Gardening in the chicken run?

[Sseckel]

So I am considering moving my garden into the chicken run. My run is large 60'x30'. And my plan is to use raised beds that I can fence off with chicken wire to keep my hens out. And the larger fence around the run should protect my veggies from the deer and my Newfoundland who likes to steal my garden veggies and roll over the plants to lay in the nice cool soil below. I am also thinking that the plants will give some cover for my hens as well.
Will this work or am I swapping deer and dog problems for crazy chicken problems?
Here is the plot layout I am considering. Any suggestions about that are welcome as well.

 

[SueT]

Sounds great! I think it will work. I'd love to see pics when you get it going. In the past I've let my chickens free range and I protected garden plants with cages. Some plants, which they don't eat, didn't need cages after they got big.

 

[so lucky]

If you have your chicken wire supported, pretty tall, covered, and at least a foot away from the actual garden plants, I think it would work. I tried fencing off some sunflower seedlings and the chickens managed to flatten the wire enough to reach the plants. Oh, your diagram did not show up.

 

[rosemarythyme]

It'll work as long as you can keep the chickens out of the beds. Chicken wire worked for me until some of the hens got clever and simply jumped in, so bird netting on top became necessary too.

(no chicken wire surround in this photo)

 

[Sseckel]

Oops! Here is the plot plan

 

[Acre4Me]

Sure it can work. It’s 1800 square feet inside the run, so you have room. Keeping large dog and pesky deer out is a bonus. Chickens are easier to keep out in general than deer and dogs. Since there will be raised beds, they won’t dig into them. If you have light/trim breeds you’ll need wire on top or make the triangular cages shown above in a previous post bc otherwise they will fly in. If you have heavier breeds that don’t tend to fly up as much, you’ll not have to worry about that aspect.

good luck!

 

[claudiabostic]

I have my chickens in my garden pretty regularly, but I also have it set up so I can keep them in their own run without access to the garden if I want to. Planting time in the spring the seedlings are quite vulnerable and the chickens can do a lot of damage very quickly so I keep them out for a while until things are growing taller.
My raised beds were originally fenced with garden stakes and chicken wire. That worked well when I had only large breed hens, but when I got a rooster he figured out how to break them down and called the girls into the veggies in short order. So I built sturdier wood frames with pickets along the top to discourage perching and the bottom part filled in with 1" chicken wire. That has worked pretty well. We do get a panicked flyover sometimes but it's pretty rare. The longer they have been in the garden the more they get used to staying in the paths. It helps if there are some weeds in the paths for them to eat or dig into. Stinging nettle and tickseed are two of their favorites to eat. And if some of the plants hang over the fences a little it gives the chickens a more sheltered feeling. They're much more willing to fly into a bed that has small plants and so has a lot of room to fly compared to a more mature planting that's a lot harder to fly into.
They really love beans and try to get to them, and I would think that the grains would also be a prime target. Squash leaves are left alone because they are prickly but any squashes that grow over the fences are eaten. My chickens will eat ripe tomatoes if they can reach them but they ignore green tomatoes and tomato leaves. I do feed my flock cabbage and kale daily so they are not starved for greens by any means. If tomato leaves were the only green thing available they might eat them. I've noticed that in the spring they tend to nibble the tomato leaves just a little but then they leave them alone.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

Contamination from fresh chicken poop would be my only concern. Manure is supposed to sit for 6 months before you plant in it.