Ideas how to chicken friendly your yard?

[redoak]

I'm looking for ideas how to chicken friendly a yard for chickens. I have electric poultry netting around about 1 1/2 acres of my backyard. I've noticed that the chickens really only use the landscaped areas around the house and nothing out in the open. So what do chicken owners do to make their yard more resemble a jungle habitat. I did plant 250 Austrian pines this spring around the edges of the yard. Thanks for any ideas/advice.

 

[FrontPorchIndiana]

It's their instinct not to go into open areas to stay protected from flying predators.

 

[Davaroo]

I just quit doing yardwork! Pretty soon, everythng was nicely grown over and jungle-like!

 

[brookwoodpat]

Yes, but when things are that overgrown, I get snakes.

 

[Davaroo]

Yes, but when things are that overgrown, I get snakes.

Hey, you wanted a jungle right?

Seriously, just ensure there are shrubs and low brush plantings for them to duck into. You can make them as pretty as YOU like - they wont care about such things. But be warned:

Chickens love to scratch, aka, tear up the grass and earth underfoot. Left unchecked, they will turn a favorite nice patch of ground into a moonscape pretty quick.