Keeping Chickens Off Back Porch

[fancyflea]

I have 20 chickens and 1 turkey. They have 8 acres to free range but keep coming onto my back porch and of course leave me presents, especially the turkey. Is there a way to keep them off besides an electric fence. Mothballs??

 

[Terri O]

You could try shooing them off every time...not sure if it would work or not. They dont have a sense of smell and moth balls can be poisonous so dont try them! Do you (or maybe the kids) ever give them snacks from the back door? Do flies congregate there that they can eat? Anything else that might attract them? Warmth? Maybe you can make their own private porch off their door? They have to be coming up there for some reason and you need to figure out what that reason is and eliminate it. Make their space more comfy and they will hang out there. HTH--Terri O

 

[peterlund]

That is were they see you come from..... with treats! My deck is a mess, but the girls come a running when they hear that slider opening... I keep a hose handy for the daily wash down.

 

[NHchicks]

I have a back deck (with a rail) and it got so that you couldn't step out there without bringing in a shoe-ful of poop. Drove my husband crazy, so I put a gate up so that they can't get on the deck anymore. I would say rope it off, snow fence it off, put up a gate if you have the design to do that. Shoo them off whenever you see them. Never feed them near the back porch. Hopefully it will just become a matter of habit that they stay off the porch.

 

[fancyflea]

I'm so glad you told me about the moth balls. I had no idea chickens had no sense of smell. They have a real nice coop and a fenced run 50ft by 10ft. And a roof on the run. I try to shoo them off during the day but I can only do it so many times a day. I do come out that door to put them in for the evening with goodies but they only get those goodies in their run which is no where near the back porch. Luckely I do have a hose near buy. I am going to thin the flock to 12 so that should make it better.

 

[swimmer]

I give them treats as far away from the porch as possible. I used to just throw the food out to them, but discovered they were all watching me from the sliding door messing up the patio. They still do, but not nearly as often. Just a part of having chickens I've come to accept.

 

[lorrir]

I chase them off with the broom. The'll stop after a while.

 

[4luvofchickens]

I had to start using a child gate to stop my hens from getting on my back porch. Worked well.

 

[NonnasBabies]

We'll be screening ours in this winter or spring!! It's driving my hubby nuts!!

Missi

 

[mrsbos]

Count me in as a person with one poopy back patio....and I only have 3 pullets. There is no way I could fence off my patio, and I'm afraid shooing them away would send them the message that I didn't want them near "me". All I can do for now is hose off the patio once, maybe twice a day. I have no idea what I'm going to do in the winter when hosing off the patio would result in it turning into an ice skating rink. I'm hoping that in the winter, their poo will freeze fast so that I can just brush it off with a broom. As for now, they just stand right outside my sliding door, staring in at me in my kitchen and making me feel bad that they're not in with me, or I'm not out there with them giving them treats--and mine have a great yard to free-range in as well!