I actually intentionally run my chickens through sections of my garden that are not currently in production. I had an asparagus patch that was overgrown with quack grass that I fenced in for them to range and they actually beat back most of the grass for me with their scratching while leaving the deeper buried asparagus crowns untouched. I've since mulched that patch with wood chips and I plan to run the chooks through every year once the asparagus has gone dormant to perform weeding, fertilizing, and beetle control duties.
In my garden, I have installed permanent sections of 5 ft tall fencing that double as trellises (rotating what grows there each year) and chicken containment. It's a lot of fun planning how to make best use of them!
One lesson I learned the hard way is to clip their wings and always observe them in the fenced area for a while first before letting them in unsupervised or else they may help themselves to areas of your garden that weren't intended for them! Mine love mulched areas so much they will fly over shorter fences to get in there. I had one very conniving hen learn how to snip through Premier1 non-electrified chicken netting and made a hole through it to get into my garlic!
In my garden, I have installed permanent sections of 5 ft tall fencing that double as trellises (rotating what grows there each year) and chicken containment. It's a lot of fun planning how to make best use of them!
One lesson I learned the hard way is to clip their wings and always observe them in the fenced area for a while first before letting them in unsupervised or else they may help themselves to areas of your garden that weren't intended for them! Mine love mulched areas so much they will fly over shorter fences to get in there. I had one very conniving hen learn how to snip through Premier1 non-electrified chicken netting and made a hole through it to get into my garlic!
