally able to let my girls out of the coop and dig around, they looked at me like "What the heck are we supposed to do out here? What is this brown stuff under our feet?"

I had to sprinkle a little scratch on the ground to get them interested in pecking, and then I had to dig with a hand hoe to show them that there were tasty treats in the soil. It took me a week making sure that each hen (I have 5) caught on, and now they are soil turning machines. I figure that they didn't have a mommy to show them to dig, so I guess I shouldn't have expected them to just know right off the bat.

 

[Chicken Boo]

Quote:
Young plants are way too yummy for the chickens. They will eat them up if you give them a chance. Or, even more fun, will scratch them right out of the ground. I have been letting them around my garden after it is mature so a leaf here or there is no big deal. But remember, they will taste EVERYTHING. I had beak marks in my eggplants, zucchini, tomatoes,...

If the ants are not doing any damage, don't worry about them. If they are, try Safer Soap (will kill them) or bay leaves (will repel them).

Good Luck!

 

[augustmomx2]

Quote:
Yes it was their first time! I just figured they should know what to do...duh me