Tired of destroyed landscaping. You are BANNED from free ranging!!!

[patman75]

I am getting sick and tired of having to rake the mulch back into my landscaping beds every time the chickens free range. Heck I only have 2.5 acres and a wooded area to forage in but they insist of coming up to the house and making a mess.

I have modified their run to go into the garden after everything was done and it has been very nice just letting them till up the garden and compost pile. Then for some unknown reason I decided to let them out in the yard and the first thing they do and go for the house and landscaped beds.

So I thinking of expanding the garden and cycling one half as the garden and the other half as chicken pasture. The chickens will only have access to the pasture when I'm around because the pasture will not be secure as the run is. Every year I will change between garden and pasture.

Anyone have any good plant suggestions to plant in the chicken pasture? Preferably something that add nutrients back into the soil.

Thanks for any suggestions and letting me rant a little.

 

[Where The Wild Things Are]

Oohhh I can relate to this. I hate to leave the girls locked up in the run all the time, but when I let them out in the yard they wreak hacvoc! I only have a small 1/4 acre lot, and it's fully landscaped. They dig in the beds and flip the mulch over the curbing on to the grass. They dig up all the lines for my "drip system" as well as the wiring for my yard lights. I LOVE my girls, I just had no idea they were Eco terrorists! If they cant eat it, they dig it up...if they cant dig it up, they mow it over...if they cant mow it over, they poop on it. Bless their little hearts. Now if I was not a fanatic gardner, there would be no problems...but I am. I love my manicured yard. I think come spring, they are going to be limited to "supervised" free ranging. I cant punish them for MY OCD! We will just have to learn to compromise, they are worth it.

 

[BrewedInNh]

Same story here. 3 acres to free range with 2 of those acres wooded. There's a garden, and a compost pile too. They tend to visit every part of the property, but take special delight in excavating our mulch beds out front of the house.

Not sure if there are some special bugs under the mulch, or what.

 

[redhen]

OOh i hear you! My back yard is destroyed! I cant have even ONE stinkin flower back there... not one.
But then i feel bad if i leave them stuck in their run all day long with no grass and woods to forage in...
*sigh*

 

[OldSchoolBackyard]

I knew how much they love digging through my mulch pile, so I deliberately filled their "chicken run" with about 10 inches of woodchips, leaves and other yard debris. And yet they still like to paw through the crushed red brick that I have surrounding the house. Then I get to rake brick chips back out of the grass before I mow. I'm trying to get the most out of the free range portion of the yard before it is buried in 10 inches of snow and they will be sequestered to their chicken run.

 

[Where The Wild Things Are]

And I thought I was the only one

 

[geebs]

how many bugs invade your home....my guess is a slim few... Gooooo Chickens!!!! They are bug eaters...

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Yes, my bark nuggets come OUT of the flowerbeds, then back in again as I rake for 20 minutes,


then back OUT again......

But they are so cute and adorable and luuuuvvv it so much...

How could I deny them their bugs?

If I could SUPERGLUE my bark nuggets to the ground, I would.

 

[IdealisticRoo]

My Mom is very frustrated with me letting my 6 hens out into the yard. They run

for the yard and climb under the shrubs and start dustbatheing and kicking rocks and leaves in every direction! Then they split up and some head for the flower beds and some go sit on the porch or the deck and poo on it! The rest decorate the sidewalk and driveway with their poos.

They really are so sweet and talkative. I don't think they intend to poo and destroy things, its just their nature!

My Dad said they could have the run of the large field behind the house that is fully fenced, so we cut a hole in the fence! Now they have plenty of room!

 

[DutchieWannabe]

Yes.....a big conversation between me and DH will come in January (when the Holiday drama is over). He said no backyard veggie garden if im gonna let the girls freerange.... they ate up most of the goods last summer.... Im new to this, I want my garden and my girls to have some freedom.... I will have to figure something out that wont cost my husband anything..... hmmmm