Ellen Welch
In the Brooder
I have been reading up on this for a couple years and the concensus seems to be that it is impossible to keep chickens out of your flower beds. However, my stubborn self just wouldn't accept this and I have come up with an idea that is working so far (it's been several weeks and my girls are out everyday).
My beds were horrible from years of them tearing them up and me not having a solution. The first picture is the only "before" shot I got.
I removed all the old mulch, laid down fresh weed paper then added a very light layer of fresh mulch, covered the entire flowerbed in chicken wire. You can see it in the next two pictures. I staked it down with garden staples then added another light layer of mulch. To plant I will have to cut out a hole in the wire. There are a few spots that I can see some of the wire through the mulch, but it's a small price to keep my flowerbeds nice!
SO FAR... my girls will walk into the flowerbed, try to scratch a little then walk back out because they can not get past the chicken wire!!
I am very hopeful that this is the answer to this issue. I'll update if they become a problem again. Hope this helps others!
My beds were horrible from years of them tearing them up and me not having a solution. The first picture is the only "before" shot I got.
I removed all the old mulch, laid down fresh weed paper then added a very light layer of fresh mulch, covered the entire flowerbed in chicken wire. You can see it in the next two pictures. I staked it down with garden staples then added another light layer of mulch. To plant I will have to cut out a hole in the wire. There are a few spots that I can see some of the wire through the mulch, but it's a small price to keep my flowerbeds nice!
SO FAR... my girls will walk into the flowerbed, try to scratch a little then walk back out because they can not get past the chicken wire!!
I am very hopeful that this is the answer to this issue. I'll update if they become a problem again. Hope this helps others!
