Oh No! My Marigolds!

[spuetz07]

I went out to check on the chickens, and they had just had a nice snack of my freshy planted marigolds. How do you keep them from yours? Or is this a battle I must lose?? They seem to leave my other flowers alone -- mums, petunias, gerber daisy, and I cant remember the names of the other flowers......

 

[Imp]

Sorry,
I haven't planted marigolds in years. Here in Puget sound they wouldn't last 1 night. They are slug favorites.

Imp- Wondering if chickens and slugs are related???

 

[lilshadow]

I thought that the smell of marigolds would deter them, but I guess not. They do rabbits in the garden. If you find out let me know. Mine were dust bathing in my herb garden, my poor basil is smashed, and I was gonna put marigolds in to keep them out. Good luck in your flower beds.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I'm surprised they would leave any flowers alone. To a chicken, the world is its salad bowl, and underneath that is a dust-bath tub. Chickens have no sense of smell, so the fragrence of a flower wouldn't be a deterrent. They just love to peck at greenstuff and dig in the ground with their big dinosaur feet.

I have a big butterfly garden with large established perennials that are chicken-resistant. But I had to work hard to get them going, often laying bricks or pavers around the roots of a new plant to protect it from scratching chickens until it had a chance to get growing.

If I plant annuals I put them in hanging baskets or barricade them with fencing. Often I'll plant them along the chicken runs and cover them with lengths of ventilated wire shelving. That protects them while they're small, then the chickens can peck at the bits that grow up past the wire.

I can't plant things in pots on the ground since I got ducks & geese. They stick their bills in the dirt and gobble up both plants and invisible stuff in the soil.

 

[bigcats]

My marigolds are in an area of the yard the chickens can't access. The things they could access (tomatoes, cabbage, and bell peppers) are being protected by deer fencing stapled to the fence they're growing along down to the ground in front of the beds (but I can lift it up to get in and attend).

Maybe not the prettiest solution, but so far effective

 

[headred]

My ducks are doing the same darn thing! Makes me so mad. I just keep adding more fences.....small, little 2 ft. tall things. May go to the cayenne pepper sprinkle. Is that mean??

 

[hinkjc]

Here, any flowers that are desired to grow must be contained within a fence.

I'm surprised they would leave any flowers alone. To a chicken, the world is its salad bowl, and underneath that is a dust-bath tub.

So true!

 

[Kim_NC]

Cayenne pepper will not bother chickens. In fact, many people mix it in their feed for it's health benefits. (I don't think it'll work on the ducks either.)

If you want to deter them, use artificial grape flavor - like cheap grape soda or kool-aid. Chickens react to artificial grape the way mammals react to cayenne and other hot peppers.

 

[needtohatch]

Quote:
I don't know about ducks, but chickens don't even notice the pepper. We add it to the feed every few weeks when I notice the dog eating it

They don't notice it, but the dog sure does!

 

[Chickenaddict]

Mine were usually good around the gardens... until this year!!! They devoured several hostas and have now moved onto my coral bells. I haven't got the veggies in yet but when i do i guess i'll have to fence it in. Last year was awesome, lots of veggies and well mannered chickens who patiently waited for me to pluck the veggies out before eating them. This year they are like minature tornadoes running thru the yard. It was a very long cold winter for them i guess this is paybacks for being cooped up for months.