Is there ANY way to keep the chickens out of my flower beds???

[Wicked Gardener]

I have resorted to the "Scarecrow"...a motion activated sprinkler to keep them out of the gated garden area--they would just "fly" over the little fence before. They don't like the water! Now, to find a way to keep them off the patio and off the poor dog's bed.

 

[ChickInDelight]

Aw, let 'em dig! I bet they enjoy the garden more than anyone!

Since getting the chickens and ducks this Spring, I have let my gardens go wild! The birds love the really tall weeds and stuff I used to pull. Plant more stuff they like and call it an English garden.

 

[LindsaySinai]

So many good suggestions...thank you. I was considering getting a decorative foot tall cast iron looking little fence just to surround the few areas they dig in. They don't actually eat the flowers..they just end up digging really close to the roots. Do you think they'll fly right over the barrier if it's only a foot tall or do you think it would be easier to deter them from the area?

 

[kfacres]

Quote:
not so much as a fly over, but more so a hop up, and then hop over... that's why the electric works best, keeps from landing on it..

personally, I've never seen a chicken fly anywhere but up to the roost.. and even then it's more of a flopping around motion, or hopping circius show...

 

[txsckn1]

I have a garden also, I put a second row of fencing, similiar to hardware cloth, around the bottom of the fence. The little ones can get through in some places I ran of the second fencing, but before long they are too big and can't.

Also, because it is SO HOT AND DRY here, I put newspaper, then pine needles, then bricks on top of the mulching around the bottom of my crape myrtles. When I would water the girls would dig, every time I put mulch or pine needles down they would root around and knock it all out. The girls haven't figured out a way to move the bricks yet.

 

[chicmom]

Other than putting up some fencing around your beds, there's not much you can do........

 

[NanaLantana]

I'm planning on putting a 'salad bar' into my chicken run area. It's a raised bed 4x8 garden, planted with grass, or amaranth, or chickweed, and covered over with chicken wire. They will only be able to eat what grows through. (Only problem is I'll have to water it!) Then maybe I won't have to let them out to free-range so early They do love to tear up the yard!

 

[rungirl]

I had this problem in my herb garden. The chickens love the soft soil to dust bath and were tearing up my basil and flowers. I had a leftover bundle of wood shims in my garage and I hammered them into the ground like stakes around the plants. They stick up about 4 or 5 inches but don't look bad because they're natural wood and the foliage covers them eventually. You can buy a bundle of shims cheap at Lowes or just use sticks, but you need a bunch of them and I put them close together, like 5 inches apart. The chickens still go in there but they can't scratch up the plants with the stakes in the way. If they find another spot I don't want them in, I just hammer a couple shims there. By the time fall cleanup happens, I can either pull them up or break them off and let them rot.

Lisa

 

[dretd]

Quote:
not so much as a fly over, but more so a hop up, and then hop over... that's why the electric works best, keeps from landing on it..

personally, I've never seen a chicken fly anywhere but up to the roost.. and even then it's more of a flopping around motion, or hopping circius show...

I agree, although mine would sometimes balance on the top before going over the the yummy side.

My biggest problem was them getting in to the large container garden pots I have on my porch and an 8x1.5 foot kitchen-garden planter. I personally found chicken wire and hardware cloth hard to manage as a ground cover but might work really well over a large area. I ended up getting some coated wire squares (came in boxes of 12) that were intended for modular shelving. I have repurposed them and lay them on top of the pots and planter and have secured them with fencing staples.

Not a perfect solution as they still will hop on top and snack on the veggies, but it does prevent them from digging up the soil and worst of all taking dust baths in the pots!
Isn't she cute, though?