Veggie Garden fencing

[Cheerful]

Not sure if this fits in this forum but here goes.
We have a largish unfenced veggie patch. This will be our second summer with chickens (we have 6), but last summer they were chicks, and weren't free ranging till late in the season. We tried a few temporary things (VHS tape) though mainly we just watched them and chased them out of the garden, and protected tomato plants by wrapping scraps of chicken wire around the base. This year....this year we plan to fence. I'd love any suggestions you might have. Ideally it should not cost too much. Price is a definite issue, and I'd love for it to not look hideous.
I did some preliminary research and have seen how a few people protect actual beds instead of the whole garden. Any thoughts on this? Would this be a better thing to try? I've heard people talk about their chickens flying over fences. I don't want to clip their wings. I'm wondering if we build a fence all around the garden they will just manage to get over, and we'll be kicking ourself for the wasted expense and work. Also, would their be any benefit to having chickens around (not in!) the garden beds? I don't suppose there would be many pests in the paths but I don't know. I guess another possible plus would be the ability to let them pick over a specific bed when you are done with it while protecting others.
I'd love your sage advice! As I say, I'm keen to try and get it "right" first time out, if that's possible! Thanks!

 

[flyboy129]

Doing the same thing this year with mine. Last year, I simply had fencing around each bed. For the most part, it worked, but the veggies sometimes were close enough to the fence that the chickens still made a snack out of a few. This year, I am using concrete blocks and building raised planters (easier on the back, and out of the reach of the chickens). They will be two-8" courses topped with a course of 4" cap block. No cement. They won't go anywhere anyway, plus I can always remove them later. I will also build small fence sections that will drop in place in the planters. Probably, 2x2's and some light gauge wire. The entire garden will be in a large fenced plot, so I can turn the chickens on to "de-bug". Check your local craigslist. Sometimes you can find stuff there for cheap or free.

 

[cknkids]

We use 3 ft high Welded Fencing Wire 14-Guage 3 in. x 2 in. Mesh, Vinyl Green Coated http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-202024092/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=fencing+yardguard&storeId=10051
We first put it up to keep our toddles out of the garden and it seems to work for our 4 chickens. They were babies last summer so we may get a rude surprise this coming garden season. It also comes in a 4ft height. We live in a suburban neighborhood so I don't want to teach them to fly over the fence around the house.