Keeping chickens from eating house? How to discourage chickens from certain areas

[lysmandor]

I realize the obvious answer to this is fencing a dedicated chicken run, but I'm wondering if anyone has any other ideas.

The concrete foundation of my house is covered with sheet styrofoam insulation, painted over with a concrete-like coating. Unfortunately, the chickens have realized that it is obviously a fun source of their favorite food - styrofoam.

They are currently allowed to free range most of the day over our fenced acre property - our house is located in the center of the property, so to keep the chickens away from the house would involve either fencing them in a dedicated chicken run, or fencing the entire perimeter of the house. We enjoy having the chickens out in the yard, and the dogs run around with them for a good portion of the day and (hopefully) deter predators. We have 4 pullets at the moment.

The problem started when there were some chips in the grey concrete coating, exposing the tasty blue styrofoam. I've tried recoating the foam, but they pull off the paint to get at the foam now that they know it's there.

Ideas to deter them from this area? It's about a 4 inch border around the base of the house, some bordering dirt, some bordering concrete.

 

[lysmandor]

And here's one of the culprits.

 

[Willow2253]

That’s interesting, I don’t think I’ve seen a house designed like that with exposed styrofoam. My suggestion, since you don’t want fencing, is directly cover the styrofoam. Board it up, cover it in a layer of concrete, something like that that a chicken can’t easily get through.

 

[maryn7]

What about a fine metal mesh/screening cut and attached around the base of the house - would still allow expansion/contraction of the concrete but would prevent (?) pecking. At least successful pecking.

Can attest that, once they get a taste for it, they're going to find it unless it's covered.

The pictured culprit is extremely cute.

Edit: I see we've had the same idea. I think if you get something fine enough, you could probably mount to the affected area? (I'm thinking furring strips at regular intervals attached to the styro with liquid nails; screw into the furring to not damage the foundation.) *I am not a contractor!*

 

[lysmandor]

Thank you everyone for your ideas! I'm going to try out fixing the existing holes with mortar and then using a clear outdoor glue to stick a small gauge screening over the top of it - it's marketed for keeping squirrels and things out of vent holes so hopefully will hold up enough to chickens. I suspect that once they pick at it and fun styrofoam doesn't come off easily, they'll give up (I hope?!?!).

I'll let you all know how it works! I'm hoping to start with something cheap/easy (the above should only cost about $20) and not have to escalate to anything too ugly or drastic.

 

[lysmandor]

Just wanted to update if anyone else was having a similar problem - seems to be working great! We actually ended up using staples to hold the window screen against the foam. It's practically invisible - fingers crossed it holds up.

We're about a week in and it's all looking good, with the exception of one spot right in front of the front door that I think I didn't do a good job securing the screen, and it peeled off.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

My chickens discovered there is styrofoam insulation under the vinyl siding on my house and they decided to begin devouring it. Fortunately they only free range in the backyard so I put plastic mesh fencing at the base in the backyard area of my house so they can’t reach the insulation. I think the styrofoam taste similar to meal worms. Good luck with that.

 

[3KillerBs]

You said it's about 4 inches tall?

About the size of a brick? Or the kind of blocks used for garden edging?

You probably wouldn't even need to mortar them in place.

A lot of garden edge images here: https://www.google.com/search?q=gar...UNVN8KHWJxAKcQ_AUoAnoECBAQBA&biw=1600&bih=786

 

[Jastorm]

What about a fine metal mesh/screening cut and attached around the base of the house - would still allow expansion/contraction of the concrete but would prevent (?) pecking. At least successful pecking.

Can attest that, once they get a taste for it, they're going to find it unless it's covered.

The pictured culprit is extremely cute.

Edit: I see we've had the same idea. I think if you get something fine enough, you could probably mount to the affected area? (I'm thinking furring strips at regular intervals attached to the styro with liquid nails; screw into the furring to not damage the foundation.) *I am not a contractor!*

What is it with styrofoam and chickens?? Our hens nearly ate an entire foam kayak cushion for a car's roof rack before we realized what they were into. Fortunately they managed to survive.

 

[Willow2253]

You’re probably going to need some kind of physical barrier. Fencing is the obvious answer, but if you can cover it with something else that may work too. Do you have pictures of what the setup looks like to give us a better idea of how to help you?
I’ve had styrofoam eaters too. We had to cover it with a tarp so they couldn’t get to it, it’s the packaging for a greenhouse we haven’t set up yet.