Landscaping with free range chickens

[MissChick@dee]

Okay...lol now you got me being a post hog and showing my garden (my passion) Ice plant is another flower the chickens are not interested in. It’s hardy and this one is getting ready to bloom. I will propagate some this year because it does so well. Many varieties of this also.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Okay...lol now you got me being a post hog and showing my garden (my passion) Ice plant is another flower the chickens are not interested in. It’s hardy and this one is getting ready to bloom. I will propagate some this year because it does so well. Many varieties of this also.

That looks like sedum?
https://www.almanac.com/plant/sedum

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

They don't touch my marigolds

 

[MissChick@dee]

Yes it’s sedum. Three types. They will eat/peck the red for some reason. I have to wire all my sedums. They scratch them to death. I’m going to redo my wire on them this winter when they die back. Sedums might work well in the front of your home. I just love them. The ice plant is a cousin to the sedums. It’s another plant that is a succulent. We get below freezing here and it does well...I don’t need to wire it. (Ice plant)

 

[MissChick@dee]

The ice pants get 3-4 foot tall. Green sedums 5” and the red 4”. The purple sedums get 2 foot tall. Sorry for the crappie photo’s. Bit of a rush. Gotta go pick up Momma for Sunday Dinner. Best wishes.

 

[Milk and Honey Homestead]

What garden zone do you live in? That’s a huge factor when you go to make choices too.

We're in zone 6.

 

[Milk and Honey Homestead]

I'm considering using rock instead of mulch. It seems like they'd have a harder time digging up my plants when then. Anyone have any experience with that?

 

[SueT]

Chickens can harm smaller plants whether they eat them or not, so I protect them with various barriers until the plants get larger. My chickens do not eat the following vegetable plants:
Tomato, peppers, beans, okra, Basil, onions, sweet potato, squash, cukes, celery...

By allowing the chickens in the garden, they take care of bugs and they weed between the rows to some extent.

 

[Folly's place]

The shrubs and the tree next to my coop are surrounded by rocks, 2" to 4" diameter, and it does keep the birds from digging there. I use mulch too, and they love to rearrange it daily!
Mary

 

[MissChick@dee]

I live in zone 7. We built our house in 2014. All high desert here. I go with the flow of Mother Nature my back yard is rocks with flower beds and all raised beds for vegetables. I rake a lot of rocks. The chickens dig in the rocks (good to trim their nails and beaks) I have learned how to compromise (with a lot of wire) how to garden with chickens. I love having them as company since I spend all the time I can outside trying to turn a desert patch into a garden/yard. One day I will have it just right! Well the chickens see to it that my work is never done. That’s okay it’s a passion. So yes I use rocks as boarders so that my pathways are smooth and the chickens use them to hunt and act like chickens.