Chickens are charming animals. Chickens are great pets; they're warm, fuzzy, and lay eggs.
They are fun to watch, they produce fresh eggs every day, they can be used for guard dogs, and there's something heartwarming about watching them run around a field.
But every gardener knows that chickens can quickly turn your garden into a nightmare of pecked-out plants, poop, and scratches.
That's why, if you want to keep chickens, you need to build a chicken coop and keep it in it. You can also convert your existing garden shed into a chicken coop.
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Giving your chickens free access to your garden can minimize the risk of them becoming sick. Letting chickens roam your garden can also save you time and money.
Pests like slugs and snails can be a problem for your plants, but chickens are natural predators, and will hunt down these pests.
But chickens are incredibly destructive, a single chicken can destroy your entire garden in a few hours.
They will trample all over your garden, nibble the leaves off your vegetables and transform your carefully designed plants beds into a chicken run.
Chickens are a great addition to any outdoor environment but you should know how to keep them away from certain plants.
It is not uncommon for chickens to eat your plants because of boredom, since they are omnivores and will eat anything that looks edible to them.
Some chickens are also more aggressive than others, and will go after anything that moves
There are a few options you can take to discourage them from returning. The best solution is to make the area less inviting.
Keep your garden well-maintained, with plenty of compost and organic fertilizer added to the soil every year.
This will encourage strong, healthy, pest-resistant plants that are better able to tolerate the presence of chickens.
Protecting your garden is one of the most important things you can do to keep your garden healthy and grow a bountiful harvest.
1. Use Herbs to Repel Your Chickens
Although chickens love to eat fresh garden herbs, these unique plants can actually repel fowl.
The strong scents of herbs like rosemary, sage, lavender, and thyme are natural poultry repellents.
By planting these herbs in and around your coop, this will keep your chickens out of the garden, and your garden free from chicken waste.
2. Fence Your Garden
Fencing is an important part of protecting your garden. Fencing in the garden will help you keep your chickens from digging up your flower beds or eating your vegetables.
It may also provide a psychological barrier for chickens who are prone to wander into your garden in search of tasty treats.
Fencing your garden can prove to be an important step toward keeping your chickens out of your garden.
3. Make a Chickens Garden
If your chickens are accustomed to the garden, they will instinctively stay out of the growing plants, allowing you to have a great harvest.
This will give them a place to scratch and peck, while also providing you with fresh herbs to cook with.
4. Put Ground Covers
Adding a layer of ground cover over your garden beds or in exposed spots in your yard is a great way to keep chickens away.
You can use a variety of ground covers to keep chickens away. Try ground covers that will grow quickly, so you can fill in the exposed spots quickly.
Ground covers, as the name implies, keep the ground at bay. They extend a hardscape surface like stone or gravel one level further by covering underlying lawn or soil.
Plant ground covers in spaces that are exposed to traffic or where you need to prevent encroachment of invasive plants.
5. Keep the Chickens Away From the Garden
Gardening is a lot of hard work, but it can be a fun, productive hobby. One way to make your garden more enjoyable and successful is to plan your garden in advance.
Chickens love gardens. They love nibbling on the plants and scratching up the soil. Take my word for it.
So its better to put garden away from the chickens cage or home.
Free range chickens have become very popular in recent years. These chickens are allowed to roam freely, and eat whatever they can forage for.
While free range chickens may sound better than regular chickens, they can be problematic to have if you have a lawn, or other areas in you yard that you want to keep looking nice.
Free range chickens can dig up your yard with their claws and peck at the ground, leaving large unsightly holes in your lawn.
They also leave droppings that can kill grass over time.
It is important to know that while free range chickens may have a negative effect on your lawn, they also have many beneficial effects on your garden.
While many people worry about harmful insects and diseases, others are more likely to see damage from animals like rabbits, deer, and stray pets.
You can protect your garden from animals with strategically placed fencing, but sometimes you just need a scarecrow to keep them out.
Scarecrow sprinkles are an all natural way to keep birds, rabbits, squirrels, chickens and other pests from feasting on your precious garden plants.
It’s a powder that you sprinkle around the garden to keep animals from doing their business on your plants.
You can also sprinkle some on your lawn to keep squirrels from digging holes.
Since the scarecrow sprinkle only is active for a very short time, water use is minimal.
