Will my chickens kill my maple tree?

[ChickenTenderz]

I am wanting to move the chicken run to a new part of our yard...the problem is the new run area would include one of our maple trees (around 10 yrs old). My husband is concerned the chickens would damage the root system of the tree and kill it since they spend the majority of their time in the run and only free range when I'm home. Anybody have experience with this?

Oh, he sent me an article siting chickens as the cause for the death of someone's tree.
Https://www.theeasygarden.com/threads/maple-tree-dying-can-i-save-it.2871/

 

[KimbosKluckers]

Is there a way you can put up chicken wire around the diameter of the root system? I realize that may be a big area, 15-20’ or so.

 

[ChickenTenderz]

Is there a way you can put up chicken wire around the diameter of the root system? I realize that may be a big area, 15-20’ or so.

I don't think so. The reason I wanted to move the run is to utilize two sides of a storage building to give them a bigger enclosure.

 

[MysteryChicken]

I don't think chickens would kill a tree of any sorts.
We have a chicken run that had a big pine tree in the middle of it, & the tree survived.

We had to have it cut down though, due to storm damage.

 

[FunnyBunny89]

I don't think chickens would kill a tree of any sorts.
We have a chicken run that had a big pine tree in the middle of it, & the tree survived.

We had to have it cut down though, due to storm damage.

Apparently Maple trees are susceptible to chicken damage via scratching the roots up and burning them with their poop.

 

[FunnyBunny89]

Idk a 10 year old tree could probably handle it. How many chickens do you have? I have 15 and they live in our orchard so my trees get dug up all the time and survive it. And they're young too. But they're fruit trees so their hardiness level is different. They are also in gopher cages which helps protect the roots a lot.

Unless you could cover the ground around the maple, like with some boulders or something, you have to assume the chickens will scratch at it.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Idk a 10 year old tree could probably handle it. How many chickens do you have? I have 15 and they live in our orchard so my trees get dug up all the time and survive it. And they're young too. But they're fruit trees so their hardiness level is different. They are also in gopher cages which helps protect the roots a lot.

Unless you could cover the ground around the maple, like with some boulders or something, you have to assume the chickens will scratch at it.

That particular coop at the time had 14 Guineas, 7 Turkeys, & about 15 chickens.
Numbers have been knocked down drastically since then.

 

[ChickenTenderz]

Idk a 10 year old tree could probably handle it. How many chickens do you have? I have 15 and they live in our orchard so my trees get dug up all the time and survive it. And they're young too. But they're fruit trees so their hardiness level is different. They are also in gopher cages which helps protect the roots a lot.

Unless you could cover the ground around the maple, like with some boulders or something, you have to assume the chickens will scratch at it.

We have 9, maybe getting a few more (I have a broody sitting on some eggs right now)
They do love a good dirt bath and have killed all grass in their current run location.

 

[FunnyBunny89]

We have 9, maybe getting a few more (I have a broody sitting on some eggs right now)
They do love a good dirt bath and have killed all grass in their current run location.

I just found a page where someone talked about protecting garden plants and saw this (see pic). Could you get some of these and tie them together in a circle around the tree? Like, along the edge of the base of the tree on the dirt.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Can you update us on the health of your tree? We just relocated our run to do the same thing you did. Utilize a storage building as part of the enclosure to give the girls a much larger run. But the new run has a 10 yr old Maple tree in it.
The chickens scratched up all the grass in their new run by day 2 and I have noticed dig places at the base of the tree like they have been trying to dirt bath there. In the past we had plastic flamingos I put at the base of trees when they did that while free ranging but I doubt those would be very effective inside their run.
Any advice would be appreciated!

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