HELP! Show me your chicken-proof garden fencing!

[skatcatla]

I am just shocked at the amount of damage my four girls are doing to my yard. They dig huge holes on the hillside (which is only lightly planted) and I cannot keep them out of my raised beds, even with 3.5 foot high green plastic fencing (they just walked right up the sides and hopped over!)

If you have fencing around your garden, please show me! I need to build something quickly or no spring planting for me!

 

[Bawkadoodledoo]

Build a run for your girl to run around in.

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

I don't have good news. You either need to keep the chickens in a covered run or cover your garden. I have 4 ft fence around my garden and during the summer, I have to keep my chickens in their covered run, unless I am home and able to supervise them.

If I turn my back for a few minutes, my 4.5 year old Buff Orpington is over the fence and calling for the rest. And they go crazy eatting everything.

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

I should add that right now they seldom go over the fence because there is nothing in the garden and they would much rather be in the pasture with the horses.

However, I had some parsley that survived the winter and it started to green up and yesterday I noticed it is gone. I know it was her.

 

[silkiechicken]

I just have 3 foot chicken wire around all the garden areas held up by those green t posts. The birds are pretty happy with the rest of the areas they get to play on though so just stand and watch me garden though the fence, and cross their feathers that I toss them a grub or something.

 

[Yogiman]

I use a 5 foot woven wire fence made by Red Brand. It is called Deer & Orchard Fence. I put steel "T"-posts down around my large garden and fasten the wire with the clips provide with the T-posts. Works great. I take the clips off and roll up the wire when I want to allow the hens into the garden. I call them (my 27 hens) my bug patrol.

 

[Bec]

We just over plant in the garden so that there is extra for the girls...then again I only have 7, so they dont do too much damage in the garden..

 

[robot rooster]

Forget the chickens, what about the deer, rabbits, geese, my two kids....

 

[columbiacritter]

I made floating row covers out of chicken wire and pvc pipe. This lets me cover the rows while the plants are small. Mostly the 4 foot chicken wire around the garden keeps them out. I wouldn't need the row covers if my husband remembered to close the gate all the time.

 

[cmom]

My birds got into my compost piles and spread them out. I was constantly raking them back into piles. Also they were scratching up the newly planted plants. I start everything from seed so it was becoming a pain to keep planting. I decided to either fence in my gardens or the chickens. I decided to fence in the chickens. I do have electric wire around the chicken yard to protect my birds. A few months ago a neighborhood dog dug under my fence and killed one of my hens. There are pictures on my BYC Page.